Question about my new dragon

[randommonks]

I got my bearded dragon on Friday night. The first night I had him, he was incredibly sociable, and even fell asleep on my hand. Yesterday, he was extremely reluctant to eat (only 5 in the morning) and was very sluggish. I had forgotten to get a temperature gauge with my supplies, so I went to Petco and got one with a probe. It turns out that his basking area was only at 85 degrees. I have rearranged his basking lamp so that his basking spot is at 105 now. He is still sluggish and has not eaten all day. He is currently hiding under his hide rock/bask rock and has been there most of the day. I've tried to introduce a few crickets this morning after the lamps had been on for 3 hours, but took them out after an hour when I noticed one of the crickets try to take a nibble from him.

Should I chalk this down to him still adjusting since this is basically his second whole day home, or is he suffering from not being at a high enough temperature?

 

[Pottsy929]

I'm hardly an expert(my fiance and I have only had our beardie for 2 months now.) However, you are probably right about him adjusting to his new home. We got our beardie and then a few weeks later moved to a new apartment. After the move he did not eat for about 3 days, which kinda freaked us out but we were reassured by several knowledgable personel that its typical for youngsters to not eat when adjusting to new surroundings. Hope this helps, and hope the little guy eats soon.

 

[randommonks]

I'm hardly an expert(my fiance and I have only had our beardie for 2 months now.) However, you are probably right about him adjusting to his new home. We got our beardie and then a few weeks later moved to a new apartment. After the move he did not eat for about 3 days, which kinda freaked us out but we were reassured by several knowledgable personel that its typical for youngsters to not eat when adjusting to new surroundings. Hope this helps, and hope the little guy eats soon.

Thank you for your help! It just was a little unnerving when he underwent such a drastic personality and energy shift.

 

[Dito10]

That happend to me before mine just ate too many and he couldent handle it. Is he poopig at all? if not give him a luke warm bath that helps out alot

 

[aNewRising]

at night, right before you go to bed, take the beardie out, and wrap him in whats called a burrito.. (a sock or cloth) which will keep him somewhat warm, and let him lay on your stomach, just so he can feel like he is safe. i did that and still do that with my beardie (who is now about 9 months old). He acts like a dog in the morning, following me around the room from his tank. your beardie will be fine.

 

[randommonks]

That happend to me before mine just ate too many and he couldent handle it. Is he poopig at all? if not give him a luke warm bath that helps out alot

He is pooping every day. The first day it was an odd shade of green, which I assume was from what Petsmart was feeding them (some sort of pellets). The next 2 days it's been pretty routine, in that he'll produce a little poop in the late morning on his basking rock. He has been eating around 5 crickets a day since I got him, this morning he ate 3, so when I get home from work I'm going to buy some fresh crickets and see if he'll eat more. I've given him a couple of baths since last Friday to keep him hydrated as well as dropping water on his head, and he seems to be drinking/licking it.

 

[randommonks]

at night, right before you go to bed, take the beardie out, and wrap him in whats called a burrito.. (a sock or cloth) which will keep him somewhat warm, and let him lay on your stomach, just so he can feel like he is safe. i did that and still do that with my beardie (who is now about 9 months old). He acts like a dog in the morning, following me around the room from his tank. your beardie will be fine.

Good idea! I think I'll try that tonight. I think I may have overdone it the first night, but he seemed really comfortable being handled. I'm going to go slower with him now, and hopefully as he gets older he'll get more used to it.

 

[randommonks]

Thanks for all the help guys! I found out that I was getting the wrong size of crickets from Petsmart. I got some from Petco, and they were tiny, about a quarter inch. He ate about 15 of those tonight. The ones from Petsmart were close to 1/2 inch, and he would eat 5 of those. Miss/Mr. Piggy is back!