Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Help! My new baby is still not eating like he should and he has lost 3 grams since I got him. I received him on Tuesday of this week and he has only eaten about 35 crickets, 25 mealworms (I was trying to get him to eat his salad),about 15 waxworms (Again, trying to get him to eat his salad) and maybe two or three bites of salad. That's it for 5 days! I keep having to remove the extra crickets he hasn't eaten (no easy feat in a forty gallon breeder). Is this normal?

He is three months old and kind of plump. He was 60 grams and 11 inches when I got him and now he is 57 grams and 11". I offer salad mix with soaked pellets everday and crickets (3/8 in.) everyday. Sometimes I put something live on his salad to tempt him. I also mist him once daily to get him to drink. What am I doing wrong? His temps are good and he is really active. He seems obsessesed with looking at himself in the reflection (he is gorgoeous, but come on!). He defecates everday and the fecal material and urates looked perfectly normal. I have soaked him in a warm water bath one time since he arrived and I handle him twice a day for about 5 minutes each time. He is really mellow and sweet and does not stress about being handled at all. Any suggestions and help would be appreciated. I am really starting to freak out.
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Stacey

As long as he is eating I don’t think you have to worry. It is not unusual that they eat less when they arrive at a new home. Lots of stuff is new to him right now and even if he seems to be calm I think he is a little “nervous”.

Try not to handle him too much, give him time to get used to his new home – I am sure he’ll come around. IF he stops eating completely for several days you can leave fecal sample to the vet and check him for parasites. Parasites can cause a dragon to stop eating. But right now I think you can relax and give him time to adjust. Good Luck!

/Gunilla
Ps. I write a little about “first time at home” at my homepage. You can look there if you like:
http://www.morion.com/teo/english/experience/frame.html
Look for “First time at home” at the left frame-border.

First time at home

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When I put my baby in his 40 gallon tank, I also put in a large terra cotta bowl. I fed him his crickets in the terra cotta bowl because the crickets couldn't get out and he had an easier time catching them (I also have Calisand in the tank so he doesn't ever eat it) He came to know that his food is in the bowl and will go there to eat when he is hungry. This includes his veggies and pellets.

Funny thing, once he got bigger, the crickets also got bigger but they really don't jump out of the bowl right away. Anyway, one jumped out once and he saw it running on the sand but waited until I caught it and put it back into the bowl before eating it. It was funny because he looked like he was rooting me on... "Come on, catch it, catch it"....

Last thing, from what I've read here, you shouldn't been feeding mealworms yet because they can't digest the ectoskeleton.

Mealworms can cause impaction in small beardies, their exoskeleton contains chitin which is VERY difficult for them to digest. Stick with small crickets, no larger then the space between their eyes. You may want to add juvie pellets to the salad (soaked in water).
Waxworms are debatable for 2 reasons, they are very fatty and a dragon can get spoiled and snub crickets to hold out for waxworms. Once this happens, it can be very difficult to get them to eat crickets again. Then you are left with a dragon that eats a bunch of fat, not enough protein.
At this age, crickets, pellets, and greens are best.
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www.classylizard.com

to make sure. I'd give him another couple weeks to get used to his big change and he should line out by then. It sometimes takes them longer to acclimate when they are older. The hatchlings tend to acclimate a lil quicker in my experience than do the sub-adults. If he stops eating that is when I'd be really concerned.

Robert

Actually, super-geek that I am I did a fecal the first day he defecated because I have a microscope and supplies at home (much to my husband's horror I assure you!) He was all clear except for the normal critters seen in reptile fecals.

I know the mealworms and waxworms are bad but I was desperate to get him to eat. He only eats about 10 crickets at a time and if there is nopthing moving in the salad he won't eat it. I feed the salad in a bowl but, it is really shallow so the crickets get out quickly. The deeper bowl that they can't get out of is a great idea. I am going to get one today.

Do you think this is normal adjustment? I have his set up in my office which is a high traffic area with humans and other creatures (mainly cats and a dog). This was rec. in alot of the care sheets I read to get them acclimated, but maybe it is too much. The cats and dog could care less about the dragon because Irwin was there for eight years and they were used to him, but maybe Fuego (my beardie) is stressed out by them? Should I cover the front of the aquarium so he can't see them? Again, thank you all for your help.
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Stacey

days. Then they picked up their eating the next two and by the fourth day they were eating everything that moved!! What size crickets are you feeding him? If they are largeer crix then he may be getting full of them quicker. and YES high traffic ares could be the cause of him not adjusting as quickly. If he wasn't used to seeing kids and animals and much activity then it will take a little longer for him to adjust. I wouldn't cover up the fron of the aquarium though because he has to get used to it sooner or later and if you caover it up he'll just have to adjust all over again. I think he'll be fine just be patient and give him another week to find his way around his new home. He'll eventually settle in.

Robert

I tried the deeper bowl and he just ate about 25 crickets at one sitting. Thank you guys so much. He is my first baby so I am a little bit of a freak about him. Now, if I can just get the little bugger to eat his greens!!
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Stacey

Stacey:

25 crickets at one sitting?????? WAY TO MANY CRICKETS. Need to ration the crickets other wise you will never get him to eat anything else. THAT MANY CRICEKTS CAN ALSO CAUSE IMPACTIONS.
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www.georgiabeardeddragons.com

StacyL

Do you know if he was ever raised on any greens? He may have only been raised on crickets which is sad but so many people (we call them dragon flippers) just want to take the lazy way out and just toss crickets in the cage. These are people who do not care what the diet is of the animal or if it is a proper diet, they take the easy way out just to keep the little thing alive until they can sell it and get their money.

Sounds to me like he was never started on a proper diet which will make your job getting him adjusted that much harder.

Find out from who you bought it what they say he was eating when they had him? That may give you some insight.
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www.georgiabeardeddragons.com

Stacy:

Three months old is to young tobe eating mealworms at all let alone that many. They are not very high in nutrition because most of them is the hard outer shell. We tell people to only use superworms because they have a higher food value because they are fatter and have a higher ratio of guts to the hard shell, the chitin (sp?)

We do not use superworms until they are 5 months old and then they only get one, working up to two as they get older and then adults can have 4-6. We recommend staying away from mealworms all together.

Wax worms are great nutrition and high in fat and protein. However a young dragon can overindulge and become very sick. We recommend one wax worm for a three month old dragon and two for four months old and three for five months old. When they become adults they can eat a smaller quantity say about 6 at a feeding.

We recommend only using crickets as the main protein/meat meal for three months olds and it is best to feed these in the evening after they have eaten their salads in the morning and throughout the day.

Dragons are very good at maniputation and will hold out and not eat their greens, veggies, pellets if they know THE BIG MEAL is coming later. Just remember 60/40 rule for the ratio of the diet.

Our dragons eat their greens well (collards, turnip greens, mustard greens) and we have a recipe we use for the additions of the veggies to their salads. We make a dragon slaw of grated yellow squash, zuccinni (sp?) and grated carrots and use it as a topping on the greens. Our dragon prefer to pick out the water rich slaw first thing in the morning then they begin to eat their greens and work on those all day long.

The other secret is not to feed to many crickets in one meal because then they will get so full on the crickets they will not go back and snack on their greens or want their salad the next morning.

You just have to be patient and play the waiting game. Be a firm parent and ration the crickets. Your dragon will come around and learn to eat what he is suppose to. It is hard because you think you are doing him harm by not giving him his unlimited supply of crickets but you must hold out and eventually he will begin to eat the greens and salad.

This is just our recommendation and information on how we feed our dragons and how they respond.
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www.georgiabeardeddragons.com

Thank you for your advice I am new to babies and clearly need help. The 35 mealworms were actually about 7 a day for 5 days I was giving the total he ate for the 5 days I have owned him. I know that mealworms are not a great idea. I was trying to get him to eat and I sort of panicked. I bought him from Fire and Ice Dragons and he was raised on crickets and salad. Fire and Ice Dragons are excellent breeders and are very well respected. I researched them fully before buying.

I am probably overfeeding him crickets (as you said) and that is why he won't eat salad. He is a big three month old at 11 inches and 60 grams so I did not think that 25 1/2 inch crickets was that many. It seemed about what others talked about their babies eating on the forum. I have only owned an adult for eight years (he was already over a year old when I got him) so this is my first baby. How many crickets should he eat a day?
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Stacey

Hi again.

Fire and Ice Dragons have an excellent reputation so I am sure that you bought a quality dragon. I am currently working with Terri to acquire a superior Snow dragon from her.

If the dragon was used to eating salad that is good. It makes it easier to narrow down the problem. A dragon of that age and size that is eating its greens and veggies should eat about 10 1/2 crickets in the evenings. Then if they are still jungry they can go back to eat on their greens. You don't want to feed him like it is his "Thanksgiving Meal" every night. Obviously the dragons can'te tell us how full X number of crickets makes them but you get the idea. I think yours will eat his salad if you play the waiting game with him. After a few days, and it takes will power, he will break down and go back to eating greens and veggies. This is usually the case with dragons we have worked with but I can't give any guarantees just advice. Good luck. Most people that have told me they are having the same problem you are having go with what I have told them and then I hear back and they tell me it worked.

Hope that helps.
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www.georgiabeardeddragons.com