not eating much

[danndann7]

I sure hope so!
I finally named him, I picked Django! Maybe he needed a name to feel more comfortable eating lol

 

[Esther19]

Glad to hear he is eating for you. Nice name, too.

 

[Dragon4Me]

Don't get discouraged, just keeping checking with everyone on here they are soooo helpful. I got my first in mid-January and he was just over 4 months old then. I had done a lot of research and it was still nerve wracking but now we're in a routine that's not bad at all. Especially once the set up has the right temps, etc. I still get a little nervous when I feel like there has been some change to his behavior but I just come here and get lots of experienced answers. I feed mine Phoenix worms because a) they are small enough for him and don't gross me out b) they are easy to keep, room temperature is okay and they last quite a while c) they don't smell and I don't have to feed them the way I did the crickets. And worrying about the crickets hiding in his viv and trying to get them out before he went to sleep was nervewracking. Enjoy your baby!

 

[danndann7]

Thankyou for that uplifting comment!! He has only had a total of about 17 crickets today and a couple
Nice size pieces of mustard greens. He's not quite where I want him to be but at least the numbers are going up day by day. Slow progress is better than no progress! Also there are skin flakes around his snout area...is this a sign of shedding? Maybe that could be why he's not eating as much? And is it healthy to feed his Phoenix worms more often than crickets? I want to try Phoenixworms but I need to learn about portions first. Can you calcium/ vitamin dust worms? ...my God I have a lot of questions lol

 

[drakedragon]

if you have only had him 5 days i wouldnt worry too much. also your basking temps are fine. babies can have basking temps from 100-115.

 

[Lenewen]

The flakes are likely shed, yes. Mine slow down their eating while shedding.

 

[danndann7]

Thanks! I kinda figured that, but its good to know for sure!

 

[Lenewen]

oh and to answer your question about worms, phoenixworms are fine instead of crix. you can dust them too!

 

[danndann7]

Awesome! Ill start with a small order of them! I noticed more shed around the edge of his mouth this morning! This is a good sign correct? Also, how important is it to remove uneaten crix from his Viv?

 

[Esther19]

Crickets have been known to bite beardies, so it would be a good idea to remove all of them, or feed in a separate tank or plastic tote.

 

[Lenewen]

Just bathe him every couple days until he gets the shed off himself. It sounds like it's coming off nicely. My baby beardies take what feels like forever to finish shedding and seem to do it in sections of their body. It felt like something on them was always shedding until they got older.

I feed my crickets to them either using tongs one by one or in a separate container. I have custom front opening cages so putting crix in there doesn't work out well. As well, esther is right, they have been known to aggravate the beardies, sometimes biting them. It can really stress them out so best not to leave the crickets in there any longer than 15-20 minutes.

I don't feed crix so much anymore. My beardies' staple is a mixture of dubia roaches, phoenixworms and superworms. I keep all 3 on hand at all times. I brought home some crix today because I purchased 2 more geckos from a breeder friend of mine and wanted to have crix handy for them in case they didn't like the dubia roaches. They were raised on crix, hopefully I can break them of that. I really hate keeping them in the house.

 

[danndann7]

You don't know how happy I am to hear that crix aren't necessary! Although, are worms more expensive? And do beardies go through worms and roaches quickly. If they're a tad more expensive than crickets, then no problem. But if they're like double the price then idk what to do :/

 

[Lenewen]

I order the superworms really cheap by the thousands because I have so many lizards at any given time. But you can get them for around the same price as crix. You'll need to order your superworms and expecially your phoenix worms online. When your dragon is big enough for large superworms you can get those at the pet store but I know of none that sell phoenixworms though there are several online vendors that do. Dubia is another thing you wont find at the store, I used to order from dubideli.com before I got my own colony. They are very easy to breed yourself. I don't know what lindasgonebuggie has on her website but I have gotten hornworms from her with success. There are so many other feeder breeders on here, I just can't think of anyone right now! beardeddragon.co has superworms in all sizes, I just got 2000 from her today.

They go through the worms just as fast as any other feeder. They are about the same size as crickets and gutloaded the same.

 

[danndann7]

Well I'm getting quite skeptical about ordering online. I ordered 500 crix from Ghann.com and selected overnight shipping. Its been OVER 48 hrs and they haven't showed up. When they do theyll be dead!

 

[Lenewen]

Try grubco.com
Never had a problem with them. They're fast, easy and cheap.