Afraid of crickets?

[LittleMerlin]

Hey guys, I just got my beardie on Tiesday and he ate three small crickets just fine from my hand. Even ate some of the romaine lettuce I gave him and a mealworm (small). I have him in a size 29 tank that is 30" inches long. I have his UVB bulb and a 60 Watt day bulb. He has licked the guts of squished crickets from my hand but seems to be skittish of going after it. He was going to the bathroom the first couple of days but I haven't seen him go since maybe Wednesday or yesterday, not sure. He loves to be held and seems to be active. I wonder if I am just being an over paranoid "Mom"? When I got my gecko, he had no trouble adjusting and eating. So I am nervous about how long it will take Draco/Jethro (not sure which name I want lol) to adjust? I need to find a way to measure him. Ok just measured him. If I am right, he is about 6" inches including tail. Very tiny. But he was the most active at the petstore, and the healthiest looking one. If he absolutely refuses crickets and mealworms are bad, what can I do to get him to eat? I think I read somewhere that you can give them baby food. I got some chicken flavored food from when I tried to keep another baby gecko. That one was refusing to eat period so I toon it back since we were going out of town. Any help/advice is greatly appreciated! I want to do the absolute best for my little one!

Also I think he got two of the four crickets I had in the tank this afternoon because I lifted everything up to make sure so I am hoping he ate them. But when I try hand feeding he licks it, then tries to wander away either because he is scared or isn't interested in it.

 

[Brett]

What are your basking temps? have you given it a good warm water soak yet. A lot of pet store and people in general think you don't need to give them water wich isn't correct. Id give him a good 15 min soak if you haven't yet. It will need a basking area of 100 to 110 to properly digest food.

 

[LittleMerlin]

Well he has a basking area, but for a day or two I had to turn it off due to the excessive heat wave. They were on yesterday though. I will try the bath for him this morning. I have read a lot of sites say they need a bath at least once a week. I have misted him a few times this week. Some sites say babies need to be misted daily. So I am not sure about that. He is considered a baby because that's what they sale at the pet store. He is very tiny and I believe he is a baby.

 

[Brett]

I soak my babies every other day and the almost always drink every time. That may be some of the eating issue not enough heat or no chance to cool down due to the heatwave. make sure he gets plenty of water and keep him hydrated

 

[LittleMerlin]

I have been misting him and gave him a bath just a few minutes ago. He has a cooling area in the tank but most of the time stays on his branch on the warm side. Hopefully the bath helped and I will see a change. If I don't see any changes by Tuesday then I will call the store and talk to the lady that actually has bearded dragons of her own and ask her what I should do.