New bearded dragon

[Star_Cameron]

Hey all,

I recently bought a central bearded dragon, 4 days ago, and I'm a bit concerned that he has hardly eaten at all since I've gotten him. He was a new arrival to the pet shop (the day before I got him), and he is somewhere around 10 months old. I'm told he came from a fairly small enclosure from the breeder, and his enclosure at the pet shop was also small.

I have a 4 foot enclosure, with a UV light at one end, and a heat light at the other end. I had a bit of trouble with temperatures in the first couple of days - I think I let him get to cold, but I've hopefully corrected that now. During the day I'm getting around 25 degrees on the cool side, and around 32 degrees on the warm side. I've been leaving the heat on over night now as well, so he doesn't get too cold, as the outdoor temperature is still dropping a bit. He has a log for a basking spot that he really loves and it obviously gets warmer there, I'm not sure of the exact temperature though. He can hide under the log, and also has a fake rock dome that he can hide under which is closer to the cooler side.

He has a small food dish for vegetable food, and a water dish. I've been putting live medium crickets in with him, he may have eaten 1 or 2 (I saw him chew and swallow once), but he generally shows no interest, to the point of letting them crawl on him. The vegetable matter I've been making available so far is parsley, capsicum and some mushrooms which I have been adding a tiny amount of calcium supplement to. I've also been leaving some dry reptile food pellets in with him as well. He hasn't really touched any of this. He has pooped once, in his water dish, so he knows it's there and what it is.

He is very alert and pretty active now, running between his basking spot and the cool side as he pleases. He also does a bit of that glass surfing type behaviour. I've handled him a few times when I've seen him doing this, on the assumption that it might mean he wants out for a bit. He is pretty good with being handled, he has been handled a lot, after a while he just gets a bit squirmy and I put him back in.

Basically my only concern is that he is hardly eating, I'm really attached to him already and I want him to be happy and healthy. Am I doing anything wrong? Or is he just settling in the a new enclosure, and will he eat when he is hungry/ready?

Thanks for any possible help

Cameron

 

[Reptiles101]

You have to let him settle in for about a week then offer food to him, he's very stressed from the move to your house and needs time to settle down, he will eat when he's ready too. I had the same problem with my blue tongue lizard.

 

[Star_Cameron]

Thanks for the quick reply. That was what I had hoped, I'll keep making sure he's got food available for when he's ready.

 

[mummabear]

I would say a few suggestions for not eating may be incorrect temps, fussy or likes a certain type of food, not well including dehydrated.
I would be aiming for a basking spot in the early 40's. Being 10 months old he may be used to a type of food. Experiment. If crickets don't work try woodies, silkworms and the occasional superworm. Make sure you give him a spray of water. Beardys very rarely drink from standing water. They like drops.
Mine prefer green leafy stuff. I buy an Asian leaf blend from Woolies and they love it.

 

[Star_Cameron]

Sounds good, thanks for the suggestions Do you leave the greens in there all day? Or do you kind of develop set feeding times, and take it out when they're done?

 

[Grogshla]

put the greens in there in the morning. LEave them in there the whole day give them a spray with water also just to keep them fresh. Also I would put the uvb light near the basking light so the dragon gets uvb whilst basking. I personally have a uvb tube that runs the length of the enclosure that way the lizard cops uvb wherever it goes.

 

[DisturbedDave]

Should also invest in an Infrared Temp gun to help you achieve an optimum basking temp. Dragons need heat to absorb their food, so if he has the heat available to absorb food, he will be more likely to start eating.
As mentioned above, he just needs time to settle in and absorb his surroundings.

 

[Star_Cameron]

Just a bit of an update. Still not that much interest in food, maybe eaten a cricket or two. I moved the UV closer to the basking spot to make sure he was getting plenty of that. Also giving him a spray with water occasionally, which he doesn't seem to mind if I don't get too enthusiastic about it haha. Awaiting a temp gun sometime this week, but the temperatures seem pretty good anyway. Still does a bit of his glass-surfing during the day but not as much, and he's still active and very alert.

I'm about due to get some more crickets I think, should I persist with the crickets or maybe try something else - like woodies? Also is it possible the crickets are too big? I've got medium crickets, they seem to vary in size a lot, so I've been trying to pick out the smaller ones that he'd have more chance of eating.

I've attached a picture this time

View attachment 298051

Thanks for any more input/advice

 

[Grogshla]

mediums should be good for a 10 month old. Just give him some time. As long as he has proper heat,uvb and somewhere he can hide and feel safe then he will be fine mate.

 

[Star_Cameron]

Thanks xD I'm a stressful mother!

 

[Grogshla]

thats a good thing it means u care If you have any more concerns just ask

 

[Star_Cameron]

Hey again,

Bit more of an update, I've got him eating some crickets now. What I am doing at the moment is putting him into a smaller tank with a couple of crickets, and he has been eating them (yay!). I think I will probably continue with this for a while, but I'll eventually aim to just put them in his main enclosure. For now though they just hide too well in places he doesn't really go.

The next thing is that I want to start getting him onto his greens. Does anyone have any suggestions about ways to get him to try them? At the moment I'm making parsley, kale and pak choy available to him, on a clear plastic lid so he can see it easily. It's cut fairly small, and I have put it near his basking log where he spends most of his time. Any suggestions regarding size, placement, and "encouraging" him to start trying them?

Thanks again for all of your help

 

[Lawra]

I've seen other forum members put greens in a water dish (full of water) and their beardies eat them eagerly. Maybe give that a go?

 

[pinefamily]

Hi there,
Just experiment with different types of greens (and other vegies). There are a few definite no-no's, but try grated carrot, grated sweet potato, zucchini peeled off and chopped into small pieces, as well as snow peas diced up small and the various choys (leaf and stem).
We use the four leaf blend from Coles and mix in different combinations of the above from day to day. Strawberries and bananas are good treats. And younger beardies don't always eat as much vegies as adults, but will eat more crickets.