Juvenile bearded and bsfl

[Nok]

I recently purchased a bearded dragon that's about 2 months old. I have him set up in a 40 gallon breeder with a 10.0 reptisun uv light and a 150 watt basking light on one end. Now my question is how many black souldier fly larva should he be eating in one sitting. He seems to only eat 3 maybe 4 at the most and these are very small size worms. I'm worried that temps may be an issue as I have to probe thermometers on each and and his basking side was reaching 120-125 degrees during the day. I've just as of today lowered the watt to 100 to get a cooler basking spot. Would a high basking temp cause loss of appetite? Also going to buy the basking light I saw his cage mates and they were at least twice his size after 3 weeks with me. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[kingofnobbys]

I recently purchased a bearded dragon that's about 2 months old. I have him set up in a 40 gallon breeder with a 10.0 reptisun uv light and a 150 watt basking light on one end. Now my question is how many black souldier fly larva should he be eating in one sitting. He seems to only eat 3 maybe 4 at the most and these are very small size worms. I'm worried that temps may be an issue as I have to probe thermometers on each and and his basking side was reaching 120-125 degrees during the day <<<< OMG !!! 120F , you were killing him --- that is WAY WAY TOO HOT and he will not survive that kind of temperature , that is in the LETHAL TEMPERATURE RANGE FOR AN ADULT BEARDIE, EVEN WORSE FOR A HATCHLING -see viewtopic.php?f=5&t=233516&hilit=+temperature -- the first turn off the basking globe IMMEDIATELY , if this happens again get a shallow food tub and place some room temperature water in it (only needs to be about 1/4 inch deep) and let him sit in it until he's ready to get out.

.

I've just as of today lowered the watt to 100 to get a cooler basking spot. Would a high basking temp cause loss of appetite? <<<< yes --- you were overheating him and essentially killing him , he was stressed and likely more interested in escaping the heat than eating.
NO MORE THAN 42oCelsius AT THE BASKING SPOT , 35oCelsius warm zone.

Make sure you have a good UVB rated AT LEAST 10%uvb and 30%uva.


Also going to buy the basking light I saw his cage mates and they were at least twice his size after 3 weeks with me. Any help would be appreciated.

Please provide details so we can suggest changes so you can help him thrive A common mistake is cohabitation (if sharing tank or can see another beardie) , even if he can see another beardie , or a snake or very large lizard ?
Are there other pets (cats, dogs ) in the household ?

And details of your feeding schedule and other husbandry aspects .
Might be a very easy fix .

Photos of the tank and showing substrate and lighting and of the beardies will help too. Use XIMG button to upload photos from your computer.

How heavy are each of the beardies ?
...... recommend weighing them regularly (weekly say)?

Can you give us a good rundown on the setup and schedules (light and feeding) :
Basking light
........ is it a coloured globe ? (BAD)
........ what is it's wattage ?
........ how far from the basking spot ?

TEMPERATURES ?
>>> daytime
.......warm zone
.......basking spot
...... how are you measuring your temperatures ?
TOO COLD = SLEEPY DRAGON
>>> overnight minimum viv temperatures ?

UVA AND UVB ADEQUATE ?
>>> is the uv rated AT LEAST 10%UVB ?
>>> is it a COMPACT (curly globe & WATTAGE ?
>>> or a T8 tube ?
>>> or a T5 tube ?
>>> or an MVB ?
VERY IMPORTANT : what is the brand ?
(not all UVB compacts and tubes are created equal or as well , many shops sell their own brand (Zilla, All Living Things, Reptile-One, Nat Geo , Natural Selections (in green boxes) which are cheap Chinese clones made very cheaply using very poor quality quartz glass and cheap phosphors ==> very poor UV spectrum produced incl UVC band and bad parts of the UVB band)

>>> also is it covered (in a domestic fluorescent light fitting )? == BAD
>>> also is it sitting ontop a mesh top ? == BAD
>>> how far from basking spot ?
too far and the UVA and UVB WILL BE TOO DILUTE.
UVA FLUX TOO LOW where dragon is ==> a very lethargic dragon w/ a very poor apetite just in the short term , and neurological problems if this persists , not to mention MVB if UVB flux too low long enough with inadequate metabolisation of dietary calcium or inadequate intake out calcium

TANK
>>> size (L x W x H) and construction , photos of the setup are often helpful .

SUBSTRATE ?
>>> is it sand ? == BAD AND IF CALCISAND this is EXTREMELY BAD/LETHAL when ingested
>>> is it particulate ? == BAD

SHARING TANK ? == BAD

TOO SHORT A PHOTOPERIOD (lights are not kept on long enough each day , will make beardie think it is winter , recommend at least 14 HRS PER DAY)

FEEDING SCHEDULE (I recommend at least 2 hrs lights/heat on before first live feed and after last feed of the day)
>>> when are you offering live feeder insects ? what are they ? how big are they ?
>>> when are you offering greens and other veg ? what are you offering ?
good guide is here : http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutritionframeset.html

 

[Nok]

We generally turn lights on at 7:00-7:30 am and lights out at 11:00. Feeding is around 9 am then again at 4 when I'm off work and again around 8:00-9:00 pm when we eat dinner. We are dusting his worms on each meal. We also offer him fresh kale through the day. We put up some paper in the front to hopefully reduce stress and make him few more comfortable. Good sign is he went and started to bask to day and even had a bowl movement on the spot. We are doing everything we can to make him comfortable so any more suggestions or tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jayce82]

you aren't supposed to dust every feeding, only one feeding per day. also with bsfl you really don't need to dust calcium only their vitamins cause bsfl are very high in calcium, that's what makes them such a great staple

 

[Volt]

I have a young beardie on bsfl and he's always eaten 50 or more per feeding. He's crazy for them! This past week I've been adding a couple butterworms or hornworms to his meals and he LOVES it, he'd probably eat them all if I let him.

 

[Nok]

A bit of good news from changing the basking light. He has gone to bask several times today for a good amount of time but he still isn't eating however.

 

[charmander16]

From my experience, my dragons simply didn't like BSLF. I definitely recommend trying small dubia roaches. I think some dragons just have different tastes. If they aren't really eating something, then give them some different options. The two best foods for young beardies IMO are BSLF and roaches. If they don't like one, then try the other.

A good supplier: http://westcoastroaches.com/ (though there are many).

 

[Nok]

So after getting temps to a good safe point we decided to try crickets and he blew through those just like he should. Now if we have to deal with crickets for his we'll being of course we will. Anyone have any tips on getting him to want to eat his bsfl?

 

[charmander16]

How big are they? If they are small compared to the crickets he may not be interested in them.

If they are small you can easily and quickly feed them up to a larger size. Mine ended up getting pretty big. Just put about 25-50 of them in a container at a time and give them bread + some other food, like re-fried beans or basically any veggie table scraps. After about 2 days at room temp with that kind of food they should at lest double in size.