Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just got my first hatchling bearded dragon. I've had it for about 5 days now and I am curious as to how long before they regain thier natural appetite? In the course of the past 5 days it has only eaten about 8 crickets. I keep it in a 40 gallon tank with a 60 watt lamp for the basking area the thermometer in the center of the tank reads 85F so thats about the average temperature of the tank. I feed the little guy in a smaller tank to make it easier for it to get at the crickets. Its about 1 gallon in size I usually wait 4 hours after I turn the lamp on to feed it. I'm just curious if this is normal and if I should be worried. It looks healthy nice and plump for its size. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

Dont know whether you saw my post down the page but my hatchling is only eating about five a day. He is drinking though and looks a good size so maybe they are just filling him?

whats the temp in your basking spot?

I did not see anything about a UV light...

Also what is the basking temperature, is there a place he can get to that is around 95-105.

Without proper temps and lights, he will never eat well and not survive long without serious problems

The basking temp is around 90-95F using a 60 Watt UVB light. I might need to get something higher powered you think? Maybe an 80 watt?

You may have to do just that. For babies the baskign temperature should be at least 95F, ranging more between 105-110F. Does he have a log/rock to bask on? Lowering the light may be enough to increase the temperature over the basking light (just make sure its not so low he could touch it, should be at lest 8 inches above him). You can also use two 60W basking bulbs and aim them near the same area to increase the temperatures of the basking area.

Purchase one of those indoor/outdoor thermometer with a probe, this way you can more acquirately measure the basking temperature. (you can get a digital one at Walmart, homedepot etc for around $10 CDN