new bearded dragon feeding question

[ashleyelsha]

Hello, after researching about bearded dragons for over a year I finally brought one home today but he is not eating yet. I am not sure if I should leave him alone for 3 days before worrying. He is only a couple of months old and I read somewhere that they should be eating 3 times a day at this age.
Please refer to my other post here for all the details:
viewtopic.php?f=44&t=171822
Thank you so much for taking time to try and help me out.

 

[ashleyelsha]

can anyone give me some input here? I offered him crickets and kale, he just sits under the basking lamp. When I was holding him earlier today he was crawling and pretty active, not lethargic or anything. I just want to know how I should go about offering him food. Should I just leave some crickets hopping around in his enclosure?

 

[nycmedic]

I would give him a couple days to get used to his new home and dont handle him too much might cause extra stress on him. Some say three days is good sometimes more. Keep offering him food but I wouldnt leave the crickets in over night as they might bite him and cause him not to sleep. Hope this helps.

 

[ashleyelsha]

Thanks, I will leave him alone and try feeding again tomorrow. I am also going to put a salad together for him tomorrow besides just kale. I was going to get some mustard and turnip greens as well. I read that kale isn't the greatest to feed all the time. I also ordered some calcium with vitamin D powder. I hope I can keep the crickets alive... lol.

 

[ashleyelsha]

Alright well this morning he still hasn't touched any food. How many days can he go without eating before i start worrying?

 

[SherryInFL]

Can you post a pic of its enclosure? What kind of lights? Also length and weight? You can give him a bath with warm water. That will hydrate him. Just put enough warm water to come up over its vent but not so much it gets into the ear. 20 min in a warm bath will hydrate him and you can try the food again tomorrow. Sometimes feeding issues are caused by improper heat, lights.....

HTHs

 

[ashleyelsha]

well I bathed him after posting this morning and he pooped, then I bathed him again to rinse the poop off because he was sitting in it. The 3 crickets I had in his enclosure are gone so I put 3 more in earlier today and they were still there this evening before lights out so I removed them. I am assuming he ate the first 3 after he pooped.

The specifications of the enclosure are in my introduction post.
But just to recap, it is a 20 gallon long terrarium, screen top, 18" UVB light, basking light on one side, temp reads 95-105 in the basking area with an infared thermometer, aprox 80-85 on the other side. I have a river rock under the basking light and I was going to put a limestone rock in there that's a little bigger but can't get info on if it is safe or not. I have a plastic lid with water on the cool side, a small plastic lid with fresh veggies on the cool side as well.

The heat lamp is a "moonlight" so I left it on last night but plan on turning it off at night because I read that even moonlight and infared lights can upset their sleep cycle.

 

[ashleyelsha]

can anyone tell me if dubia roaches are any good? I have been reading and they seem to be the easiest insect to breed at home for feeding.

 

[ashleyelsha]

can anyone tell me if dubia roaches are any good? I have been reading and they seem to be the easiest insect to breed at home for feeding.

Dubias are excellent and if needed heat at nite use a heat emitter. I would say yours is a blue or a purple that will mess with his sleeping. With relocation stress taking effect that will cause stress with not sleeping. What's the UVB bulb your using reptisun 10 works very well.

It's off tonight he is sleeping soundly. Oh he is so cute sleeping! My house is at 76 so no worried about being too cold. I was just worried with him being only a couple months old of 76 was too cold at night. Plus I live in central Florida so I pretty much keep my house in the 70's year round. I have plenty of under tank heaters if I needed it.
It is the exoterra repti-glo 10 uvb light. It has the exact same specifications as the reptisun except half the price. I got it off of Amazon.
Thanks for your reply..I really appreciate all the input from experienced bearded dragon owners. I've had snakes and fish and cats and dogs, I even rescued a baby squirrel once and ordered special formula online for it (now that was a neat little critter before I released him). So I just want to get as much info to do the best I can.

 

[Rawbbeh]

Hey there ashleyelsha,

Quick question....are you housing your BD in a glass tank? i have found it VERY helpful to cover 3 of the 4 walls of a glass tank with paper or cardboard or something to block that feeling of "being out in the open" I made that same mistake and within seconds (literally) my BD had a brand new personality that was much more lively. This may be the trick to get him "settled" down and willing to eat!

 

[ashleyelsha]

Hey there ashleyelsha,

Quick question....are you housing your BD in a glass tank? i have found it VERY helpful to cover 3 of the 4 walls of a glass tank with paper or cardboard or something to block that feeling of "being out in the open" I made that same mistake and within seconds (literally) my BD had a brand new personality that was much more lively. This may be the trick to get him "settled" down and willing to eat!

Yes, he is in a glass enclosure. I will surround 3 sides with cardboard as soon as I get home tonight. I plan on buying or building a wooden viv for him with a screen and glass door because he is in a 20 gallon long right now.

 

[ashleyelsha]

Alright well my little guy just chowed down on crickets this evening. I put 5 in this morning and when I got home only 2 were still wondering around the cage. I made him a fresh salad of escarole, kale, carrots, and summer squash (i hear they like bright colors). I handled him for a bit, he was really active. I put the two crickets on his salad and when they moved he got them right away. So I kept dropping them on his salad 3-4 at a time, he ate about 15 total in about a 10 minute time period. As they escaped from his salad I picked them back up and put them back on. I think I will still put some in the morning before I go to work so he can practice hunting and just make sure there are no live ones left in his cage before lights out.

I don't have a problem catching or handling crickets. I used to catch them as a kid for fishing. They seem to be happy, I have them in an old plastic kitty litter holder (tidy cats). I have a ton of those containers I use them for feeding and transporting my snakes and many other uses. So I think they will make good cricket breeders. I just can't stand the thought of the roaches and I don't think I could handle them, so I am going to stick with the crickets for now, and will see how he likes the phoenix worms, I ordered them online and get them on Wednesday or Thursday and If he likes them I might order them once a month or so as a treat.

He hasn't touched the salad, but I will continue to offer fresh salads and leave them in there all day.

Thanks again for all the info! I am so happy he is eating

 

[Rawbbeh]

Did your beardie start eating after you covered the walls of his enclosure? I tell yah. It's the greatest trick ever haha!

 

[ashleyelsha]

Did your beardie start eating after you covered the walls of his enclosure? I tell yah. It's the greatest trick ever haha!

he ate two before I covered the walls, but he want on a crazy eating frenzy and his activity level really was different after I put the cardboard up! Thanks for the tip

 

[Rawbbeh]

Did your beardie start eating after you covered the walls of his enclosure? I tell yah. It's the greatest trick ever haha!

he ate two before I covered the walls, but he want on a crazy eating frenzy and his activity level really was different after I put the cardboard up! Thanks for the tip

Great! Love to hear that! Aren't they just the silliest things ever?