Reptile & Amphibian Forums

okay so everyone tells me my setup for my 2 month old baby dragon is fine but in the month i have had him he has hardly grown and eats less and less. it has gotten to the point were he only ate 2 crickets yesterday! here is the run down, he's in a 20 gallon long tank, paper towels as substrate, construction paper up on inside of walls, cool side temp is 78, basking spot temp is mid 90's ambiant air with a surface temp of 125 but room to find a temp he likes, dust every meal (when he was eating) with reptical phospherous free with d3 6 days a week, and 1 day with herpivite. humidity in tank is at 24%. here are some pics of setup, only difference is i took out the log because crickets were hiding in it. he does not go in hide often, have only seen him go in it twice. PLEASE HELP!
Link

How are you measuring the ambient and surface temps. on the hot side? Where do you live?

40watt seems low.

temps taken with infrared digital tempgun, live in chicago, IL This an an old post from when i first got him about a month ago. i was asking if my setup was good and and how many times a week to supplement with reptical and herpivite. temps were in the 90's so only needed a 40 watt to kick it up over 100. same setup tho. just took out log and put in 75 watt bulb

You stated that everyone said your setup is good and from the sound of it I agree. But, I feel like something is off if a baby dragon is only eating 2 crickets a day so bear with me.

What is the procedure you use when you feed him? And how does he act when you put crickets in? How often do you try to feed him?

How long is he? do you know his weight? Has he gotten longer? if so how much over what period of time? are you offering salad?

You're using a household bulb right? Can you post an updated picture of him?

hatch date: 7/24/10 arrival date: 8/19/10 5 inches 6 grams,
week 1: 5 3/4 inches 7 grams, forgot week 2, week 3: 6 inches 7 grams, week 4 (today): 6 1/4 inches 8 grams. on the rise but i dont think he is growing enough is he? he had 4 reptiworms today no crickets. do offer salad but doesnt eat it, am using a zoomed 75 watt basking bulb, tried feeding in diffrent container but didnt like it so i drop crickets into tank and he will go after them if hungry, offer him food 3 times a day, 1 in morning, 1 in afternoon, and 1 at 7pm. only eats the last time these last couple days.

Sometimes they start off slow and then take off. I've taken rescues that were 7" at 5-6 months and they grew very rapidly a few weeks later.

What size crickets are you feeding him? Are you gutloading the crickets with something?

feeding him 3/8 size crickets that are about a week or 2 old now. but are still the distance between his eyes. every couple days when i see the greens are gone or dry i place fresh greens in with crickets, also put some dragon pellet food in there. he ate a little better this morning, about 4 or 5 crickets, hopefully he will eat a couple more later on.

you know what i think i made 1 huge mistake, i told a breeder i bought a dragon from i was having problems with my baby feeding, she said since my uvb didnt run the length of the enclosure and didnt have uvb under basking bulb that this was maybe why he wasnt growing and eating properly. she suggested i put uvb strip behind basking bulb, so i did but completely slipped my mind that with the hammock he gets within 4 to 5 inches of reptisun 10.0 uvb. One day i noticed he was closing eyes more than usual, so immediately took uvb off and put it back to how it was. like i said bulb is like 8 months old so i didnt think it would give off too much to point were it would damage his eyes. It was only up like that for 3 days maybe, if that. but i didnt notice any swelling around eyes, or any type of discharge, and he doesnt miss those tiny crickets. Is there anything i can flush his eyes with or should i take him to vet? Or does he sound ok for his size and give him more time?

No UVB has long term issues so I don't think to little UVB is your problem at this point. Too much UVB will cause him to keep his eyes shut much of the time, both in and out of the light. If he's not displaying that symptom then I don't think that is any issue either. Especially since it lookes like the UVB has to pass through a fine screen which cuts the amount in half anyway.

Maybe someone else has a suggestion I haven't thought of. But it sounds to me that you are doing the right things. Some dragons just grow slower than others. Since he is growing and gaining weight albeit slowly I would wait a little longer before you worry too much.

He'll eat more crickets if they are smaller in size. It also seems they can digest them easier. But, I understand you are limited by the sizes the pet stores sell.

Do you have a UVB source? What size crickets are you offering? Are you giving water to your dragon every day either by misting or using an eye dropper?

Have your tried other insects besides crickets, such as phoenix worms or butter worms? Both of these are a good size for baby dragons (some butterworms are a little big but being soft bodied, shouldn't pose any problem with impaction.)
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

using reptisun 10.0 uvb, is about 8 mos old but going to replace it this weekend when i buy new one at reptile show, feeding 38 size crickets, small reptiworms, mist daily and bath once a week. uvb doesnt run lenght of enclosure tho, as you can see in pics in link, i was thinking of getting either a mvb bulb that gives off uvb also or getting a longer uvb strip the lenght of the tank. which is the better idea?