When to be concerned?

[lilgreeneyes]

We got Grendel from a local pet store on June 10th, so we've had him for about 8 days. In the course of these days, Grendel has eaten maybe a little less than a dozen large crickets and a bit or two of collard greens. We gave him a few days to get settled and handled him on June 14th and gave him soak. During this week, we've noticed a change in him. He's become more active running around his viv and exploring and he even seems brighter.

The pet store where we got him from bought him from a breeder in Florida, so basically he flew on a plane from FL and was at the pet store for about 2 weeks, then he came to us. The day we got him out we measured him. Grendel is about 17 inches from snout to tail and when he is laying down the measurement across one side of his back to the other is a little less than 4inches. He definitely looks healthy weight wise. He also has a nice cream belly with no stress marks. Here is his thread if anyone wants to see pics to get an idea of his size. viewtopic.php?f=49&t=171475

Here is his setup...
40g breeder
100w basking bulb
Reptisun 10.0 UVB
Nonadhesive shelf liner for substrate
Cave on cool side
Basking platform that he can also crawl under on warm side
Digital thermometer with probe on warm side
Digital thermometer on cool side which also measures humidity

He did drink water from his bath and licks the water off when he's misted. We've tried to feed him large crickets (as mentioned above a wax worm collard greens and squash.

He has pooped twice since we got him and it looks normal with urates and not runny.

We know that they can go through relocation stress for up to 2 weeks. But as I mentioned he's not showing any stress marks. Do we just keep offering these foods to him and let him continue getting used to us? Because of all the moving around he's done in the past month, will his relocation stress be longer, especially moving states from Florida to PA?

If there is any advice or tips that someone could give us, we would appreciate it so very much.

 

[Rawbbeh]

As silly as this sounds....

Since you have him in a glass tank. Cut cardboard or just use printer paper and cover 3 of the 4 glass panels of his tank. It helps the BD not feel so "exposed" and, as I did with my Beardie under the suggestion from the breeder, within SECONDS there was a noticeable change in behavior.

It may very well be just what you need for him to start eating like a pig!

 

[lilgreeneyes]

Thank you for your suggestion. The way his set up is, his viv is on a dresser that is up against the wall, so only the front and 2 sides are what he can see through. But I have wondered if he was kept in one of those type of cages where only the front was see through since he came from a breeder.

I've noticed that when I try feeding him the crickets he will stare for a few seconds and walk away. I suggested to my husband that Grendel could even be bored of crickets. Since we really don't know anything about him except that he came from a breeder in Florida, it's hard to tell what he has been fed.

We are hopefully gonna go to the local pet store this weekend and talk to the woman who purchased him to see if she can give us the breeder's info so we can contact them to find out some information.

 

[Toasty]

I adopted a 6 yr old bearded dragon pretty recently and I named him Grendel also, you obviously have good taste lol. Are you dusting the crickets with anything? While I haven't experienced it with Grendel or my previous beardie, it seems to affect whether some beardies will eat. Both only eating prey that has been dusted and refusing things that have been dusted. Just a thought. What are the actual temps in the enclosure?

 

[lilgreeneyes]

Yes we dust the crickets.

Warm side is 101F and cool side is 80F

This is a tricky part too that we don't know his age, so it's hard to tell if he's just not eating much crickets because he's older or what the case could be.

Just out of curiosity how many feeders does your Grendel eat and do you give him a few every day or other day?

 

[Toasty]

Have you tried feeding him some crickets that aren't dusted? While most likely not the reason for him not eating them, still worth a try.

Not knowing his age does make it a bit harder, but a dozen crickets over 8 days is still much less than what even an adult beardie should be eating. You'd mentioned trying to get the breeder's information so that you could contact them about what he's used to eating which sounds like a great idea and you would be able to find out his age as well, which will definitely be good to know.

I've been very lucky with Grendel and my other beardie when it comes to feeding. Grendel will eat as much as I give him pretty much, as long as it's moving and fits in his mouth. Because he is 6 yrs old I do limit how much I give him so that he will eat whatever "plant" foods he gets. Even then he is pretty good about eating a pretty wide variety of things, though I'm still working on getting him to try the prickly pear cactus pads that are so good for him. I feed live prey every day, I have a dubia colony and that makes it both easy and cheap. Superworms and waxworms are also easy to keep on hand and I use them to provide some variety. I might buy crickets if I happen to go somewhere near a petstore also.

 

[lilgreeneyes]

We may give that a try, but doesn't he need the calcium?
We just can't get over how active he is considering how big he is and he doesn't seem to show that much in stress marks. His belly has been nice and white for the most part.

We have 2 other beardies out in the living room in their own vivs and Grendel is in his in our bedroom. I suggested to my husband that maybe Grendel is depressed being in the bedroom. Our dragon Aurora actually went through this when we had her in our bedroom, but when we moved her in the living room she perked right up and started eating. he's worried about moving Grendel in the living room because he's afraid it will cause all 3 beardies to be stressed.

 

[Toasty]

If he'll eat crickets that haven't been dusted then at least you'll know why they're being refused and then different strategies could be used to get him to eat a balanced diet. It most likely isn't the reason but it's always good to be able to rule things out.

Is he eating anything at all? What else is being offered? If you have access to a scale that will weigh him I would suggest daily weigh-ins to moniter any weight loss. I would actually recommend getting one if you don't already have an appropriate scale since they're available for less than $20 at Walmart and I'm sure a variety of other places. Its a good thing for anyone with small pets to have since weight fluctuations tend to be a big indicator that something might be going on with an animal's health.

He could definitely still be stressed without having visible stress marks. Relocating to a new and strange environment is going to create some level of stress in even the most laid-back and adaptable animals. I wouldn't recommend moving him into the living room, at least not now.

 

[lilgreeneyes]

We will definitely try the no dusted crickets.

I think so too that it could be him still getting used to things considering he came from Florida to Pennsylvania.

I don't have a scale, but I do want to get one for the purpose of weighing the beardies. So that's what I'll be doing next weekend.

In the time we've had him, we've offered crickets as a staple and a wax worm as a treat, which he didn't seem to care for the worm.

As for veggies, we have offered collard greens and started trying squash last night and today. Today he did a few pieces of the squash that I hand fed him.

Thank you so much for your responses.