Feeding a baby bearded dragon

[Coffeeslinger]

We recently purchased a bearded dragon for my 9 year old from petsmart. The sales girl said she thought they were about two months old. Of course my daughter picked the runt of the litter and got the smallest one(about 5 1/2 inches). We brought "Rocky" home and started learning. We tried crickets at first but the little suckers were too speedy for Rocky. I had to disable the crickets to make it easier for him. He would eat 1 or 2 crickets at a feeding. We also have kale always available. We now have dubia roaches and he took right to them. We got the 1/4 inch and he ate 4 in about 60 seconds then stopped. Now he is back to eating 0,1, or 2 at each feeding. I keep reading that juvaniles eat like crazy but or little guy is pretty conservative at chow time. I really think he might of only been weeks old when we got him so he is probably about 6 weeks old now.

My question is is he getting enough to eat? Should I keep going with putting 5 dubias in a bowl and letting him snag 1 or 2 then put him back in his home or change it up? Thank you for any advise.

 

[CooperDragon]

The really little guys don't tend to eat so much, especially with the stress of moving to a new environment. The 50+ bug feedings you read about are slightly older dragons hitting a growth spurt. Overall their appetites will fluctuate quite a bit for various reasons. Just keep offering a couple few bug meals per day and let Rocky dictate what he wants. Just make food available. I also suggest varying the veges although he may ignore them in favor of bugs until he's older. The leftover veges can go to the roaches, they'll tear through veg scraps like nobody's business. This is a good list to reference for salad ideas http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

It's also a possibility that the environment isn't quite right yet. It often takes some tweaking to get everything just as it should be in terms of temperature gradient and UVB exposure, both of which are critical to overall health. If you can provide details about your setup including temperatures across the tank (and which type of thermometer you're using), types of lights you have in place and distances from the lights to the basking area, size of the tank etc. I'll be glad to review it and see if anything stands out as a potential issue.

You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button if you wish.

 

[Coffeeslinger]

Rocky is 6 inches long and weighs 6 grams. He has a 20gallon tank 24" wide, 13" deep and 15" high. Cool side is 80 during the day, hot side is around 90 ( took this after his feeding so it's a little cooler). His basking area is about 8 inches below the heat lamp. I use a laser temperature gun to measure surfaces. His basking is 105 and the top of his tunnel is 94. I also put a stick on heating pad under the tank on the hot side. He ate two dubias tonight then went straight into his post meal haunch, laying flat and immobile for a few hours. We keep the lights on about 14 hours a day and fed him live food at 7 am and 7 pm.

 

[Coffeeslinger]

 

[Coffeeslinger]

 

[kingofnobbys]

A UVB150 is quite inadequate for a beardie , especially a fast growing little hatchling, it only produces 5% UVB , MIN is a 26W UVB200 (this produces 10% UVB).

 

[kingofnobbys]

I can see he's a happy little chap , nice antenna tail going on while up there on his big bit of wood.

But
Dial type thermometers are quite worthless as they are VERY INACCURATE, better off investing in a thermometer gun and some digital thermometers ie

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4x-LCD-Digital-Temperature-Thermometer-Fridge-Freezer-Aquarium-Fish-Tank-Reptile-/391259141696?hash=item5b18dcb640:g
I use digitals very similar to these and they have proven very accurate (within 1oC) and durable and economical and the batteries in them last years, they are great for getting a handle on the zone air temperatures.
http://www.dshop.com.au/buy/infrared-non-contact-thermometer-with-laser-aimpoi/GM300?gclid=CJz3zMjKktMCFQF-vQod8SoHJA
The one I have has a 18:1 spot and has adjustable emissivity, but one like this will do the job of getting surface temperatures quite accurately IF USED PROPERLY. --- I see you surface temperature measurement covered.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Rocky is 6 inches long and weighs 6 grams. He has a 20gallon tank 24" wide, 13" deep and 15" high. <<<< this will be OK for him for about his FIRST YEAR rearing tank , after than you'll need a much larger tank (about 4ft long x 2ft wide x 2ft tall is considered the standard size for a single adult bearded dragon here in Australia) .

Cool side is 80 during the day, hot side is around 90 ( took this after his feeding so it's a little cooler). His basking area is about 8 inches below the heat lamp. I use a laser temperature gun to measure surfaces. <<<< Good , make sure you measure so there is no cooler background stuff inside the measuring spot .
His basking is 105 and the top of his tunnel is 94. I also put a stick on heating pad under the tank on the hot side. He ate two dubias <<< what size were the roaches ? tonight then went straight into his post meal haunch, laying flat and immobile for a few hours. We keep the lights on about 14 hours a day and fed him live food at 7 am and 7 pm. <<<< !4 hrs is a little short , I'd recommend nudging that up by an hour or two.

 

[kingofnobbys]

We recently purchased a bearded dragon for my 9 year old from petsmart. The sales girl said she thought they were about two months old. Of course my daughter picked the runt of the litter and got the smallest one(about 5 1/2 inches). We brought "Rocky" home and started learning. We tried crickets at first but the little suckers were too speedy for Rocky. I had to disable the crickets to make it easier for him. He would eat 1 or 2 crickets at a feeding. We also have kale always available. We now have dubia roaches and he took right to them. We got the 1/4 inch and he ate 4 in about 60 seconds then stopped. <<< 1/4" roaches or crickets are probably a bit big if yours is very tiny say 4g-5g, Peppa and Toothless were on 25Day old (10mm) crickets at 5weeks old (Peppa was 13.5g and Toothless 11.1g) , and taking 16 each per day split over two live feedings, I found they were pigging out on their greens so held them back until after they had their bugs, more bugs were then eaten.
BSF maggots weren't available commercially here when I had Peppa and Toothless as little hatchlings , I would suggest you get some to use as a staple feeder insect for your hatchling , as they are a virtually a perfect feeder insect in many ways.


She was probably the runt because she's was very shy and submissive and the other hatchlings were picking on her and taking the lions' share of the food. I expect once she settles in and you have the temperatures and lighting schedule right, and the correct levels of UVA and of UVB , that she will thrive and grow like crazy....


Now he is back to eating 0,1, or 2 at each feeding. I keep reading that juvaniles eat like crazy but or little guy is pretty conservative at chow time. I really think he might of only been weeks old when we got him so he is probably about 6 weeks old now.

My question is is he getting enough to eat? Should I keep going with putting 5 dubias in a bowl and letting him snag 1 or 2 then put him back in his home or change it up? <<<he is likely very shy about eating when monsters (err people) are watching, I'd leave the bugs for her to eat at his leisure, you can always collect any remaining bugs when he's gone to sleep or next morning.

Thank you for any advise.

 

[CooperDragon]

I agree that there are some improvements that can be made. The issue with the UVB 150 is that it's a 13w which isn't powerful enough for a dragon. I would switch that to at least the 26w 150 or even better the 26w UVB200. They are suitable for smaller tanks like that as are the T8 18'' Desert 50 and ReptiSun 10.0 tubes. I would make a change to one of those.

I also agree that the dial thermometers aren't very reliable. Using a cheap digital thermometer with a probe for the basking surface and for the cool side. That way you can continuously monitor the surfaces and get accurate readings. You want the basking surface to be between about 100-110 and the cool side to be between about 75-85 or so. The UVB light should sit over the basking area to provide the most intense UVB exposure along with the highest temps.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017N8W90/

An IR temp gun is also a good option. This will let you get instant surface readings anywhere.
https://www.amazon.com/Nubee-Temperature-Non-contact-Infrared-Thermometer/dp/B00CVHIJDK

 

[Coffeeslinger]

Thanks for all the advice! I think I will make a change on the bulb and get the 26wUVB200 bulb. I have gone back to feeding him in his tank instead of trying the bowl method. In the bowl he would eat one then glass surf the rest of the time. If he feeds in his cage I can feed him one at a time and he seems to be more relaxed that way. I think he is just a little young and scared of moving things. He will warm up to us.

Didn't think of maggots, do not know if that is doable. Had to work on the wife to get Dubia Roaches, maggots would be a no-go. I do have 25 adult dubias arriving today and will try and start a colony.

He is turning a little more white lately. Is this from lack of UVB lighting or do they do this before shedding their skin?

 

[CooperDragon]

If maggots is a no go try black soldier fly larvae or even phoenix worms. (They're the same thing)

 

[thomas&amp;kodiack]

I recently got the t8 desert 50 are those decent bulbs? I have never used them before. I usually use the reptisun 10.0 but the store was out and I felt the need to switch. I was using the reptisun mini compact 10.0 and after a week of it I feel like it wasn't working well enough and did some reasearch and have read the compact coil type are not that great and can be harmful. I've had several beardies in the past and have never used that compact style so I went back to tried and true. I just wanna make sure the t8 50 will be enough for my beardie. It's a baby bout 7in long in a 20 gal long tank. The branch he sit on where he basks is about 5-6in from the top screen of the tank and the top spot he can get with in 3-4 in of the uvb if he wanted. Just wanna make sure it's gonna be sufficient till I can buy a 10.0 reptisun

 

[kingofnobbys]

Thanks for all the advice! I think I will make a change on the bulb and get the 26wUVB200 bulb. I have gone back to feeding him in his tank instead of trying the bowl method. In the bowl he would eat one then glass surf the rest of the time. If he feeds in his cage I can feed him one at a time and he seems to be more relaxed that way. I think he is just a little young and scared of moving things. He will warm up to us. <<< I've tried feeding in a separate tub with all my babies , always the same result , lizard is too darned interested in getting out to explore and ignores the bugs. .... I do believe the technique can work if they can't see through the sides of the tub though, but it is easier and less stressful to drop a few bugs into their tank at a time .

Didn't think of maggots, do not know if that is doable. Had to work on the wife to get Dubia Roaches, maggots would be a no-go. I do have 25 adult dubias arriving today and will try and start a colony. <<<< she might come around to silkworms , most people think they are cute looking....

He is turning a little more white lately. Is this from lack of UVB lighting or do they do this before shedding their skin? <<<< shed on its way .... do him a favor and get some sticks and rough bits of bark to rub , scratch on and crawl over and under, they'll help heaps

 

[kingofnobbys]

I recently got the t8 desert 50 are those decent bulbs? I have never used them before. I usually use the reptisun 10.0 but the store was out and I felt the need to switch. I was using the reptisun mini compact 10.0 and after a week of it I feel like it wasn't working well enough and did some reasearch and have read the compact coil type are not that great and can be harmful.<<< the problems were with elcheapo Chinese knockoffs and Zilla brand some years ago, if you have a 26W UVB200, he'll thrive under it if he can get within 8 inches of the globe, I've been using 26W UVB200s for years and all mine have thrived and no health issues attributable to the type of UV source with any of mine.
I've had several beardies in the past and have never used that compact style so I went back to tried and true. I just wanna make sure the t8 50 will be enough for my beardie. <<<< no - get the T8 10%UVB . It's a baby bout 7in long in a 20 gal long tank. The branch he sit on where he basks is about 5-6in from the top screen of the tank and the top spot he can get with in 3-4 in of the uvb if he wanted. Just wanna make sure it's gonna be sufficient till I can buy a 10.0 reptisun

<<< mount the UVB source UNDER the screen top if you want best possible UVA and UVB at the basking spot.