How much and how often??

[SammieLee]

We got Red on Sat. He is a baby but not sure how old. What cricket amount is normal range and how much should he be pooping? He pooped sat but not again until Monday. Then again today. Would not eat this morning. I'm assuming he is just getting used to his new home but thought I would see how normal this is. Thanks!

Not the best pic but it gives an idea on how small Red is.

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi there,

He should be pooping at least once a day, sometimes more.
A normal amount of crickets per day would be up to and over 50+ appropriately sized crickets per day.

But since you just got him recently, he is still most likely going through relocation stress, so you shouldn't expect him to be eating and poo'ing that much yet, but make sure you keep offering him as many crickets as he will eat in a 10-15 minute time span 2-3 times per day.

He will come around eventually.

-Brandon

 

[SammieLee]

Hi there,

He should be pooping at least once a day, sometimes more.
A normal amount of crickets per day would be up to and over 50+ appropriately sized crickets per day.

But since you just got him recently, he is still most likely going through relocation stress, so you shouldn't expect him to be eating and poo'ing that much yet, but make sure you keep offering him as many crickets as he will eat in a 10-15 minute time span 2-3 times per day.

He will come around eventually.

-Brandon

That is what I was thinking but I wanted to be sure. Thank you! We are offering crickets 3 times a day right now.....hopefully he will eat this afternoon.

 

[SammieLee]

I have one more question.....low long before we should start giving baths?

 

[vampy]

I have one more question.....low long before we should start giving baths?

If he's reasonably perky and not looking really stressed, I'd start straight away. If he seems unhappy and really scared and has lots of stress marks, I'd probably give it a couple more days to let him settle in and try and get him to drink by water dripped on his nose until then.

 

[vampy]

Also he is TEENY! Looks too young to be sold to me,if he was fed properly in his previous home I'd be surprised if he was more than a couple of weeks old.

 

[SammieLee]

I have one more question.....low long before we should start giving baths?

If he's reasonably perky and not looking really stressed, I'd start straight away. If he seems unhappy and really scared and has lots of stress marks, I'd probably give it a couple more days to let him settle in and try and get him to drink by water dripped on his nose until then.

Stress marks are light and he Let's me easily pick him up. If his stress lines are still staying light I will try a bath tonight. We have him in a 40 gallon breeder so I have a feeding tank to make it easier to catch his food. Later today I am covering the sides of the feeding tank because when he should be eating he watches himself in the glass. The funny thing is there is nothing covering the glass on his tank and he doesn't do it in there just the feeding tank.

 

[SammieLee]

Also he is TEENY! Looks too young to be sold to me,if he was fed properly in his previous home I'd be surprised if he was more than a couple of weeks old.

I thought that. He seems way small. Super cute but so little. He was a gift for my son and he is so small I'm having to move him from tank to feeding tank and back since my son is only 9 and Red is so tiny. I'm hoping he will start eating better soon and grow a little. The 40 gallon breeder tank looks so big with him in it.

 

[vampy]

My guys refuse to eat in a separate tank, so you could try feeding him in his viv. It is a pain to have to pick up all the left over crickets, and maybe they would have started eating in the other tank if i'd have only fed them in there, but I didn't like the idea of them going hungry, so I gave in when they refused to eat in another tub.

 

[SammieLee]

My guys refuse to eat in a separate tank, so you could try feeding him in his viv. It is a pain to have to pick up all the left over crickets, and maybe they would have started eating in the other tank if i'd have only fed them in there, but I didn't like the idea of them going hungry, so I gave in when they refused to eat in another tub.

I will try that tonight and see if he eats better. Sat when we bought him home we tried and he didn't want to chase them but maybe it was because we had just brought him home and all the stress. Thank you!

 

[vampy]

I will try that tonight and see if he eats better. Sat when we bought him home we tried and he didn't want to chase them but maybe it was because we had just brought him home and all the stress. Thank you!

Well if he hadn't been home long, he might not have been warm enough to want to eat. If he doesn't seem interested in chasing, you could pick the up with a pair of tweezers and hold them in front of his nose and see if he goes for them that way, or even squish them a bit so their insides start to come out and rub the goo on his nose so he remembers that it tastes good. Or put them in the fridge for 5 minutes before feeding so they move a lot more slowly and will just twitch a bit in the food bowl rather than running and jumping around all over the place.

 

[SammieLee]

I will try that tonight and see if he eats better. Sat when we bought him home we tried and he didn't want to chase them but maybe it was because we had just brought him home and all the stress. Thank you!

Well if he hadn't been home long, he might not have been warm enough to want to eat. If he doesn't seem interested in chasing, you could pick the up with a pair of tweezers and hold them in front of his nose and see if he goes for them that way, or even squish them a bit so their insides start to come out and rub the goo on his nose so he remembers that it tastes good. Or put them in the fridge for 5 minutes before feeding so they move a lot more slowly and will just twitch a bit in the food bowl rather than running and jumping around all over the place.

I bet he wasn't warm enough. Never thought of that... :/ poor little guy I have been moving him to eat and possibly for no reason. I guess it shows I have never owed a reptile before. We are learning as a family as we go. I did read a lot before we brought Red home but there is still stuff to learn. I am so thankful to everybody on this site that has helped me learn to take care of Red the right way.

 

[vampy]

Oh, moving them to eat is definitely the best option...no chasing down of crickets in his viv. It's just some dragons won't eat outside their vivs. including mine, so it was just another thing you could try to get him to eat.

It's great you did research before you got him, and then found this site to learn more...there is a lot to learn with these guys, and a lot of info out there which is incorrect or outdated. Once you have the setup all right and a routine that works for you, they are really easy to look after, but getting to that point can be a bit of a struggle sometimes!

 

[SammieLee]

Oh, moving them to eat is definitely the best option...no chasing down of crickets in his viv. It's just some dragons won't eat outside their vivs. including mine, so it was just another thing you could try to get him to eat.

It's great you did research before you got him, and then found this site to learn more...there is a lot to learn with these guys, and a lot of info out there which is incorrect or outdated. Once you have the setup all right and a routine that works for you, they are really easy to look after, but getting to that point can be a bit of a struggle sometimes!

How long does it take for them to get used to there new home?? He was eating at least some and now today he hasnt eaten at all. 2 meals he has turned his nose up to the crickets. He is so little I hate it. He did poop though....when he was supposed to be eating. This morning I moved him to feed him and since he didn't eat I put crickets in his cage. Still nothing. so I tried moving him to his feeding tank with crickets while i fished crickets out of his tank.... still nothing....he pooped in the feeding tank... But no interest in crickets or greens. I hope he eats tonight. I hate it that he wont eat and I cant make him..... He ate 7 crickets last night and that was the last time he ate. So how long will he go with out eating??

 

[SammieLee]

Just thought I would update on little Red Beard. He is still not eating much. Finally got phoenix worms in the mail today. He has eaten 6 of them. He ate 4 then an hour later i got him to eat one more then a few hours later he ate one more. I wish he would just pig out.... I hear all these stories about how much they eat and I would love to see Red eat 50 crickets or 50 worms. Anything really just want him to eat. Sat it will be 2 weeks since we brought him home. His tall his shedding so that could be part of the problem. I am guessing its that and relocation stress. I hope it goes away soon....This baby needs to eat better.