Just want your opinion on my beardie

[Machords]

hello all. I got little char from petsmart about a month ago. He's a juvenile and he has looked perfectly healthy. My question is about his diet and overall health. Whenever I play with him, he's always down to play and can fall asleep on me if I let him cuddle into my shirt. He truly is a loving beardie. My tank is 20 gallon and my basking spot has a 60 watt bulb over it, along with the uvb bulb right along side it. His color is beautiful, beard shines bright, tail is beautiful, eyes are alive. The problem is his feeding situation. Ever since we got him, he didn't eat much. To this day he eats about 5 crickets a day, with the occasional craze for about 20 or so. Recently, I started feeding him mealworms; yesterday to be exact. He probably ate around five, and today when I came home from school there was a chunk of mealworm on the ground. Assuming that it was definitely vomit (as I don't feed him in his cage), I was wondering what I did wrong. He has a good time basking, sleeping in his hide, chilling on his hammock occasionally, so what's the problem? I read in another forum that he may have changed his eating habit too quickly. What scared me is how I could've been so stupid; could it be possible that the mealworms are too old? I bought them 4 weeks ago, and kinda left them there, as the crickets were their stable. I never gave them food or refrigeration since then. Could they have had poop and other nasty stuff on them as well? I'm hoping for the best with these replies, since he looks perfectly fine right now and has just had his bath and is now curled up into me under the covers. So what's your thoughts? Please help... thank you.

 

[JessW]

Hello,

Mealworms are not really a good food for beardies. The exoskeleton is too tough for them to digest, so that may be why he threw it up. Also, in my experience (from feeding birds) mealworms left alone at room temp grow pretty fast, so how big were the mealworms you fed?

Better feeders: black soldier fly larvae (bsfl, reptiworms, Phoenix worms, calciworms, all different words for the same worm), silkworms, and dubia roaches

 

[Machords]

Thanks for your reply. Most of the mealworms died since they had no food, but yes I am surprised they didn't go through their changing process. I just went to petsmart and they said that I should get a uvb fixture instead of the crappy uvb bulb that comes with the tank, which I kind of expected would help. I'll keep you posted!

 

[Gormagon]

Thanks for your reply. Most of the mealworms died since they had no food, but yes I am surprised they didn't go through their changing process. I just went to petsmart and they said that I should get a uvb fixture instead of the crappy uvb bulb that comes with the tank, which I kind of expected would help. I'll keep you posted!

Actually, you need a good uvb for him to metabolize calcium and other nutrients from his food correctly. Those compact or coil type bulbs are basicly junk sold only to line a company's pocket.... Not for the health of your dragon.
I use a Reptisun 10.0 t5 ho, this and the Arcadia 12%d3 are the best uvb producers on the market so far.

 

[Machords]

Wow. I'm so glad that's what I bought. How quickly should I see a difference in his activity?

 

[Gormagon]

Wow. I'm so glad that's what I bought. How quickly should I see a difference in his activity?

It will take a bit for him to get used to the brighter light but activity should increase rapidly along with appetite. If you can take him out into some natural sunlight (as long as its warm enough) for about 30 minutes it will help with this to. Just be sure you are holding him when you do, they are very fast when frightened!

 

[Machords]

Thank you so much for all your tips, I really appreciate it!