Third day since I've taken new beardie home, and (probably?) hasn't eaten. Any way to encourage bug consumption?

[fluffyseanut]

My five and a half month old beardie has been with me for about 2 and a half days now. I know that part of relocation stress is a lack of appetite, but I was wondering if there's any way to help get him to eat? I think he's been drinking water, since there's consistently been sand in his water bowl that I refresh every morning. He may have nibbled some food, since there were tracks to his salad last night, and some sand he may have tracked into it, but I'm unsure of this.

I've was told he's been eating 6-8 small crickets a day at his last location, (and in a month and a bit I'll switch to bug feedings every second day), but he hasn't been interested in any crickets I've offered. I offered a live one this morning and several dead crickets over the last few days, (none larger than space between eyes). I've left some dead ones in his bowl in case he only wants to eat when I leave the room, but I wasn't comfortable letting live ones jump around, since he's in a loose substrate and I didn't want to cause impaction from him eating live bugs off of the sand. I offered a live one this morning, held it with feeding tongs and placed it near him where it writhed on its back. He wasn't interested.

Tomorrow, if he hasn't eaten any protein still, I was thinking of cleaning the bathtub and having him in it (without any water in it obviously) with a few live crickets, as I don't think the crickets could jump out of the smooth porcelain bathtub, and Oswald could chomp them up. Is this a bad idea, or should I wait till he's ready before I do something like this? How will I know he's ready?

Secondly, in the near future, how do I conduct live feedings? I have a large food bowl, so I could place bugs there, but he spends all his time on the other side of the enclosure from that food, so he wouldn't notice the crickets before they've jumped away and hidden in the sand somewhere, which I don't want him eating off of. I assume it defeats the purpose of live feeding to feed via holding them still with tongs, but is that what one does? Once he's okay with being handled, I was going to pick him up and do the bathtub idea, but I don't know if it will take too long for him to be comfortable with that, and I don't want to wait so long before he gets protein intake again, especially since he's young and still growing. I do have an infared heatlamp lying around that I could hang over the bathtub while he feeds as well, so it won't be super cold or anything.

Any tips? (Sorry for long post)

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, just give him more time and he should settle in. A few questions....did you get him from a reputable source ? Can you post pics of the enclosure including lights ? If he's 5 months old he should be at least 12-14" long [ and possibly bigger ] and eating medium - large crickets every day. You don't stop the daily insect feedings until around the 1 year mark [ or lessen the amount ] as long as he's grown to a good size. Pics of Oswald would be helpful too.

 

[KarrieRee]

Your surface basking temps should be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer and long tube fixture for a UVB NO coils please and please get rid of the sand-- your dragon may be ingesting sand if hes got it in his water bowl which can lead to impaction ---- you dont want that -- please replace w/ some textured NON adhesive shelf liner found at Walmart or your local home improvement store -- hes going thru relocation stress and as long as hes eating that is good but he will stop eating if the temps and UVB are not on par --- we can help w/ diet and getting him to eat w/ getting your tank on par ---

 

[fluffyseanut]

Your surface basking temps should be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer and long tube fixture for a UVB NO coils please and please get rid of the sand-- your dragon may be ingesting sand if hes got it in his water bowl which can lead to impaction ---- you dont want that -- please replace w/ some textured NON adhesive shelf liner found at Walmart or your local home improvement store -- hes going thru relocation stress and as long as hes eating that is good but he will stop eating if the temps and UVB are not on par --- we can help w/ diet and getting him to eat w/ getting your tank on par ---

I'm using an IR tempertaure gun for surface temperatures, and two digital probes for air temperature on either end. I have a thermostat regulating the warm end's air temperature at 37 degrees Celsius, and the cool side sits between 25 and 29 degrees Celsius. I have a long tube fixture for my UVB; it's 120cm long. I have the 12% UVB T8 tube light. I have several basking surfaces that vary in surface temperature from 39-43 degrees Celsius. He has access to two hides, one with a 27 degree ambient air temperature, and one with an ambient air temperature of 37-39 Celsius.

I live in Australia and do not have access to Walmart. The herpetologist I consulted at my local university said that the sand would be okay, and that it encourages natural burrowing and digging behaviors. When I say there was sand in the water bowl, I'm talking maybe 10 or so grains of sand max. I replenish the water twice a day, so he isn't drinking sandy water.

 

[fluffyseanut]

Hi there, just give him more time and he should settle in. A few questions....did you get him from a reputable source ? Can you post pics of the enclosure including lights ? If he's 5 months old he should be at least 12-14" long [ and possibly bigger ] and eating medium - large crickets every day. You don't stop the daily insect feedings until around the 1 year mark [ or lessen the amount ] as long as he's grown to a good size. Pics of Oswald would be helpful too.

I got him from Pet City in Mt Gravatt, QLD. They receive their beardies from a local breeder, Baynton's Reptiles I think. All the lizards were healthy, no stress lines, good appetite and active in their enclosures. I'm at school right now so cannot take photos of the enclosure or Oswald, but my profile picture is a picture of Oswald, and my profile includes a picture of my terrarium setup. I attached it below. The T5 12% UVB, jungledawn LED and reflective hood is mounted inside the terrarium, and cannot be seen from this angle as the white wood overlaps it from a straight-on view.

(I have since removed the hammock as I read it can break their toes) If it helps, I listed all my temperatures in a reply above in this thread.

I think he's around 30cm long, as he nearly spans the height of a Reptile One - Reptile Build-N-Bask 36cm log from head to tail.

 

[KarrieRee]

I'm using an IR tempertaure gun for surface temperatures, and two digital probes for air temperature on either end. I have a thermostat regulating the warm end's air temperature at 37 degrees Celsius, and the cool side sits between 25 and 29 degrees Celsius. I have a long tube fixture for my UVB; it's 120cm long. I have the 12% UVB T8 tube light. I have several basking surfaces that vary in surface temperature from 39-43 degrees Celsius. He has access to two hides, one with a 27 degree ambient air temperature, and one with an ambient air temperature of 37-39 Celsius.

I live in Australia and do not have access to Walmart. The herpetologist I consulted at my local university said that the sand would be okay, and that it encourages natural burrowing and digging behaviors. When I say there was sand in the water bowl, I'm talking maybe 10 or so grains of sand max. I replenish the water twice a day, so he isn't drinking sandy water.

Ok so your T 8 should be unobstucted- they are not strong enough to go thru screen and the distance should be 6-8 inches directly above the basking decor - your variant temps for basking temps are good - but I would check w/ one of your probes-- IR guns are good but can be thrown off by certain basking decor materials -- I see the hammock is off to the side from the basking light - you want to take that probe and place it on the hammock where he sits and get your temp-- IR guns cannot read off of hammocks - as long as your not finding sand in the poop your good -- if you start finding sand in the poop I would get rid of it - it will start to build up in the intestine and cause impaction -- as your dragon acclimates and adjust to his tank and surroundings his appetite will increase -- we just want to make sure everything is on par in the tank --- please get your T 8 adjusted - you want him to get the full UVB rays - I would also look at upgrading your UVB to a Arcadia Pro T 5 12 % bulb 24 watt

 

[fluffyseanut]

Ok so your T 8 should be unobstucted- they are not strong enough to go thru screen and the distance should be 6-8 inches directly above the basking decor - your variant temps for basking temps are good - but I would check w/ one of your probes-- IR guns are good but can be thrown off by certain basking decor materials -- I see the hammock is off to the side from the basking light - you want to take that probe and place it on the hammock where he sits and get your temp-- IR guns cannot read off of hammocks - as long as your not finding sand in the poop your good -- if you start finding sand in the poop I would get rid of it - it will start to build up in the intestine and cause impaction -- as your dragon acclimates and adjust to his tank and surroundings his appetite will increase -- we just want to make sure everything is on par in the tank --- please get your T 8 adjusted - you want him to get the full UVB rays - I would also look at upgrading your UVB to a Arcadia Pro T 5 12 % bulb 24 watt

Hi, there’s no screen between my UVB and Oswald. No plastic, no screen, no glass. I know UVB can’t go through other materials. No sand in his poo but it’s looking dehydrated, so I don’t think he’s drinking. I used a probe to determine the hammock to be around 40 degrees but I have since removed it as I read that lizards can break their toes on the hammock material.

In 5 and a half months when the UVB light is no longer fully working I will switch to a T5.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi, there’s no screen between my UVB and Oswald. No plastic, no screen, no glass. I know UVB can’t go through other materials. No sand in his poo but it’s looking dehydrated, so I don’t think he’s drinking. I used a probe to determine the hammock to be around 40 degrees but I have since removed it as I read that lizards can break their toes on the hammock material.

In 5 and a half months when the UVB light is no longer fully working I will switch to a T5.

Sounds good --- and yes we see a lot of injuries w/ hammocks and toes and feet- if hes dehydrated you can drop water or spray his head and see if he will lick - keep spraying till he quits or moves away - just make sure your distance is good for the UVB you dont want it farther than 8 inches -- most dragons do not drink from bowls- I have one dragon that drinks water off a salad plate- I place him on the plate spray his head and it drips off onto the plate and he drinks off of that - he will do this till hes done then moves off the plate

 

[AHBD]

I got him from Pet City in Mt Gravatt, QLD. They receive their beardies from a local breeder, Baynton's Reptiles I think. All the lizards were healthy, no stress lines, good appetite and active in their enclosures. I'm at school right now so cannot take photos of the enclosure or Oswald, but my profile picture is a picture of Oswald, and my profile includes a picture of my terrarium setup. I attached it below. The T5 12% UVB, jungledawn LED and reflective hood is mounted inside the terrarium, and cannot be seen from this angle as the white wood overlaps it from a straight-on view.

(I have since removed the hammock as I read it can break their toes) If it helps, I listed all my temperatures in a reply above in this thread.

I think he's around 30cm long, as he nearly spans the height of a Reptile One - Reptile Build-N-Bask 36cm log from head to tail.

Your set up looks really nice, good job on that ! But yeah, a totally new home can cause some beardies to be a bit stressed and ignore food for a while. You COULD try a medium plastic tote for feeding him a few crickets at a time.

 

[fluffyseanut]

Your set up looks really nice, good job on that ! But yeah, a totally new home can cause some beardies to be a bit stressed and ignore food for a while. You COULD try a medium plastic tote for feeding him a few crickets at a time.

I'll give that a try. unfortunately he won't let me touch him so I can't move him to a box of bugs, so i'll just have to move the bugs to him. Is it normal for beardies to avoid water as part of relocation stress as well? I'll probably try @KarrieRee 's suggestion of spraying him with water. I'm going to start getting into the habit of misting the hard surfaces in the morning before the lights come on to simulate dew, because I heard they can drink drops of water from around different surfaces. I'll probably soak his salad before serving and mist before hand as well, so when he starts eating he'll get some moisture from that at least.

Thanks so much for the help guys, I've been beside myself trying to figure out how to help him best and now I have some ideas.