Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well I dont get it. Since the other babies have been gone and I seperated each baby into their own 10 gallon tank they have not been the same!? They seem to mope around more, look irritated (which they never really did before) and are eating alot LESS! WHY? Everything is the same except each has its own cage now? Also I am not in the room as much, but that wouldnt make them this way would it? What can I do?

The day after I brought the other babies to their new homes I had decided to try and put the 3 remaining babies together as they seemed lost. Well it didnt last long because Junior the male and bigger baby started flattening out, puffing up and looking like he was going to attack. The other 2 (females) were in the corners looking petrified. So its like I dont know what the right thing to do is? I have them blocked off so they cant see each other, mostly because it also blocks them from being able to see the adults. Should I try and take down the barrier? what should I do here? I have babies that were eating like pigs, growing fast and thriving and now its like they are starting to go down hill, unless I am just paranoid? They are eating, but less then they were. Junior still eats quite a bit, but he is always irritated now. Shortcake eats so little its scary Oh but when I decided to try and throw in a couple small baby lobster roaches in her (shortcakes) cage for the first time she scarfed them right up!? Could she just not like crickets? She never really ate alot, but at least she ate some when the other babies were still here.

By the way greens are offered daily as well. Their poop looks normal, isnt runny or smelly.

My spouse says I am probably paranoid because I went from having to watch 19 babies to watching 3 and now I will notice every little thing in those 3. Where before I might not have seen that Junior was irritated a certain portion of the day, or that Shortcake only eats a few crickets a day, etc etc. Whats everyone else think?

Thanks, LindsayMarie

ps. The crickets are bigger now. I am not sure of the exact size, but they arent bigger then the distance between their eyes but their close. I ordered them as 3/8 inch crickets about a week ago. Could that be why they eat less of them? Also they were smelling a little bit (even though I clean the b in every few days). I cleaned them again last night, but I notice the bigger crickets smell quite a bit more then the little 1/4 inch ones. Could that be why they dont want them? Just trying to come up with some ideas? Thanks.....
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I wouldnt worry too much if i were you. I would take down the barrier so they can see each other. This might give them a reason to be more competitive for food. All my dragons can see each other , from hatchlings to adults. And I have no problems, infact the little babies actually arm wave at the other dragons. And yes the bigger crickets may cause them to eat les as well. I feed mine that are 8 weeks old size 2 crickets, next to pin heads and ten day olds its the smallest you can get. The smaller crickets you give them the more calcium and vitiamins they get. I hope this helps a little.

peace,
nathan23

A few days before the babies were due to go to their new homes (last week) I was running out of crickets. So I ordered 3000 3/8 inch crickets because the 1/4" seemed way too small for the dragons size. Anyways, as you can guess I bought way too many crickets!LOL I wanted to be on the safe side for the 2 days I had left and they didnt eat anywhere near 3000. So now I have like 2000 crickets growing at a fast rate and 3 baby dragons who eat maybe 20-30 of them a day all together! I am thinking the size of the crickets has quite a bit to do with them eating less too. I am going to start feeding my adults some of the crickets to get the numbers down a little. In the next week I expect the 2nd clutch to hatch and I will be ordering around 3000-5000 1/4 inch crickets and will use those to also feed my 3 holdback babies. By then I hope these crickets will be eaten! Also, I might try taking down the barriers and see how they react. I think I will give them one more day with the barriers up because today they seemed to eat a little more. Maybe they just needed some adjustment time (going from 3-4 babies a cage to being by themselves). I would rather keep the barriers up as I have found that the dragons have less stress that way. But who knows? LindsayMarie
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Lol, I didnt even think about the adjustment period! I'm sure they'll do just fine. keep us posted on how they do. And I cant wait to see the new babies. good luck and have a great weekend!

peace,
nathan

certianly there will be an adjustment period for them, seperated from their siblings and alone in seperate tanks, i would just give them some time =) fecals at this age is a really good idea also. You are probably a really concerned mom too, know how it is to raise a baby dragon, it can be very worrysome sometimes especially when we are watching them so closely, we notice every little tiny thing =)Best of luck with them.