Beardie help

[Cellini]

I have a baby bearded dragon and he isn't eating much. About 2 days after I got him he started shedding so I assumed that this was the reason for poor appetite, he is nearly finished shedding now but he is now eating even less than before. he will eat about 3/4 crickets and maybe 2 mealies with a tiny bit of bok choy every 2 days. should he be eating more than this? or am I just worrying over nothing? BTW I have just raised the thermostat temp incase its because isn't hot enough at the moment.

 

[Chris1]

thats nowhere near enough,..

what are your basking temps?
they should be around 40C, (measured with a thermometer, dont rely on what ur thermostat is set at)
with a cool end thats room temp.
does he have a UVB light?
are you misting him regularly? (they dont drink from bowls)
are you offering him salads in his cage all day or just offering a bit?
supplements?
what substrate is he on?
is he pooing?

 

[Cellini]

Thanks for the reply, temps are 33 hot and 28/29 cool (I cant really make it hotter than this as the cool end starts to heat up as well, he has a uvb light that he can get within 10 cm of, i mist him twice a day as he is shedding and I bathe him every 2 days (as he hates it). He also drinks when I mist him, he gets salads in his bowl daily as well as a bit of hand fed salad, I dont give him any supplements. He is on repti carpet as a substrate and he is pooing (mainly in the bath).

Any info would be appreciated

 

[Andie]

How big is that tank that he is living in? The temps you are getting are not ideal at all.
The basking temperatures need to be hotter because he won't be able to digest his food properly. It is possible that what is happening is that he knows he is not hot enough to digest so he is reluctant to eat. If you give them the proper temperature gradients to choose from they are remarkably good at knowing what to do.
He should be eating heaps of crickets every day. At least 10 probably.

I am having real trouble with my temps lately too. Last month some days were almost as hot as the basking temp should be so the heat light was off all day!! No good in my opinion. I don't know what more experienced keepers recommend but this is what I have been doing in this really hot weather to keeps temps safe.

So I set a timer so the light comes on at 6am, I get up at 7. This gives them an hour to warm up before I feed them their salad and crickets. Then I leave it on with the timer set to take it off at 10am so they have 3 hours to digest.

Hopefully someone else will have some more concrete suggestions.

I forgot to say that he should be getting calcium (7x weekly) and vitamin supplements. (4-5 x weekly)
look at THIS link

 

[Cellini]

The tank is around 21 inches long x 16 inches wide x 18 inches high. The tank was sold to me by someone knowing what I was putting in there so assumed that they knew what they were talking about... but I have been unsuccessful in maintaining proper temps (especially since the weather is all over the place at the moment) in the tank there is a 25 watt heat mat underneath, a 150 watt ceramic heat emitter and a UVB fluro, also I use a thermostat and a 2 probe thermometer. If anyone has any ideas how to maintain temps in this tank, please let me know!

 

[Bretsta]

basking light set to 38 deg. if his a baby, i wouldn't worry with meal worms at all. plenty of crickets and woodies. woodies have heaps of calcium, and dust your crickets with vitamins. add a bit of extra calcium powder in with your vitamin powder to. most importantly, just get those temps right up 28 deg. should be a night time temp as a baby

 

[Mighty_Moose]

I really dont like the Ceramic heat lamps because they heat the whole tank not one area i used to use one for my beardy when he was sleeping but it just got too hot so never again. And I have been told alot that having a basking light mimics the sun and Basking.

 

[Bretsta]

that tank wont last long. will definitly need something quite a bit bigger within 6 months if he eats enough. and especially if you have more than one.

 

[Bretsta]

I really dont like the Ceramic heat lamps because they heat the whole tank not one area i used to use one for my beardy when he was sleeping but it just got too hot so never again. And I have been told alot that having a basking light mimics the sun and Basking.

i agree, basking light is the way to go. i used ceramic in the past and as far as dragons go, you def wanna be on basking. much better for temp control

 

[Andie]

You probably don't need to be running the heat mat at the moment. Especially during the day. 150W seems large for a tank under 2 ft. In my hatchy tank (18inch long) I use a 25W ReptileOne fan heater.

I would get a 50w basking light bulb and see if that makes a difference. You want the hot end hotter and the cold end colder.

 

[Sel]

Get rid of the heat Mat for a start, a 50 watt basking light may do the job,if it isnt hot enough grab a 75 watt.
Once he is hot enough he will eat, give hime woodies..they love them.

 

[IgotFrogs]

a heatmat isnt much use on a beardy as the dont like their heat from underneath .... they like it from above ....

 

[Chris1]

beardies are daytime animals are do much better in a well lit tank....so get a bright light that lets them know theyre awake.

and as far as the temps go, once theyre right he'll eat.
one of my basking lights was broken for about a week over the hols, and 3 of my beardies didnt eat a bite the whole time, dad came round, replaced the fitting and within hours they were stuffing their faces, they just dont seem to feel hungry when the temps are too low.

what is the tank made of?
to get the cool end right u might need to modify ur tank a bit, ie make a partition that goes halfwaqy down between the hot and cold side and extra ventilation in the top to let any excess heat escape.

are u near hornsby?
i have a 4 foot fish tank i dont need,....
otherwise u could upgrade him to his adult enclosure now and let him grow into it,...

 

[Cellini]

Thanks for all the replies, we originally didn't have the heat mat in there but as we couldn't get the hot side hot enough without heating the whole tank we got the heat mat hoping it would achieve this...we also got such a small tank as we were told that putting him in his adult enclosure would stress him out...? I will try the basking light instead of the heat emitter and see if that helps BTW the tank is glass (front and back) and there is like mesh on the top and ventilation stuff on the sides

 

[Costa]

thah would be why you are losing to much heat and its not heating up enough
with vents that big its like a draft is going through the whole enclosure. too much heat is escaping.
you could board up the hot end or what i did with mine was cut up a box and took some cardboard. put it over the vents and tape it there with either duct tape or that brown stuff wihich i cant remember the name of for the life of me.
the cool end might be alright at this stage.
if you heat up the enclosure a bit and especially the basking sopt s/he should be eating in no itme

 

[Costa]

also cardboard is probly a better idea to cover the vent as it has a corogated interior which acts as insulation rather than woodedn boards
it might look drab and dull and taccy. but its for the benifit of your beardie and will do fine until you get its adult enclosure.

 

[Cellini]

Hi all,
Just wanted to say a big thanks to all the replies, my beardie is eating properly now that I have stabilized the temps, I taped cardboard onto the vent on the hot side (thanks Costa) and this worked really well.

Thanks again!