Not eating. Relocation stress??

[monimay01]

Hi everyone. I have a new bearded dragon about 2 months old. I've only had him a few days now. The first day he ate just fine, maybe 9-15 crickets. But I haven't seen him eat any since. He was on a cricket only diet at the shop I got him from, so I've introduced greens to him with some small mealworms and dusted and sprayed them. I left the room for a while yesterday since sometimes they can be skiddish and won't eat with an audience. I ended up having to remove the crickets because he didn't eat them.
Do you think this could be relocation stress? He is not lethargic and is lapping up all the water I spray on him.
I also have a question about his lighting. I have an 18in UVB bulb and a 60watt basking bulb. He is in a 20 gallon terrarium and I've read that this is the ideal wattage for this size tank. However, the thermometer on the glass is only reading at 85 degrees F. It is not directly under the basking bulb, but is this too cool for his "warm" area?? Any advice will help. Thank you. Monica

 

[jarich]

Hi Monica,

Unfortunately you will have no idea what temperature you have with that stick on thermometer. They are really only good for telling you the temperature of the glass theyre stuck to...and not even very accurately. I would go online and just order a digital thermometer. They are pretty cheap, I think you can get them for around $5-$10. Its important to get one so you know what the basking area (the area directly under the bulb, where the light is shining the hottest) is. They require a certain temperature for proper digestion among other things. You want to have a basking area of at least 105F, and then a cool side around 75-80 F. This allows them to pick which temperature they want to be, called thermoregulating. If these temperatures arent in place it may be why it isnt eating. Of course it could also just be relocation stress too, but you always want to rule out the environmental conditions first.

Just curious, but which UVB light do you have?

 

[monimay01]

Thank you. I have the 18 inch with a Desert 50 UVB bulb. And then I have a 60 watt basking bulb at one end.
I have a little digital thermometer with the cord and probe, but it's difficult to keep it on that one spot. So I held it there for a bit yesterday and it read around 95-96. Do you think I need a higher wattage of basking bulb to raise the temp to over 100?
He did eat a few (3-4) mealworms yesterday, some greens and maybe 5 crickets. I know the worms are supposed to be only as a treat, but it was the only way to get him to start eating. He then went and ate the crickets, only 5, and some greens (dusted).