new 3 week old dragon

[rex2311]

So i got a new 3 week old bearded dragon no name yet about a day ago (4/12/2014), his mother was an orange dragon his father was a yellow tiger citrus. Could use help with names also could someone tell me how much one this size is supposed to eat cause i never dealt with one this small and i could use advice on how to deal with the stress of the move.

for size refrence here he is on my hand and im a 17 year old male

I will update progress as it happens.

 

[CooperDragon]

Cute little guy. I'd let him eat as much as he wants within about 5 minutes at a time. Just be sure the food is smaller than the space between his eyes. Will likely eat a ton at that age and grow quickly. Is he acting stressed out or scared? If not I wouldn't worry too much about it. If so, then I'd give him some isolation for a bit until he gets used to his new surroundings.

 

[rex2311]

I just want to know how much to expect him to eat and you see he is stressed from the move I but he is already starting to trust me guess you could say im a lizard whisperer.

 

[CooperDragon]

Haha the lizard whisperer. It's hard to say exactly how much he'll eat because they're all a bit different. My experience was about 25 or so small crickets every day for a while (it varied but that's the rough number). I've read about some eating 80 a day. Seems nuts to me but that's how it is. After about a year or so they slow down and start switching to mostly salads. Maybe 10 crickets every other day (but that varies as well). My advice is to just let him eat what he wants in 5-10 minutes leaving nothing live in the tank after he's done. Give it some time and you'll get the routine down.

 

[rex2311]

yea but he`s only eating one a feeding session and appears stressed from the move. plus his tail looks like its ready to shed (darker than rest of body, greyish color) and so does his snout. So im just asking if he seems healthy.

 

[CooperDragon]

He seems healthy to me. He's very little though so the stress of the move may take a little while to wear off. The appetite will likely increase after he gets used to his new place. The shedding probably isn't helping either. They tend to slow down a bit during a shed. If he'll have it, you can try a warm bath to help the shed along. I wouldn't force it if he protests too much at this point though, as that would wind up just adding more stress.

 

[rex2311]

I just gave him a bath he has been less stressed but still wont eat much but he also seems to respond to music.

 

[Tonja]

To help cut down on stress I would cover the back and both sides of his tank. He can probably see his reflection in the glass and that can stress a baby a bit. It also helps to cover the 3 sides to cut down on commotion <movement> in the home that he's not yet used to. You can just tape paper to the outside of the 3 sides and you probably don't have to go all the way up the sides and back as small as the little cutie is.

 

[CooperDragon]

I agree ^. What kind of music does he like? =)

 

[rex2311]

He responds best to country or songs with a western vivbe. And sorry if i seem... anxious I just heard that it is risky to get one this young.

 

[CooperDragon]

Interesting. Play him some Ray Charles off the Modern Sounds in Country and Western album and see what he does.

 

[rex2311]

I plan on moving down south west you know, he should be able to live to see it and then some.