Reptile & Amphibian Forums

am new to this forum and to the world of dragons... I have done lots of research before getting my dragon and not that i have him he wont eat. Maybe one of you more expienced people can help.

He is what i have, atm I have a 20L tank with a screen top, a UV lamp on one side of the the tank and the heat lamp on the other the temp on the war side of the tank ranges from 95 to 105 depending ont he time of the day, cooler at nite. my dragon is about 4 1/2 inches long and the crickets that i have hunted all over for are pin heads. (just order 500 more online so i don't have to travel and hour to get more). For floor covering i have paper towels, and i have a water dish and a spray bottle for water and a nice little basking area that is at an angle so he can choose how warm he wants to be. I have been putting a salad in everyone morning with a mixture of Kale, turnip greens and endive, with some mango's or apples cut into small pieces.

So what am i doing wrong? If anyone can helpl or give me pointers on how to get this little guy to eat i would be very grateful. I really want to try anythingi can to get him to eat.

Thank you in advance

1) the UV and heat should be together, he should get his UV while basking. Make sure the UV is less than 12" from the basking spot.

2)temps shoiuld range 80-85 cool side 105-1115 basking side

3)4 1/2" is small. I dont sell my BDs untill they are 6" or 6 weeks. How old is he? how long have you had him? The reason for waiting until they are 6" or 6 weeks is to make sure they are eating and are hearty enough to survive transfer to new suroundigs. many BDs dont eat for their first week in a new home. They have to have enough reserves to make it through that time.

4)pin heads are probably too small. go 1/8" and if your BD cannot catch tem then you need to give him special care. does he try to eat the pins?

5) crix will quickly get under paper towels and newspaper. either feed him in a different place (not advisable for picky eaters) or use shelf liner. Never leave uneaten crix in the cage. anything not eaten in 10-15 minutes MUST be removed.

6)salad should be chopped fine. I would stick with greens at least in the beginning and not much else. you can also use rep cal pellets and t-rex VGF on the salad. if you use these foods DO NOT SUPPLIMENT!

you might want to check here for some common Q&A

Common Q&A

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Bennett

Home Of The Florida Orange
www.beardiedragon.com

you should ALWAYS contact the breeder or store you bought from when having a problem with an animal. Find out what he was eating before you got him.
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Bennett

Home Of The Florida Orange
www.beardiedragon.com

When i bought him they sold me the crickets that were the size that they were feeding him, the UV light is a strip light and covers more than half the cage and the heat lamp is pretty much righ next to it.

I will try some 1/8 crickets and see how that goes. I have been taking them out after 10 minutes and he hasn't eaten any. I got him on Friday. AS far as what they were feeding him that is what i have i asked them before i left and bought what i could from them and then went to the grocery store and bought the greens. I am hoping that he will eat soo and thet this is just stress from the new enviroment. Thank for the advice, i will also try puttin him in a smaller enclosure when feeding but one question, will that cause more stress?

for a new BD that is not eating, I would think a different feeding cage would be more stressful. If you got him Friday, its only 2-3 days, getting acclimated can take a week sometimes more depending on the animal. I got a sub adult from Joel that came in and was put in quarantine. All he wanted was OUT. he would not eat or drink and his beard was black from lights on until dark. It took just over a week and then he realized his fussing would not do any good. He eats fine and acts fine. Time is all it takes.

Again that is why I recomend buying established animals, so they can get through that time.

Is he interested in food, in the crix at all? or just not able to catch them? if it's a matter of catching them, simply pinch the knees of the crix to break them so they can't jump.

Keep him hydrated (daily bathing). good luck
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Bennett

Home Of The Florida Orange
www.beardiedragon.com

He appears to be completely uninterested in them, i will give it a few days before i become more worried...and keep a close eye on him. Once again thank you

Why must uneaten food be removed? Some crickets hid under our paper towels. Should green stuff be removed too, or just live food? Thanks for the info.

only crix and other live food need to be removed. Crix will eat you BD while it sleeps. They chew off eyelids for moisture and worse.

check out

common Q&A

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Bennett

Home Of The Florida Orange
www.beardiedragon.com

...

AlphaDragonZ

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AlphaDragonZ
Coming Soon!!!
www.AlphaDragonZ.com

np
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Bennett

Home Of The Florida Orange
www.beardiedragon.com

mist him a couple of times a day or soak him in a warm--not hot--bath. Beardies rarely "drink" from water dishes--some say that they cannot see standing water.

Good luck and hopefully he will be eating you out of crickets and salad soon!
DM