Need help- new owner and dragon

[Lkpickel]

I bought my first breadie from petsmart 2 weeks ago. He is only 5" long from nose to end of tail. I give him greens every morning and don't know if he is eating any. I never see him eat. I also feed him about twice a day crickets but the problem is he only eats about 2-3 crickets a day. How can I get him to eat more? Plus about how old is a 5" long breadie? All the help the better. I have also seen people talk about feeding roaches. Is he too young to eat them and where to get? How do y'all keep your feeders alive? I buy 3 dozen every few days from the pet store and it's costing me a small fortune due to him only eating a few a day.

 

[DinoTheDinosaur]

Babies don't show much interest in greens but it's good to offer them everyday so they know that they are available. He/she may be a bit stressed out from the move from the store to your house so that could be the cause of his low appetite. The people at petsmart don't seem to know a whole lot which is sad because so many people trust them for information. We were told by them to feed our little guy only 4-5 crickets once a day, but that is totally wrong. You wanna be offering him as many as he will eat in a 10-15 minute period 2-3 times a day making sure the crickets are no bigger than the space in between their eyes. What kind of lighting, thermometers and substrate are you using?

 

[Lkpickel]

They are small crickets and I give him plenty of time to eat. I am ordering a new light in the morning. Right now I have the coil kind that came with the cage. Thermometer wise I use a probe style one. The bottom of the cage is lined with newspaper and a slate tile. Temps are around 85 on the cool side and about 95-100 on the warm side.

 

[DinoTheDinosaur]

That all sounds pretty good i would think Which light did you order? From all the research I've done on here, there are only 2 lights suitable for bearded dragons, and that is the Reptisun 10.0 tube, not compact, and the Acadia, which I believe is more in the UK. Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong.
I just wish the pet store clerks cared more about the animals they are selling and gave people proper information. Well, i'm sure the little guy will come around, sounds like you've done your research as well.

 

[ashleyelsha]

I think your basking temperature needs to be closer to 110 for a baby. Try hand feeding the crickets, or feeding in a small container so they can't get away too quick. When mine was young he hated chasing crickets, seemed like he was scared of them. I would throw them in the freezer for about 3 minutes so they wouldn't move and then put them in a dish. As they warm up the start twitching and my little guy enjoyed eating these more since he didn't have to chase after them. Also I fed phoenix worms when he was that size.

Now I buy crickets in bulk, 1000 at a time, I gutload them, and freeze them. That way I don't have to worry about any dying. When I am ready to feed, I thaw out about 30 (that's how many mine will eat before he is full), dust them, and feed them in a dish or on top of his salad. He loves them. Most would agree that live feeding is probably best, but freezing crickets is really convenient for me and a healthy alternative.
http://youtu.be/n6ItTLBvaG8

 

[Lkpickel]

I ordered a ReptiSun 10.0 tube. And I have tried hand feeding and I do put him in a smaller container to feed him. Do they stop eating before they shed? He has not shed yet. I cant tell. How often do they shed and do their eyes get milky like a snakes does right before a shed? I do give him or her a bath everyday. Today he has only ate 1 cricket so far. He just turns his nose up at anything I try to give him today. I also ordered some of the dubia roaches last night too. Maybe he will eat them.