SpazzUnscripted
Member
I've had my Pretzel for 3 1/2 weeks or so now... I'm not sure how old he is, but he's around 6 inches long, nose to tail. He's grown just a little bit since we got him--maybe half an inch or so. From what I've read, shouldn't he have shed by now? My friend's beardie (who's a little bit bigger than Pretzel, and she's had him awhile longer than we've had ours) has shed several times since she got him.
We can't get him to eat anything live. He was fed pellets and veggies in the pet store, so that's likely why. He ate 5-6 crickets the first day, but wouldn't touch the rest, and won't have anything to do with them since. We only gave him the small ones ("size between the eyes" and all that), but when we gave them to him since, he literally let them jump around on him without making any effort to catch them.
We tried worms as well... waxworms, I do believe. He ate about two, but wouldn't touch them after. It wasn't that he wasn't hungry... I don't know if he doesn't like eating live food because it moves, or what. We tried hand-feeding and letting him "hunt" the worms, to no avail. We kept a couple in his tank all day to see if he'd just eat when he got hungry... nope.
We have a commercial food that we give him, Nature Zone Baby Bites, and he loves that; we sprinkle calcium onto the food about 5x/week. We also give him veggies, hand-fed and in his dish. He poops what I presume is a normal amount, around once a day. We keep him misted and he has a water dish and all that, as well as baths now and again (which he's not a fan of, but he's always content to snuggle after!). He's alert and active, spends time on both sides of his tank, is social and not aggressive (though he lets us know what he wants--he'll move away if he doesn't want to be petted, come to the corner of the tank when he wants to be picked up). He seems pretty happy and well-adjusted.
The only real problem is that he's not eating live food and not shedding. Since I don't know how old he is I don't know what's "normal," but to hear my friend describe how often her beardie sheds, it concerns me. Why wouldn't he be shedding? Should I try feeding him freeze-dried crickets?
(PS: I'll probably get some askers, so I'll answer first. I spend tons of time haunting these boards, and yes, his setup is just as it needs to be.)
We can't get him to eat anything live. He was fed pellets and veggies in the pet store, so that's likely why. He ate 5-6 crickets the first day, but wouldn't touch the rest, and won't have anything to do with them since. We only gave him the small ones ("size between the eyes" and all that), but when we gave them to him since, he literally let them jump around on him without making any effort to catch them.
We tried worms as well... waxworms, I do believe. He ate about two, but wouldn't touch them after. It wasn't that he wasn't hungry... I don't know if he doesn't like eating live food because it moves, or what. We tried hand-feeding and letting him "hunt" the worms, to no avail. We kept a couple in his tank all day to see if he'd just eat when he got hungry... nope.
We have a commercial food that we give him, Nature Zone Baby Bites, and he loves that; we sprinkle calcium onto the food about 5x/week. We also give him veggies, hand-fed and in his dish. He poops what I presume is a normal amount, around once a day. We keep him misted and he has a water dish and all that, as well as baths now and again (which he's not a fan of, but he's always content to snuggle after!). He's alert and active, spends time on both sides of his tank, is social and not aggressive (though he lets us know what he wants--he'll move away if he doesn't want to be petted, come to the corner of the tank when he wants to be picked up). He seems pretty happy and well-adjusted.
The only real problem is that he's not eating live food and not shedding. Since I don't know how old he is I don't know what's "normal," but to hear my friend describe how often her beardie sheds, it concerns me. Why wouldn't he be shedding? Should I try feeding him freeze-dried crickets?
(PS: I'll probably get some askers, so I'll answer first. I spend tons of time haunting these boards, and yes, his setup is just as it needs to be.)
