Stressed new beardie Mom!!! Won't eat crickets

[DebbieKelowna]

3 weeks ago I got my Ziggy from Petsmart. They told me he was 8 weeks old but after researching I think he was more around 3-4 months. He's about 8 inches snout to tail.
I got the zoomed bearded dragon starter kit. 20 gal 100 watt basking bulb 100 watt red bulb ( I changed to a 50 watt) 5.0 uv coil bulb ( I just changed this yesterday to a uv florescent bulb that I installed inside ) and some decore. The substrate I use paper towel not the sand that came with it.
So for the first two weeks everything was great. He was eating about 20-30 crickets a day and even nibbled on some veggies and pellets. Gave him regular baths. Had good solid poops 2-3 times a day. Was basking a lot, would move to cool section when he got too hot and was quite calm when I handled him.
When I realized his basking spot was getting too hot up to 123 I thought I better fix that. So I got a 75 watt bulb , it was still too hot so I changed the decore to lower his basking spot to get it to 110.
I also picked up some new crickets that were probably a little bit bigger than what he was use to. He ate maybe 6 and pretty much for a week hasn't ate any crickets. He pretty much won't even touch the veggies or pellets.
So what I have done is started to give him baby food 2-3 times a day with calcium. Still try crickets giving him smaller ones in a glass dish, worms and pellets. Changed the UV light to reptisun 5.0 ( I wanted 10.0 but all pet stores were out ) the basking spot is at 110-115 (changed back to 100 watt and got an adjustable lamp stand) He still poops solid and seems to have energy but too me he looks like he is getting skinnier. I have ordered some Phoenix worms to try.
Anything else I can do? I tried giving him some new small crickets today and he ran to the corner of his tank and hid....poor little guy was so scared. I may be getting paranoid but I think I saw him kind of quiver isn't that a sign of MBD? Would he have that already ?

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Sorry the little guy is giving you trouble. How are you taking the temps? If your using the round gauges those are very inaccurate and are usually off by 20 degrees or more. The best ways to get the accurate are a temp gun or a digital with a wire probe left on the basking spot 45 mins. Also the reptisun 5.0 does not give off the proper amount of uvb rays. You can order reptisun 10.0 Tube from Amazon , petmountain or beardeddragon.co cheaper then the pet store. Also red, blue or any colored bulb is not good for them . Beardies need complete darkness to sleep and a cool down period at night. If your house does not get below 65 at night you don't need a heat source. Hope this helps

 

[DebbieKelowna]

Thanks for your reply. I think the people at the pet store are getting tired of me asking questions.
I use a digital thermometer for the temperature. I have the probe right on the basking spot and it says 101.4.
Even though everyone at the pet store told me that a compact coil bulb is fine for UVB and most of them have beardies of there own I decide to go with the floresent UVB. Petsmart had the reptisun 10.0 on clearance and was sold out and only had the 5.0 left. I know from experience it could take a long time before they get restock. Apparently they are revamping the reptile section. I did call one small pet store we have and he will have some in 2 weeks. I checked all online options and with shipping and duty to Canada it's cheaper for me to get it at the pet store. Unless someone knows where to get one in Canada and not have to pay an arm and a leg for shipping? Just for 150 Phoenix worms is $30.
I will make sure to turn off all lights for him tonight.
Do you think the baby food I am feeding him is going to make him grow and be healthy or am I just keeping him alive until he can eat bugs? I hate to think he is starving and suffering. I don't mind feeding him the baby food if that's what it takes.
I will post a picture so you can see my set up.

 

[destiny1998]

What kind of baby food? is it stage one? I have fed mine chicken and squash mixed or the chicken and sweet potatoes mixed. I would also offer him live feeders every day. Hopefully the baby food will help with his appetite.

 

[destiny1998]

Sorry for got to ask if the uvb is mounted in the tank? There should be no plastic or screen between him and the light to get the best benefit of the rays.

 

[DebbieKelowna]

This is Ziggy the day we got him.....my Granddaughter loves him so much.

Ziggy first day in new home

Tank set up now
http://i1195.photobucket.com/albums/aa396/debbiekelowna/Ziggy/b2ed198aa480495f97573e1198d3c47c.jpg[/IMG
Ziggy now

 

[DebbieKelowna]

Ziggy now

 

[destiny1998]

your set up looks good. Except he's kinds far from the uvb. I would move it closer to the basking spot, or try to hang from above in the tank with the basking light right above it as those bulbs all the tubes without the basking light near them bother the eyes. Make sure he can get with in 6 to 8 inches of it. Lots of information to take in huh?

 

[DebbieKelowna]

Ya I am feeding stage one baby food squash, sweet potato , peas and chicken. I started to mix the chicken with the veggies because I thought he should get protein with every feeding. I add a pinch of calcium and water it all down so I can get it in the Syringe and drip it until he starts licking it. I did try to crush up freeze dried crickets and pellets mixed in baby food but it plugs up in the syringe so not sure how to get it in him. I'm not even sure if he's getting enough I just keep dripping it until he gets all jumpy and wants to run away.
I was leaving crickets in a bowl but he didn't touch them. I even took off their back legs so they couldn't hop around. He freaked out yesterday when I put the little ones in his tank. I will try again tomorrow it's my day off so I can watch him more.
I did instal the UV light as you can see by the picture. Because of the hooks it is lower in the tank so I will get a strip of Velcro and put it up closer to the top.

 

[DebbieKelowna]

So should I move it over to the left where he is basking in the picture? I can't hang it from the top because it's a sliding screen. I thought it was too close because I have it down so far so if I move it over to the left and move it up as high as I can get it that will be good?

 

[Brezzy99]

I may be way off but is it possible that a cricket bit him? My beardies hate crickets and worms. My baby acts like she is terrified of them. I feed mine dubia roaches which they absolutely love.

 

[DebbieKelowna]

I was thinking the same thing. The batch of crickets I got seemed to be a little bigger than the ones I was feeding originally. They were still small enough but they were very jumpy he did eat a few but after that he didn't want anything to do with them. At our pet stores our options are crickets, meal worms and wax worms. The pet store said to try a horn worm but I put it in and he was like I don't think so, you want me to eat that ugly thing with a poky horn? So I'll see how he likes the Phoenix worms I ordered but they are $30 for 150 small or 100 med. What ever it takes to get him fattened up. He's just so cute it's killing me to see him not doing as well as he should.

 

[DebbieKelowna]

My 4 year old granddaughter drew this picture of Ziggy... not sure why he has 5 legs lol but it makes me so happy every time I look at it. It also has to be by Ziggy's tank.

 

[destiny1998]

Omg love the picture I work at headstart. The way I did one of mine cause the screen is the same I just put the badking spot in the middle of the tank so he can go to either side and get cool. Glad he eating the baby food. He's really adorable

 

[timisimaginary]

hopefully a different feeder like phoenix worms, butterworms or silkworms will be more to his liking. they can change tastes rather quickly.

if you haven't already, it might be a good idea to get a fecal check to rule out any internal parasites that may be upsetting him.