Want to make sure I'm taking care of her right????

[hazzaram]

Hi guys.

I've had Momo since August 5th and I just want to make sure I'm doing okay with her. There's a few things I'm concerned about.

First things first, she is a total sweetheart and I love her! I'm so glad I decided to take the plunge. This is her enjoying a bath last night.

Anyway. My biggest concern is her eating. I posted on it before and was told she's just settling in. She seems really comfortable now but she still isn't eating that much. Maybe 8-10 crickets a day (sometimes less), and she will only eat once a day. If I try and feed her more than once, she just refuses to eat. She'll just sit there and watch the crickets crawl around but she won't eat. I've tried feeding her a bunch at one time to try and excite her and I've tried feeding just one at a time. She eats better with one or two at a time.

I contacted the breeder and found out he only feeds his beardies once a day so that is what she's used to. Will she be okay like this? She won't touch her salads at all so she's getting no nutrition from them. I've even tried hand feeding and she took romaine, but then I learned it's not good for her. She won't even take a bite of escarole or endive, and I know they're really healthy for her. I can't find mustard, collard or dandelion greens in any of the stores around me.

Notes - I can't feed roaches as they are illegal across Canada and I'm not comfortable with that anyway. I want to get Reptiworms but for 2 containers of 150 worms it's going to cost me $100 with shipping (shipping in Canada is crazy!) and I just can't afford that right now. I know she can't have mealworms... so, that really only leaves me with crickets.

My other concern with feeding is that she won't hunt. She just sits in one spot and waits for the crickets to crawl in front of her so she can snatch them up. She has no problems moving and she seems pretty healthy and active. She's always crawling around her tank, she just doesn't seem to like hunting. Is this just a personality thing? Do some beardies not like to run around and chase crickets?

I have also never seen her drink. She won't drink from her bowl. I give her a bath every other night but she won't drink in there either. Does she get enough hydration through her vent?

Another thing - she seems to sleep a lot. She puts herself to be around 7-8pm and sometimes she's still sleeping when I get up the next day (sometimes not until 10!). The last two days I came home from work at 5:30pm and she was asleep already.

Before someone asks, my tank is set up as follows:

67 gallon tank with front doors
150 w basking light that's set up on a dimmer. I keep her basking spot at 104-105 (which the breeder said is too high. He keeps his babies at 95)
Reptisun 10.0 uvb light mounted over basking spot (unobstructed) so she gets light from both at the same time
Lots of climbing perches (which she never uses)
A cave (which she never uses. She sleeps behind it)
Water and food bowl, always kept full

Any suggestions? I just want to keep her healthy and happy so she grows into a big, strong dragon.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Is her uvb a coil or long tube? The temps are fine. Just for an adult beardie the temps need to be 98 minium to digest properly. So babies should be about 105 to 110 max. Babies don't really eat salads all you can do is offer it everyday. As for water my 3 never have drank from a dish. They get theirs from when I give them water with a syringe. I do that 3x a week. They really like coconut water. Anyway the only thing they may be affecting her is the uvb if you have a coil they have been known to cause appetite and lethargy problems.

 

[hazzaram]

Hi. Is her uvb a coil or long tube? The temps are fine. Just for an adult beardie the temps need to be 98 minium to digest properly. So babies should be about 105 to 110 max. Babies don't really eat salads all you can do is offer it everyday. As for water my 3 never have drank from a dish. They get theirs from when I give them water with a syringe. I do that 3x a week. They really like coconut water. Anyway the only thing they may be affecting her is the uvb if you have a coil they have been known to cause appetite and lethargy problems.

I have the long tube type. I haven't read about giving water with a syringe... I'll have to look this up.