I had a new viv built (guy did a horrible job but I'm stuck with it for now), there is construction mesh at the top where crickets are getting out, can I put a regular mesh from the pet store on top of that and then lights on top or will it block the lights out? I tried feeding him in a different enclosure but he's recently not eating much and I can't leave him there for hours, so I thought of leaving some crickets for him in the new viv - that's why I'm trying to figure out what to do with the mesh
Adding more mesh will intercept more UVB light which probably isn't a good idea. I advise against leaving crickets in the tank as they can hide and then come out and bite your dragon. It's best to offer crickets in small batches of a few at a time (so they're easy to track and remove if needed) during about a 10 minute feeding window (do this a couple of times a day for a young dragon). If you want to leave food in the tank, I suggest a nice salad using items from this list http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html and for protein, using worms (Phoenix Worms would be a good choice) You can put them in a dish with curved sides so they will stay put during the day. If you can post some photos of the viv I'll be glad to take a look and try to offer some configuration suggestions that may help.
heres a pic. the problem is that he has been refusing food for over 2 weeks now, so i have been leaving a crickets in because he would eat a cricket here and there but in the 10minute window. he doesnt want to eat worms either - had this problem since i let him try supers and since then he has been like this.
I like your enclosure a lot. Plenty of good places to climb and some nice hides. It looks like he's content on his basking perch. He still looks like he's healthy. It's good that his weight has remained stable. Has he been pooping regularly since the supers? It's possible that he's just at a plateau in his growth rate and his appetite will pick up again once he starts another growth spurt.
Thanks!
Yeah he poops every other day now since almost doesn't eat, but before he stopped he was pretty regular. Especially if I'm home and he gets to run around a lot - he might poop several times
Every other day is fine. Just wanted to make sure he isn't stopped up. With the two lights, are you still able to get a good temperature gradient? You'll want to provide a cool area of about 75-80 along with a basking area (or multiple) of around 100-105 or so. That will allow him to self regulate.
Well that's the thing, this viv so much larger than the one I had before that the temperature with 1 stayed at 90-95, so I put the second one, and under the shelf it's cooler