New beardie behaviour issues

[Reza771]

That’s ok don’t worry about him being small my dragon was the runt to and now he’s huge! If you want to hedge your bet on making him grow try feeding him 2/3 times a day. 97 is fine for your basking area and I’ve used MVB’s for years there good bulbs just make sure you follow distance recommendations for your 160 watt bulb most I’ve seen need about 18 inches up from the basking surface. If he continues to avoid the basking area it’s a pretty good indicator of too high of Uvb and you may want to raise it up higher and add a second fixture and run a normal incandescent bulb right next to the MVB to boost temperatures up to the 95-100 range.

He doesn't avoid the basking spot anymore, but he basks at other spots as well. Most of the time though I would say that he basks on the rock. The recommended distance of the bulb is 12 inches and that's where I put it, but there are other spots in the enclosure with further distances. I noticed that the corner spot is his sleeping spot, every night before I turn the lights off he goes there and closes his eyes, during the day he stays away from it.

Please start w/ salads now- the older he gets the less likely he will eat- dragons grow at their own rate but you want him eating a balanced diet - staple insect salads and worms- and yes 97 is good for temp

Do you have any good advice or reference on how I can do this? I watched already some videos but when I tried I had no success getting him even a little interested in the salad.

 

[KarrieRee]

He doesn't avoid the basking spot anymore, but he basks at other spots as well. Most of the time though I would say that he basks on the rock. The recommended distance of the bulb is 12 inches and that's where I put it, but there are other spots in the enclosure with further distances. I noticed that the corner spot is his sleeping spot, every night before I turn the lights off he goes there and closes his eyes, during the day he stays away from it.


Do you have any good advice or reference on how I can do this? I watched already some videos but when I tried I had no success getting him even a little interested in the salad.

What are you feeding for your staple? Dubias I think you said- make a salad and get him some bsfl- www.symtonbsf.com you will need a glass or ceramic bowl to keep them in use them as lures to the bowl add them in front of him -- use many as you want they are a good staple feeder - order large as they are small-- try those see if that helps-

 

[Rubble1212]

Another thing I find helpful is using the greens that are healthy for your dragon to feed the bugs you keep. I keep large supplies of superworms and Dubia’s and I feed them the same things I feed my reptiles because none of them are big on salads and I’ve tried the bugs on top of the salad thing and my guy can pick everyone one of them out without taking one bite of salad or if he doesn’t eat them they just wiggle to the bottom of the bowl and he can’t see them. When I feed him his bugs that have eaten the greens you see green oozing out as he chomps them up so I know he’s getting some good vitamins and minerals from the greens.

 

[Reza771]

What are you feeding for your staple? Dubias I think you said- make a salad and get him some bsfl- www.symtonbsf.com you will need a glass or ceramic bowl to keep them in use them as lures to the bowl add them in front of him -- use many as you want they are a good staple feeder - order large as they are small-- try those see if that helps-

BSFL are hard to get where I live in Germany. I tried the same idea with mealworms, but no success. As well I noticed that my beardy is not as crazy about mealworms as what I heard of how beardies like them a lot. Some people suggest letting your beardy without food for couple of days so he eats his salad, but that's too difficult for me to do :/

Another thing I find helpful is using the greens that are healthy for your dragon to feed the bugs you keep. I keep large supplies of superworms and Dubia’s and I feed them the same things I feed my reptiles because none of them are big on salads and I’ve tried the bugs on top of the salad thing and my guy can pick everyone one of them out without taking one bite of salad or if he doesn’t eat them they just wiggle to the bottom of the bowl and he can’t see them. When I feed him his bugs that have eaten the greens you see green oozing out as he chomps them up so I know he’s getting some good vitamins and minerals from the greens.

Yeah, that's a good idea, I already gutload my insects but I mostly use carrots and rucola for that. Will use a whole salad next time

 

[Rubble1212]

I tried the tough love thing several times for a few days at a time but he knows I’ll just give in and give him his bugs. Like you said I feel horrible and just give him his bugs lol.