New beardie... No crickets?

[Dracneya]

I had a Chinese water dragon that passed away recently so his cage is now a home for a bearded dragon, with some modifications to allow for more air flow..
Anyway, the beardie was born and raised by a reptile pet shop close by. He's a year old, his cage at the shop was very small.. They used dry food as substrate and 1 light as uvb/heat source. He's now in a cage probably 3x that size... A heat lamp and uvb light, no substrate. He's been here for almost a week now but I noticed he doesn't eat much... I've tried to feed him crickets several days now and he hasn't even eat one. I do not feed him inside his cage, so I'm not sure if maybe he's just stressed from the moving and needs sometime.. He will eat meal worms and a few bites of salad, collard greens with sweet peppers but no crickets at all.
Is this something to be concerned about this early on? Should I continue feeding him worms daily or just try for crickets?

 

[kingofnobbys]

I had a Chinese water dragon that passed away recently so his cage is now a home for a bearded dragon, with some modifications to allow for more air flow..
Anyway, the beardie was born and raised by a reptile pet shop close by. He's a year old, his cage at the shop was very small.. They used dry food as substrate and 1 light as uvb/heat source. He's now in a cage probably 3x that size... A heat lamp and uvb light, no substrate. He's been here for almost a week now but I noticed he doesn't eat much.. <<<< maybe a bit of this is relocation stress .... which is short term , maybe it's the UVA is not sufficient or the tank temps are too cool , these need to be checked . I've tried to feed him crickets several days now and he hasn't even eat one. I do not feed him inside his cage, so I'm not sure if maybe he's just stressed from the moving and needs sometime.. He will eat meal worms and a few bites of salad, collard greens with sweet peppers but no crickets at all. <<< try slipping the crickets into his mouth while he's eating his greens and veg when his mouth is open enough to slip at least half the cricket into it (who have had their heads squished so they just immediately jump back out)
Is this something to be concerned about this early on? Should I continue feeding him worms daily <<< at his age a few days of mealworms wont harm him , but will spoil him, he may get addicted to them ...or just try for crickets?

mealworms are not a good staple feeder insect suitable for long term feeding, nor are superworms,
Your beardie will be able to handle 2/3 size crickets I think , maybe 12 16 per day , if they are too small he'll show no interest, if too big they might look big and scary to him.

if you can't get him to eat crickets by himself , try hand feeding them to him , you might get a few finger tips nips at the start but it's worth it to get him to eat them,
alternative is roaches (the local commercially raised species for reptile food) , you might be able to buy live silkworms (a great feeder insect - at his age he'll handle medium (2inch long) and large silkworms no problem).
The other option is Repashi BugPie (essentially powdered dehydrated BSF maggots) which is very good wrt Ca/P level and nutrition, and a very backup for when you have no crickets on hand.https://www.store.repashy.com/grub-pie-reptile-12-oz.-340g-jar.html , your pet shop should be able order it in for you, or simply buy it and import it yourself.


At 12 months old he's got another year of growth in him.

 

[Dracneya]

Yeah I thought about the tank temps since its a completely different reptile but I checked and his basking stays at 110F and the rest is no colder than 75, usually 80.

Silkworms as an everyday feeder? I know mealworms aren't best as an everyday but I had some on hand for my leopard geckos and was worried he wasn't eating anything else..

Thanks for the reply!

 

[JessPets]

Yeah I thought about the tank temps since its a completely different reptile but I checked and his basking stays at 110F and the rest is no colder than 75, usually 80.

Silkworms as an everyday feeder? I know mealworms aren't best as an everyday but I had some on hand for my leopard geckos and was worried he wasn't eating anything else..

Thanks for the reply!

Yah, silkworms are basically a perfect feeder (other than the fact that they are a bit pricy...)

 

[Dracneya]

Hmm. Well thank you! I've been looking up good feeders since I got him, just in case I can't get crickets to work..

Thanks again! I'll keep trying crickets for now

 

[JessPets]

Hmm. Well thank you! I've been looking up good feeders since I got him, just in case I can't get crickets to work..

Thanks again! I'll keep trying crickets for now

I would actually try dubias. He wouldn't need to hunt them down as much, and they aren't too expensive (at least online). They keep MUCH longer than crickets do too!