Young beardie not eating dubia roaches

[Fosterryan]

I recently got a young bearded dragon from pets mart ( I know should have gone with a breeder but it was short notice ) have him in a 40 gallon reptile tank with a 100 watt mega ray mvb for basking and a 150 watt light on the cool side. I know it seems like a lot but cool side stays at about 84-85 and basking temp is 95-99. So since I've gotten him the max he's probably eaten is like 10 crickets in a day. So I decided that I'd go with dubia roaches after my research on here and i bought a separate container to feed him since everything I put in his tank just hides and he never actually chases anything just eats it if it's right next to him. The first time I put him in the container he ate 3 roaches and then quit so I figured he was full. Now every other time I put him in the container he just freaks out ignores the roaches and tries to get out. I've tried feeding them with tongs and nothing. Hasn't eaten one since. Only thing he's eaten is horn worms. I even got him to take one right out of my hand. He never chases the crickets and I put dubia in a container inside his tank and he hasn't eaten any of them but the container is kind of deep so idk what to do. If anybody has a suggestion on a good bowl for dubia do that they don't escape that would be nice .I leave fresh greens and fruit in his tank everyday as well. So my concern is that he's not eating nearly enough insects for a young bearded dragon. He's not super active either just basks most of the day. I hold him every day but after about 5 minutes he just keeps trying to get away. I've had him for almost 10 days.

 

[CooperDragon]

It sounds like he may be still settling in which is OK. The feeding enclosure may be stressing him out so I would continue to put the roaches in a bowl for him as you've been doing. If he's eating small hornworms that's a good sign. They can be pretty filling. I'm glad to see you're offering him a variety of bugs to choose from. I would just keep offering bugs and let him take what he needs. He may start to eat more once he's settled in more and hits a growth spurt.

How far above the basking area is your MegaRay? The basking spot is a little cool. I'd try to bump it to around 100-110 if you can keep the cool side in the 80s. I use the 100w MegaRays as portable basking lights around the house and have found their optimal UVB output is between about 10-12'' from the bulb so I would situate it in that range above the basking area and use additional lights to adjust the temperature as needed.

 

[Fosterryan]

It's a little bit closer than the suggested range about 9 inches from the basking spot. Would it be bad to try and get it even closer? I also forgot to mention he did start shedding his skin a couple days ago so idk if that would also affect his appetite. Idk why with the basking area being so close I only get that temp. I think it's because my tank is super deep. It's 19.25" high. That's also why I have to use a 150 watt for the cool side. I'm sure my temps are accurate because I'm using a accurite with a probe taped right in the basking spot. The horn worms he's eating are kind of big but I was told that he wouldn't get impacted because they're so soft and he hasn't yet he poops just about every day and they look healthy. Hopefully he's just still settling.

 

[CooperDragon]

I just measured the output of my MegaRay at 9'' and it read 6.4 UVI. That's a big higher than I'd like to see (3-6 is usually recommended in the basking area, 7+ can be dangerous and will likely cause them to hide or avoid the basking site) so I certainly wouldn't move it closer. It's probably OK at that distance though because the beam is relatively narrow so he can move to the side rather than directly under it to get a good, safe amount of UVB. They are pretty good at sensing it and regulating as needed if they have options available to them. Think of the MegaRay beam like an inverted flame from a lighter. Intense right in the middle but narrow and less intense off to the sides a bit.

19'' from the thermostat probe I'm reading 103 in my tank with 92% output. I would try using a GE 90w PAR38 halogen flood light for basking and see how that goes (it's what I'm using at the moment). They tend to burn nice and warm and they handle dimming well so you can fine tune it with a lamp dimmer a bit if it winds up being too hot.

Yeah the hornworms shouldn't cause a problem since they're soft and full of liquid as you mentioned. I'd keep them on the smaller side but not worry about it too much if you don't see signs of a problem and he's able to chew them up pretty well.

 

[Fosterryan]

If I switch to the floodlight what kind of uvb would I have to use? Because i wanted to use the repti sun 10.0 but the top of my tank only has a small area of screen the rest is plastic so I can't fit a repti sun that's why I went with mvb bulb. I need to just switch his basking are to something much lower and mount a repti sun inside the tank. Do you have a suggestion for what dish to put dubia on? So they won't escape but he can still get to them. Thanks for all your help as well.

 

[jayce82]

for dubias I just bought a ceramic dog food dish from pet smart. it's slick so they can't climb it. and it's only like 1" deep

 

[CooperDragon]

Not having much screen on top is an issue if there isn't much space in terms of height. If you can lower the basking area that could create enough space to mount a UVB light inside the tank. You'd be cutting into climbing area though. That's partly why I recommend nice tall tanks. For now it may be best to keep the MVB but you may also be able to mount a halogen or a ceramic heat emitter under the top in a screw fixture and then connect that to a dimmer or dimming thermostat so it can kick in as needed.

 

[Fosterryan]

. Here is how the top of it is. So as you can see I'm pretty limited. I think I will try getting the flood light , lowering the basking area and mounting a uvb inside the tank because I can't get my basking area above 98 right now or it starts heating up the cool side to 92.

 

[CooperDragon]

Having the opening centered like that isn't helpful either. It prevents you from having the basking light off to one side to allow you to make the gradient more easily.

 

[jayce82]

yep that's your whole problem. basking light is too far to the center so it's heating your cool side. you need to move the basking lamp all the way to one side and it will cool the cool side down and you'll be able to heat up the warm side correctly