Please Help Me :(

[AlexRogers]

Just brought a Bearded Dragon, from my local reptile shop. Got a 3ft Vivarium, and all the bulbs, uv things and scenery for inisde the vivarium.
However, whilst reading articles around the web apparently baby bearded dragon around the age of mine(Nearly 3 weeks). They should be eating something like 20+ crickets a day. Some Articles on wiki answers even said 40 crickets a day. But my Beardie is only eating 7(max) crickets a day
I dont know really why this is, im not sure if these sites ment 20+ small crickets. As the Black Crickets i brought were Medium/Large as that was all they sold. I also brought some waxworms, but they said only to feed them occasionaly. He is finding the crickets ok to eat, i mean hes chewing the crickets so i guess thats ok.

Please can u guys tell me if hes eating the correct amount of crickets. Also if he isnt please can you try and explain why, and how i could get him to eat them

Thanks

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi there,

How long have you had your dragon?

You shouldn't be feeding large crickets to a baby dragon, they should be smaller than the space between the dragons eyes.

Can you go over your setup with us?

Like what your temperatures are?
What you use to measure temperature
What uvb bulb do you have?
What substrate do you house on?

-Brandon

 

[dangit12]

when did you get your bearded dragon if you got it today it could just be that its not use to its cage.if you got her/him today It could be that it was already fed when you got him/her.

 

[AlexRogers]

Thanks for replying
I've had my bearded dragon for exactly 1 week now. Yeah i assumed some of crickets were wayy to big, so i was trying to take out the smaller ones from the tub.
Ok my setup=
Temparutes:
Cold Side= 85 F
Basking Spot= 95 F
To Measure the tempurature ive got two round disk thermometers, one is stuck on wall of the cooler side, then the other one is stuck on the log near where he basks.
I have like a UVB strip which is called: Repti Glo, Desert Terrarium lamp-10.0 UVB 25W and its 75cm 30 inches
The Heat bulb in called: Dark Spot 100W
The Subsrate is some kind of vivarium wood chips. Wasn't sure about this at first, as apparently stuff like sand can cause impaction, but thats what the repitle shop said, he doesnt seem to be eating any wood chips so i guess thats fine :O

 

[Claudiusx]

Hello,

Ok there are a few things in your setup that is worrying.

Your temperatures firstly.
You need to take temperature readings from three places - The basking SURFACE, the hot side, and the cool side. For your baby these temperatures should look like 105-110, 90ish, 80ish respectively.
That leads me onto the next thing, your way of measuring temps. Dial stick on thermometers are extremely innaccurate, and can be off as much as 20 degrees. You need an ACCURATE way to measure temps, and the only way you will get that is with a temp gun, or a digital thermometer with probe end.

Temperature is extremely important to a dragons health, as important as even remembering to feed your dragon, so you can't be guessing at what the temperature is, which is basically all you can do when using the dial stick on thermometers.

Your uvb bulb is worrysome too. Repti-glos have been known to cause many problems in dragons including lethargy, and eye problems. I would highly recommend you switch out your repti glo fro a reptisun 10.0 tube.

Any loose substrate posses many risks, including impaction risks, which can lead to many health issues, and a sanitary issues. Solid substrates like tile, repticarpet, NON-adhesive shelf liner, paper towels, even newspaper would all be much better alternatives than bark.

Once you correct these issues in your tank I'm sure you will see the difference in your dragon.

-Brandon

 

[MissT]

Thanks for replying
I've had my bearded dragon for exactly 1 week now. Yeah i assumed some of crickets were wayy to big, so i was trying to take out the smaller ones from the tub.
Ok my setup=
Temparutes:
Cold Side= 85 F
Basking Spot= 95 F
To Measure the tempurature ive got two round disk thermometers, one is stuck on wall of the cooler side, then the other one is stuck on the log near where he basks.
I have like a UVB strip which is called: Repti Glo, Desert Terrarium lamp-10.0 UVB 25W and its 75cm 30 inches
The Heat bulb in called: Dark Spot 100W
The Subsrate is some kind of vivarium wood chips. Wasn't sure about this at first, as apparently stuff like sand can cause impaction, but thats what the repitle shop said, he doesnt seem to be eating any wood chips so i guess thats fine :O

Ok, few things to go through...
Firstly.... someone sold you a dragon that was only 2 weeks old? That is just wrong! How big is he/she?

Now, for everything else.....
Temperatures - you need a basking spot temperature of 105-110 for a baby. However, you could already have that. Those thermometers are often up to 20F off. You need to get a digital thermometer with probe to check the actual spot where he is basking. You can get these at walmart.

Lighting - the reptiglo 10.0 isnt usually recommended. It does not have a great output and has been known, in the past, to cause some issues with the eyes. if you can, return it and try to get a reptiSUN 10.0.

Heat bulb - im assuming that is a CHE/dark bulb? If so, you need to replace it with a bright white basking light. A normal household spot will work just fine. He needs the light so that he can tell where to go to get heat and also so that he can differentiate night time and day time.

Woodchips - these are not good. they will build up inside him over time and, since they are so hard, they could cause tears as they pass through him Take them out ASAP and replace with paper towels.

I hope this helps! Of course, right now, he *should* be reaching the point where he is eating. Hopefully, these changes will help with that!

 

[AlexRogers]

Thanks for the advice both of you I will definately buy the Reptisun bulb.
However the UVB strip i have at the moment in 30" and the Resptisin strips are 24" or 36". Will the 24inch one be too small, also the my viv is exactly 36 inches wide so i doubt that the 36" one will fit.Also i have a viviarium lighting starter kit which i think connects to the UVB strip to power it. Is that ok or do i need to replace that. One thing i noticed is that the Reptiglo i have at the moment is 25W, and the Connectors say 14-15 Watt. The 24" Reptisun is 18W and the 36" one is 30W.

As for the substrate ive saw the Zoo med Cage Carpet which you said was ok, Also I think my Dad has a digital thermometer so i will get some better temps when i find it.

MissT you said the dark bulb wasnt reconmmended is this bulb ok?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Terra-Daylight-Basking-Spot-Lamp/dp/B0002AR3O4/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Once again Thanks for the help both of you

 

[AllanonsWrath]

For a basking bulb you just want a bright white bulb with no frosting. A clear bulb in other words. I personally use Halogen Flood lights in my vivs. If you need more heat at night, I would recommend a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) as they do not put out any light, only heat.