Beardie not eating as much...

[mjfreaks]

Sidious got upgraded to a 40 gal tank from a 20 gal and before that he was eating just fine. 6-7 Supers and 3-5 crickets in a day..
His new tank now consists of a 10 UVB T8 tube bulb and his regular basking bulb. I have it set to where the temps are at 105-115. His cool side is at about 80-85.
He DOES eat his greens every now and then..bits of fruit as well as wax worms only as a treat once a week.

I just purchased BUTTERWORMS to mix up his protien.
One day he will eat one big Super..then a few veggies..next day..wont even be interested in crickets but will eat 2 Supers and a few veggies. Day after that will eat one Butterworm and not touch is veggies...

Should I be worried? How can I help him eat? Bring up his appetite.

 

[PatsyB]

He could be just getting used to his new home. Make sure he has some hides that he can go into to get away from the big world. Is the T8 mounted inside the tank? If not it should be because the mesh blocks out about 35% of the UVB.

 

[mjfreaks]

It is a mesh lid and not mounted.In a hood lamp. but covers majoriity of the tank and he has about 2 places to hide on the cool side and 1 place to hid under the hammock on the basking side...

 

[PatsyB]

I used to use T8's in a hood over the mesh top. I tested them with a solar meter and found that they needed to be changed every 4 months rather than 6 because the mesh. That was my main reason for switching to the HO T5 bulbs. Those last closer to a year on top of the mesh.

I got a solar meter because with 7 tanks with UVB light, I wanted to be sure the lights needed to be changed before I just tossed them. It's really interesting to see the range of UVB in the tank. Under the hammocks, even if there are some holes in them, there is absolutely no UVB. I used to think that at least some would trickle through.