New owner trying to start out right.

kayanarka

Member
Beardie name(s)
Pearl
Hi folks. I am the proud new owner of a baby bearded dragon. I have been learning quite a bit over the past few days. I am nervous because our baby is not eating much.

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She is quite small, here she is in a feeding bin next to a quarter.
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She ate one cricket and a bite of some flukers juvenile bearded dragon food her first day, and she ate two crickets yesterday. I tried feeding dubai roaches today but she showed 0 interest.

Here are her daytime settings:
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Her gear:
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Last nights poo:
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Night time temp is set to 73F + or - 3F
I have live BSFL on order. I may pick up some small crickets since she seems to show interest in crickets and showed non in the dubai roaches.

I bumped up her basking temp to 110F today, I thought she was a juvenile at first, but now know she is a baby. I drop water on her nose morning and evening.

Any advice is welcomed, I fear she is not eating enough at all.

I have two jars of calcium dust, with and without D3.

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Pearl sure does love to sleep. I do not think she was getting good UVB exposure at the store.
 

RangoRocky

Juvie Member
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Beardie name(s)
Rango Rocky Balboa
For mines as babies it was the calcium powder they didn’t like so I added the Flukers Strawberry Banana and that helped alot. For the greens I added bee pollen powder.
 

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kayanarka

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Pearl
A single 100W ceramic heater could not maintain temp setting last night so I ordered a second one. I aleo ordered the bee pollen and the strawberry bannana calcium powder.

Temp was set to 73F all night and I saw it drop as low as 66F at one point.
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xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
66 is to cool need that to be up a bit.
That is a very small dragon, pet stores are sell babies that are to little. When they are that small their care is critical and unfortunately most people don't Understand them well enough yet. You need pin head crickets or flightless fruit flys or baby dubias when they are that little. Thier food needs to be smaller than the space between their eyes. If their food is to big they may not eat, or could become impacted. The bsfl you ordered are a great option. Hydration Is insanity important for babies they can dehydrat very fast. It's rare they will drink from a dish. Use an eye dropper to drop it on their nose, never ever force it in, you can aspirate and kill them. If they won't drink add a little none citrus fruit punch to give it flavor. ( after use a wet paper towel to wipe any off their face and beard, no need on taking a chance in causing a bacterial or fungal infection).
Lighting is the most critical component to their wwell-being and behavior. Pleade do not use compact uvb, they are garbage. Only use a long tube uvb. T5 bulbs need to be 12 to 15 inches from your dragon, t8 bulbs 8 to 10 inches. I can't stress how important this is. Basking should be between 100 and 110 on a gradient. It needs to be a clear white basking bulb, no colored ir off white please. I know this is long winded but its important to know. This site has someone that can help you with pretty much anything you encounter, please always ask abd never guess. We are all happy to help with anything.
Oh and welcome and congratzzz on uou beardie:)
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Oh i forgot feed babies 2 to 3 times per day as much as they will eat in 15 minutes. Dust once per day with calcium every day and a multivitamin a couple times per week
 

kayanarka

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Pearl
My wife took him outside in a feeding container to get some fresh sun. He moved around for a bit then finally gave out and passed away. We checked our receipt to prepare to try and return him, and found that we were never even billed for him. We are going to go to the specialty store in boulder to get a healther dragon.
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Im sorry to hear that. Sometimes they just don't thrive. A reputable breeder is your chance for a healthy dragon.
Is ut Boulder Co or Boulder Nv? If Nv I've had good luck at Scales & Tails.
 

DorgEndo

Sub-Adult Member
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Devlyn
I'm so sorry for your loss. You have a great baby to juvenile set up. That baby was so small and was likely too sick when you got him. You gave him kindness which is so much more than what he had before he meet you.
 

kayanarka

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Pearl
Boulder CO. He did have a guarantee. We went back today and they had a beardy that was a few inches larger. This one seems much more active. It ate two meal worms in the parking lot at the store. I let him soak in some water and he took a few drinks. At home I put him in the feeding box and he ate several more crickets while I cleaned and prepped the tank.

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He is very active and curious. He is exploring his tank, licking everything as he goes, is that normal for them to lick everything? He showed little interest in the veggie tray right now, even with a couple mealworms added for movement.


He seems to like watching me as much as I am enjoying watching him. I put him up on his basking branch now and he is taking a nap.

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I picked up a second ceramic heater, and a heavy duty triple power plug so I can plug both ceramic heaters into the co troller circuit. They are now able to maintain the temps, so temps should be much better tonight.

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I feel like we are really setup for success now. The onlything that has not gone as I would hope yet is his interest in the Dubai Roaches. He does not seem to recognize that they are food. I will try offering them first tomorrow and see if he will bite. We did get a batch of small dubai roaches so hopefully he will give them a shot.

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xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
What a cutie!! The meal worms are not a great idea for a baby, their exoskeleton is hard for them to digest. Pin head crickets, black soldiers fly larva, or dubias are way better options. When they are babies they need a ton of protein, if you can get them to eat salad thats a bonus. He is going to need to be fed 2 to 3 times a day as much as he will eat in about 15 minutes. They grow extremely fast in the beginning, it will seem like he is gonna shed ever coulpe of days.
Congratzzzz on your new baby. Keep us posted on his/her progress. And if you need any help just ask :)
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
Oh and yes the licking everything is normal. It's the equivalent of a dog sniffing. They have an organ in the roof of their mouth called a Jackobs (Spelling?) organ when they lick they stick their tongue to it and it tells them about their environment.
 

kayanarka

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Pearl
i tell ya, if you have ever raised/ helped raise a child, beardies are a damn close second to having a 3 year old. it all goes in the mouth, they think they are superhuman invincible, and don't you dare try to clean my face up after eating!
Haha. I have 2 girls 7 and 8 yo. They never really had the put everything in mouth obsession though. Maybe that only went down when I was at work.
 

kayanarka

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Pearl
He is extremely active this morning, going back and forth exploring his enclosure. I put him in the feeding bin but all he wanted to do was escape the bin, he had no interest in eating.

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I am using 3 small mealworms in his salad bowl to try and entice him. I hope that I do not end up with another beardie that refuses to eat. I have e mailed the one vetenarian in my area I found listed on arav.org requesting an appointment to get him checked out.

He has some Dubai Beetles in a bowl in his enclosure. The bowl has a lip so they can not escape. We are going out for most of the day so hopefully he will relax and chow down.

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He just ate his first Dubai Roach, out of the bowl in his enclosure!!
 
Last edited:

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
He is extremely active this morning, going back and forth exploring his enclosure. I put him in the feeding bin but all he wanted to do was escape the bin, he had no interest in eating.

View attachment 72904

I am using 3 small mealworms in his salad bowl to try and entice him. I hope that I do not end up with another beardie that refuses to eat. I have e mailed the one vetenarian in my area I found listed on arav.org requesting an appointment to get him checked out.

He has some Dubai Beetles in a bowl in his enclosure. The bowl has a lip so they can not escape. We are going out for most of the day so hopefully he will relax and chow down.

View attachment 72905
Loose substrate and mealworms are not a good idea--- too much risk for impaction on both accounts -- they lick everything and the exoskeleton on meal worms are too harsh on babies stomachs. Hes going thru relocation stress so you need to give him time to adjust to the tank and surroundings. As long as hes eating a little for now hes good as he adjusts to his tank and surroundings his appetite will come. The vet visit is too soon and will cause more stress on him. Make sure the surface basking temps are good and his UVB that is extremely important. He also needs to stay hydrated please drop water on his nose to see if he will lick dragons will not eat if they are dehydrated.
 

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I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

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