Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greetings, I've posted before about not eating many crickets, well, he seems to continue with the lack of eating in crickets, and I've become concerned about it. The temps seem to be ok, 107 on the basking spot he normally sits on, but there's another that can higher him up to 111, I was wondering if he's lost interest in the crickets, as none of this ever happened until he tried Wax Worms. Before Wax Worms, he would eat 20-30 Large crickets everyday, but has seemingly lost interest in them and eats only 10-12 a day, sometimes 4-5, but again, when I had this problem, I gave him wax worms so he wouldn't starve and gobled at least 15 in the morning and sometimes 10 in the evening.

He's about 7-8 inches and is 6 months old. His basking spot has a UVB / UVA lighting on it, meaning he gets both of those lights at the same time. I do mist him daily, and bathe him everyday. He is very alert and is quite active during the day, usually sometimes digging and then going up to bask, or sometimes just running around the cage. He uses the bathroom every 2-3 days, the stool seems a bit moist but not watery. Should I try a different type of Insect for him? He doesn't like Mealworms that much, but has aten 15 Giant mealworms one time, but never seemed to eat them afterwords.

well now that hes around 6 months old hes going to slow down on crickets. at 6 months he should probably be at about 70/30% veggies/insects. older dragons need more veggies and greens. insects 3-4 times a week for him now. at 9-12 months this should drop down to 90%/10% veggies/insects.

and if hes still not wanting crickets try other insects. roaches seem to be the normal insect dragons eat in the wild, in the way they go after them. they are nuts for roaches. and dubia or discoid roach has the same nutrion and meat as like 5-10 crickets. hornworms and silkworms are also good, superworms are ok but the shell is harder to digest than others.
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Beach Beardies

2.4. bearded dragons
1.0. Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1. Sugar Gliders
0.2. Felines *queen athena and missy*

7 - 8 inches and 6 months old? That's pretty small. I've had Dragon's be 7 inches at 5 weeks. On Jan 10th you said he was 8-9 inches ? lol.

What are you using for UVB? I've reread all of your past postings and you have said you have UVB but not what kind. What greens are you offering?

You said prior he is in a 40B tank and you dust with calcium every meal and multivitamin one meal a week.. Correct?

At 7-9 inches I feed 1/2" crickets. Pet store large are more like 3/4"? I wouldn't feed mealworms, or superworms at all.

You should buy yourself a weight scale. Weighing your Dragon is an excellent way of monitoring his health. He may just be eating less crickets because it's winter (all of mine eat less in winter) but if he is still gaining weight that is fine.

I agree with a scale! I also have to say that feeding 10 wax worms aday was really bad for your beardie. I feed greens all leafy stuff in one dish and then all veggies in another. He is very tiny for 6 months old. What is your complete setup? Temps substrate? what's all in your tank. Everything please explain very well. They also will slow down on eating crix as they get older they should be eating more veggies. The stuff i use is...kale, spinach, collard greens,and endive for greens. Veggies---strawberries, yellow squash,zuchinni,cucumber,carrotts,aspargus,green peppers,mango.

Kale and Spinach are high in calcium-binding oxalic acid and should be fed rarely if ever at all to Dragons.

Feed Collard, Turnip, or Mustard Greens, Dandelion, escarole or endive. Beans, peas, peppers, squash, zuccini are good as vegitables. Fruits are fine as a treat just no avocado.

http://www.herpcenter.com/articles/Suggested-Bearded-Dragon-Diet.html

Use that it's a list of reliable foods!

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Here is a better prepared more reliable source.

Dude this is not a compettion it's about the right information and the best and so far all of yours as far as sansd and things has been incorrect. Sorry you are probably like 13 and stubborn but it's not correct! Do some research!

Your use of "dude" certainly says a lot for your age and maturity level. Plus my information comes from years of personal experience and research from many sources.

Haha that's halarious since your giving bad and wrong info! Sorry they are not to be on sand very bad! Clay and plaster if you have the time will work as more of a NORMAL habitat!

Ok, I found a small enough measuring tape, and he didn't run away, the most accurate measurments I had. He is, from head to tail, 10 inches. I also finished reading all posts, please don't argue about information, if anyone lacks information, it's me. If the Beardie dies, it's completly my fault, because I did something wrong. I appreciate both of your information though. Also, BDlvr, I greatly apologize for the sudden changes in size. I hope my mistake can be forgiven, I will make sure it will not happen in the future. Also, I noticed he keeps digging at the new Drift Wood piece I selected for him. It's been 2 days since he's had it, and for some reason he refuses to bask. I put him on the basking spot when I'm at home every 3-4 hours but he'll end up hopping right off and digging at it some more. Should I remove it ASAP?

Don't know what to say about digging at a piece of wood. Have never heard of it and mine have never done it. The only thing I can say is that when you get something new you need to sterilize it before giving it to your Dragon. Good idea even if it came from a store. Could there be a cricket or other hiding in it?

I don't know what is going on between two of the people responding here but I have had and bred dragons as a hobby for several years. I listed my web site at the bottom of this reply. I think you may be having some problems with minor impactions and cage temps. Here is some quick background info and some sugggestions that might work for you.

What are you using to measure the temps in the cage and what size cage. A 10 inch dragon needs a least a 30 gallon or larger cage. An adult dragon will need at bare minimum a four foot long cage. Use a digital thermometer and measure the closest heat source (basking spot)and the spot farthest away. The hot spot should be around 110 and the cool spot should be 75 to 80 degrees. If the overall cage temp is too hot and too small your dragon might be digging to try and find a cooler spot to get out of the heat to cool down.

Substrate for a 10 inch dragon can be any non loose material that can be removed, cleaned, and sterilized or just thrown out and replaced when soiled. Things like tile, news paper, retile carpet etc. At 10 inches the only loose substrate that can be used is clean, dust free, play sand that has been run through a fine screen to remove any larger pebbles. I personally only use this when my dragons reach 15 inches long. Very porous materials like plaster are very hard if not impossible to steralize and othe loose substrates like clci sand, walnut shell, birdseed can cause impactions.

Dragons grow though out their life but most of the growing is done by 18 months of age. The proper food ratio is 80% protien and 20% veggies...all they can eat. As they get closer to 18 months you can begin to adjust thier diet to 20% protien and 80% veggies. At 6 months and 10 inches the 80% protien and 20% percent veggies are what you should be following.

Good protien sources are crickets BUT they can not be any longer then the space between your beardies eyes. My guess at this size dragon would be 1/2 inch crickets. Anything larger can cause impaction which is not just uncomfortable for your dragon but can cause permanent paralysis or even death. You mentioned that he is getting LARGE crickets. I think that is the problem. They are getting stuck in his digestive track and working thier way out slowly. This accounts for lack of appetite and pooping only every three days. Getting spoiled on wax worms (they are like feeding your dragon candy bars every day..not good) could also be causing the problem.
If you are getting your crickets from a store try looking for a vender that can ship the correct size crickets directly to your door. You should be able to get 500 or more for a bout $15 or less delivered.

You can also consider silkworms as a protien source. They are high in protien and low in fat. The only problem is they can get expensive and are not always available.

For veggies collard greens are the best followed by dandilion turnip and mustard.

If you have any other questions feel free to contact me through my web site.

http://www.jewelsdragons.com/

I hope this helps!

Yea sorry, he moves alot, so measuring can get frustrating, If you give me a minute or so, I'll try measure him again, and get the 'exact measurments'. My greatest Apologies on the measurments. I also took him into a pet store where one of the workers knew all of it's information. The breeder it came from had her Dragons come out as runts (smaller then usual Dragons.) she said he looks like he's eating good, but I it does appear ever since we had snow, his eating has declined. Again, I'll measure him completly and try my best to get accurate Measurments.

It's not that important. My biggest question was what you were using for UVB. I reread all of your previous posts for some background info and happened to notice that. All of your other care practices seem to be in line. I don't bath mine as much. I wouldn't have the time to bath all mine once a day if I wanted to. One of mine has been down for the last 3 days that was awake up to this point. So winter slowdown could be a viable possibility.

In honesty, I do believe the UVB is causing alot of Appetite problems. I am using, 'ESU Reptile Super UVB Lighting' and using the lighting that came with it, however, I am going to change it to 'Repto Sun Glo 8.0' as soon as possible. I do believe it may help out in the appetite department alot. He seems alert, it actually suprises me. I do believe it could be winter time that may be effecting appetite, but then again, I also lack the knowledge to make such a judgment.

Ah, I see, I actually never did sterlize it, but wanted to, but my dad actually wouldn't let me, he made judgments such as, 'It's fine, just stick it in', and I tried to sterilize it, but instead he stopped me from doing so. The only way I know to sterilize Wood pieces is to boil for 15 minutes, but I lack the material to put such a big log in, to boil it. What other ways can I use to sterilize the wood piece? Can I stick it in very hot water for a few hours, if possible?

I would take it out right away, there maybe soemthing bothering him that he may not like it. You alos can't just put it in hot water in would need to be completely boiled in order to sterilize it. Make sure everything from now on is sterilized. Can you get pics? It would really help on the how you have everything exactally setup to see and know in order to completely help you. Here are two pics of my setup in a 50g breeder tank. It is only one beardie in the tank, i have the two of them together just for the pics! Hope it helps a bit!

Image

I'm sure LeoLady's opion is better than mine. But, forget about boiling it. You can put it in the oven at the warm setting (170)for an hour and it will be fine or you can soak it in a 10% bleach solution. If you choose the bleach be sure you then soak in plain water and let it dry thoroughly.

For stuff I buy or regular furniture cleaning I spray thouroughly with the Zoo Med Wipe Out 2 wait the 5 minutes per directions and then rinse them thoughly. I have never had a problem.

As far as your UVB. The ESU Super Daylight is only 3% UVB. The penetration is only going to be about 6". Meaning if your Dragon is farther than 6" away from the bulb he is really getting almost no usuable UVB. Since you are using a 40 Breeder tank (18" High) I would recommend the Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0 that will supply usable UVB to 20". Right now you can buy the bulb for $18 from LLLReptile.