New Beardie Parent Questions!

[timbuktu]

Hi we just recently got a new juvinelle bearded dragon. I have a few quick questions (among a slew of others) that I want to ask first to get an answer sooner since I dont have the time to type it all up right now.
So here there are!
Timba (our son named him/her!) is about 7" long. I know they eat a lot but I couldn't really get him to eat much this morning. When I got the cricket keeper/mealworms down, he ran right up to the glass and started scratching and acting hungry. I put a few crickets in (I always count to make sure I can keep track of what's eaten, there were 8 tossed in), and I saw him eat one or two but I don't know what happened to the rest. Should I disturb the enclosure to find them and take them out or just leave them in there? theres a half a potato in there for them to eat if any are missed, as well as TImba's food bowls.

I have a water dish he can drink/soak in, does that need to be warmed or room temp ok?
Also, we mist in the morning (about an hour after lights on) and evening (hour to two before lights out).

He has a food dish with some moistened pellets and dandelion green/parsley salad mixed in, which I haven't seen him touch. At the last feeding time I put another shallow bowl next to it with appropriately sized meal and superworms mixed with some dandelion and parsley salad. He keeps biting the bowl like he's trying for the worms, but gets the bowl instead. Then he gives up and goes to his basking spot. Should I do something about this? if so, what? I eventually want to be able to hand feed/tong feed him, but I don't think he's comfortable enough with us yet since it's only been a few days.

That's it for now! I will have another post up with more questions and details later!!



Krissi & Andy
1 Bearded Dragon-- Timba
2 Female Mice-- "Shoffee" and "GeeGaMa" (named by a 2 year old)
1 White Wire Hair Terrier-- Butters
1 (temporary) Scottish Terrier Mix-- Greyka

 

[MoonsAreBlue]

Did you just get your beardie a couple days ago? He may still be stressed because he's in a new environment. As far as hand feeding, when I first got my beardie, she preferred to eat greens out of my hand, so if yours doesn't eat from the food dish, try hand feeding. Also, make sure you try feeding him the greens before any crickets/worms. He may be more likely to eat them if he's hungry.

Don't feed him parsley every day. It has a higher fat content than other staple greens. Some good greens to try are collard greens, mustard greens, and turnip greens. It's possible he may not like what you're offering too, so try a variety of things. Here's a nutritional guide. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

A water dish in his tank isn't necessary, especially if you're misting him. If you want to keep the water dish in there, just make sure it's fresh water every day. Try giving him a bath in lukewarm water once or twice a week.

If he's having difficulty not being able to catch worms for sight of the greens, just remove the greens from the food dish while he's eating the worms. Your beardie may be too small to be eating superworms. Make sure whatever you're feeding him is no bigger than the space between his eyes. As a rule of thumb, many beardie owners don't feed superworms until he is at least 12 inches long, and some people wait until the beardie is 16 inches. I've heard a lot of different things about feeding mealworms to a young beardie, some good and some bad, so you may want to see what others have to say about it. Make sure you're feeding crickets 3 times a day, as many as he can eat in 10-15 minutes.

You seem like you really care about your new beardie, and I hope this advice helps!

 

[Kilana]

I usually have to give greens first to entice my dragon into eating them, otherwise they sit there mostly untouched because he would much rather have the delicious bugs! So I agree with trying the greens first before offering bugs. Though young dragons tend not to eat greens too much, so that isn't super unusual anyway. Enkou takes about three bites and stares at me until I give him his bugs, hehe.

I don't have much else to add that wasn't already added! But yes, relocation stress can have a lot to do with eating if your little one is a new addition. Plus they're just like people -- they can be picky eaters! Sometimes trying different greens may entice them to eat also. I found that Enkou enjoys collard greens better than turnip greens, and he really likes strawberries and likes to be hand fed little nibbles of watermelon (which was only one time, haha).