Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i bought my bearded dragon a couple of days ago and when i tried to feed him the crickets he only ate one and then went crazy. he was jumping around.
anybody know whats wrong and if so tell me plz
and i u could tell me ur method for feeding him
thanx

Lets see - We need lots more information than this. What size cage, how large/old is your dragon? What kind of lighting/Heating? What is the ambient cool side and basking spot? Should be around 80 cool and 110 basking. What are you offering the guy? What size cricket? Shouldnt be any larger than the space between his eyes (as a rule of thumb). What type of substrate?

Thanks

David
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David and Kevin

KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

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he is four months old and its not that warm in the basking spot any sugguestions to get it hotter there
some of the crickets are bigger then him but the one he ate was pretty small and i am using paper towel and is there any kind of substrate that i could use
thanx
Zach

Ah boy. I would suggest getting a DIGITAL thermometer and better yet a temperature gun. MAKE SURE of the basking temperature. Paper towels are fine. MAKE SURE also that the crickets are no bigger than the space between the eyes or he could become impacted and die.

David
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David and Kevin

KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

Email

thanx how much r temp. guns
any suggestions how to make the temp in the basking area go up
thanx.
zach

what type of basking light are you using now. Also are you using an UVB light as well. We can help more with this information.

Beardies need heat (from above) to properly digest their food. Basking temps need to be correct. Temp guns are around $30 and up. Another option is a digital 'indoor-outdoor' thermometer--you can get these at Radio Shak or WalMart or even a garden center for around $10. DO NOT use those stick on strips as they do not measure the kind of temperature (surface temps) that you need. The small 'dial' types are also known to be unreliable. Basking area should be between 100- 107 (give or take a degree depending on age and care sheet).

If temps are too low the dragon will not eat as it should and will suffer because of it.

Offer a good mix of greens/veggies every day...they may not eat it at first but keep offering it. They need protein daily until they are a year old. Offer as much as they can eat in a 5-10 minute period 2-3 times a day. When our BD was that age he would eat about 30 crickets a day total. I know of another BD who ate more like 100 a day--it just depends on their personal growth requirements.

HTH
DM