new dragon from petsmart& not sure if he's eating ok?

[hollem85]

my family got our very first dragon from petsmart about 2 weeks ago. i got all the stuff they said i needed along with some info. they had printed out. it seemed like an easy pet to have which he has been, kinda. he's between 6-8in long & the petstore said to only feed him 2-3 crickets every other day and on the days i dont feed crickets, feed 2-3 meal worms. im really not sure if he's getting enough. i have tried to feed him fruits & veggies & he will not touch them. his temperment is good on the days he gets crickets but aggitated on the days he gets his worms & actually tried to bite me. naturally it scared the crap out of me when he did that & im soo nervous around him now i wonder if he feels my stress too and he's stressin 2! does he just not like the worms? am i not feeding him enough? do i have to just force him to eat the fruits & veggies which i almost did with a piece of fruit & i held it so it was touching his mouth hopeing he would take it from my hand & all he did was lick it, as in trying to push it away rather than tasteing it. so i sat it down in the cage & he has no interest in it!

 

[vicon]

meal worms are a no go. they can cause impaction because of the chitin shell, its really hard to digest. and you should let them eat as much crickets as he can within 5-10 minutes. and as far as the fruit and veggies go, the youngins won't usually eat veggies. some will but a lot don't get interested until they get older. but keep offering him them just don't be surprised when he doesn't touch them.

 

[hollem85]

thanx! is there something else i can feed him or is crickets everyday ok? he, by the way, absolutly LOVES crickets! he goes crazy for them when i put them in his cage! or mabey he's just really hungry & i have been starving the poor thing. i guess i would have bit me too!

 

[vicon]

yeah crickets are fine, just make sure u dust them with calcium 5x a week and with vitamins 2x a week. but there are pheonix worms u can do and silkworms and wax worms. there are even dubia roaches. i know alot of people on here use those although i havent gotten to experience them yet, my parents wont let me lol and about the biting thing. dont let him intimidate you, if u stop whatever ur doing when he does that he will learn that he can get u to leave him alone by doing that. worse case wear a glove or something so it doesnt hurt when he bites u. try putting some type of clothing you've worn all day to help him get used to your sent.

 

[Buggsy]

Yes he should be eating as many as he wants in a 10 min period, three times a day, this can total 50-100 crix a day!

Im afraid many of us have gone with pet shop recommendations and have been duped, if you can answer some questions as its most likely they have told you alot of incorrect info!

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

If you could answer ALL of these please!

 

[hollem85]

no vet check yet, but he lives alone, i don't mist him cuz i live in alabama & i worry about the humidity levels in the tank. i haven'tbathed him, am i supposed to? how often? he poops about 2 or 3 times a week so far. i use reptocal on the crickets every other day. i have been feeding 3 crickets in the morning every other day & 3 meal worms on the days that i dont feed the crickets but i guess i wont be feeding the worms to him anymore. i'll have to find something else. the only heating device i use is 1 75watt reptile bulb. its around 85 degrees in the cool end of the tank & around 105 degrees in the basking spot but i turn off the bulb at night and the whole tank drops to about 70 degrees. i have a temp thermometer in the tank and a humidity gauge in there also that usually reads 85% humidity, is that ok? the closest he can get to the bulb is about 3inches away.i just bought the bulb about 2 weeks ago now & its fluorecent. i only have the 1 lamp. he has green reptile carpet in the bottom of a 10 gal aquarium tank. gonna get a bigger 1 asap! was thinking about building 1 but we will have to see. don't know how old he is, but i have had him for about 2 weeks now, he's 6-8 inches long & i think he's too young to tell if its a male or female!

 

[Buggsy]

Ok so do you have a UVB strip light at all?? They really need UVB if not they wont be eating too much! If youve gone on pet shop advice ill bet it is not a good bulb. If you look at it, the name should be printed on the bulb. If its anything other than the reptiSUN 10 im afraid it needs changing.

Also is it a digital thermometer with a probe, or a dial type one??

85% is very high. Do you have any water in the tank, if so take it out asap, and any live plants etc.

3" from the bulb is also i little close, there can be too much of a good thing! 6" is the the best distant (remember thats from the beardies back, not the basking spot)

 

[kimmie]

Dump the meal worms (give them to the birds outside, they'll appreciate them) and get some Phoenix Worms and crickets (I use Ghanns for both). See how many crickets he'll eat in 15 mins (if you can, feed him in a different place or remove what crickets he doesn't eat).

Gotta love Petsmart advice ....NOT! They steared me totally wrong and I could have saved lots of $$$ finding this site first! You can order 500 crickets for now just to see how he does and keep them in a rubbermaid box (cut out top and hot glue screen on for ventilation). He should go thru 500 quickly enough that you wouldn't necessarily "smell" them.

 

[Bradleyv1714]

The same thing happened to me... I went to petsmart and petco and they told me all of these things which I was like but how come online it sais different and how come you guys are telling me to feed them soooooo little when it sais to feed them everyday and the employee had the nerve to tell me that the websites don't know what they are talking about listen to her. I was like ohhhhh okkkkk sure lady! well, they told me the same feed every other day feed few crickets and mealie's and that I only needed one light bulb which is a basking light bulb and I was like thank god for beardeddragon.org lol!

 

[fez09]

I agree with Bugsy about the Repti-Sun 10.0 tube, it's a great light. Also he really should be eating WAAAAAAY more than what you've been offering. Unfortunately, it can be very expensive for a few months but they do slow down. My dragons could eat 50-100 crickets per day!!! As far as bathing, I give mine baths every other day. You're gonna have a hard time regulating temps in a 10 gallon, can you check craigslist for a 40 gallon breeder??

 

[arrowwalk]

On the small size tank you can problably get away with the 5.0 repti-sun. Unless something changed in the last few months that I am not aware of. And on a side note do not knock all of us petco employees, some of us really do know what we are doing and give the right advice. I even send people to this website who are considering getting a dragon for anything I might have forgotten.

 

[Buggsy]

no the 5.0 will not give out near enough UVB for a desert reptile, the 10 is the only one recommended for this species, it also is mounted 6-8 inches from the dragon so a small tank wouldnt affect this, just get a shorter length!