New and always worried beardy mom

[EmilyandRue]

I bought my baby bearded dragon, Rue, the day after Christmas. And after she got comfortable in her environment she was eating 40-60 crickets every morning. She had her first shed about a week ago but now she hasn't eaten more than forty crickets in a while. She does eat most of her veggies daily. I'm just wondering if this all sounds normal.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Sounds fine to me, their appetites can vary from day to day.. As long as Rue is eating bugs and eating greens all is well

 

[EmilyandRue]

Thank you! I just got so used to her(him?) eating until her little belly was full.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Thank you! I just got so used to her(him?) eating until her little belly was full.

And his/her belly may be full with only the 40
I have noticed that with my Izzy as she has gotten older her appetite has changed she doesn't eat as many dubia's but now she prefers only the big juv to adult ones.. and only eats a couple adults, a few super's and some greens.. When growing up she easily ate 50 small nymphs at a setting.. now she will only eat the small ones if she has to

 

[EmilyandRue]

Another question, instead of crickets, any other small insects she can eat? Sorting through the small/medium crickets I buy is very time consuming.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Another question, instead of crickets, any other small insects she can eat? Sorting through the small/medium crickets I buy is very time consuming.

Crickets, dubia roaches (depending on where you live and don't worry they are not the typical roach ) superworms (depending on the size of dragon) butterworms, waxworms, hornworms... note that some are only for treats ..
The general rule of thumb is the space between their eyes is what they can fit in their mouth.. They do have teeth so they will chomp on things of good size and you will be surprised at how big their mouth is when they open up
How big is Rue now? pictures?

 

[EmilyandRue]

Crickets, dubia roaches (depending on where you live and don't worry they are not the typical roach ) superworms (depending on the size of dragon) butterworms, waxworms, hornworms... note that some are only for treats ..
The general rule of thumb is the space between their eyes is what they can fit in their mouth.. They do have teeth so they will chomp on things of good size and you will be surprised at how big their mouth is when they open up
How big is Rue now? pictures?

She's pretty small and the crickets I buy, they come in boxes with only med. and small crickets. And sometimes I feel that there aren't enough small ones so she ends up eating ones that are a little larger than she should (the space between her eyes) and I don't want her to get impacted.

 

[EmilyandRue]

An up close shot, haha.

 

[Hdrydr31]

She is a cutie!! the nice thing about crickets is they are soft shelled..

 

[PatsyB]

She's a cute one! It's possible she's at a point where she can't eat as much. I rescued a girl last month and she would eat all day long if I let her and now when I try to feed her the same amount of food she sticks her nose up or closes her eyes telling me she doesn't want any more. Dubai are good as well as silk worms, butter worms, and very small super worms (not mealworms).

 

[EmilyandRue]

Thanks! She's a sweetie! Since I am new to this I was wondering if I could have your opinion on my set up of her tank? It's a 20 gallon. On the left side I have a 150 watt Day Blue Light basking bulb and underneath I have her little tree. And on the right side I have a 100 watt Powersun self ballasted mercury vapor UVB lamp with her little rock hideaway under it. And at night I'm using a 60 watt ceramic heat emitter. Any feed back would be awesome!

 

[PatsyB]

What are your temps??? Sounds like it would be real high in that small of a tank. You need to have a gradient. A basking spot that gets to 107 degrees and then a cool side of 75-80 degrees. At night as long as your tank doesn't get below 65 you don't need to heat it, they actually need a cool down period. So your MVB bulb actually serves as your basking light and your UVB. I don't really know too much about them. Lately I've been hearing about people having problems with them turning off on there own. The reason they do that is because they are self ballasted so they turn off when they start to get too hot. People have been putting them on dimmers so that they don't get too hot.

 

[EmilyandRue]

My house is horribly drafty, so I've just been worried about her getting too cold. The right side temp is usually 100-107. And the left side is usually 85-90. I haven't had a problem with the MVB yet but today I'm going to just have that one on and take temps every hour or so.

 

[PatsyB]

The cool side is a bit warm. I think it would be a good idea to leave the MVB on and check your temps I bet they will be fine without the other light.

 

[EmilyandRue]

The cool side is a bit warm. I think it would be a good idea to leave the MVB on and check your temps I bet they will be fine without the other light.

So, since I've changed her lighting she hasn't been eating as much and this morning she wouldn't even go after the crickets I put in for her. I'm pretty concerned. Help?

 

[Hdrydr31]

So, since I've changed her lighting she hasn't been eating as much and this morning she wouldn't even go after the crickets I put in for her. I'm pretty concerned. Help?

Ok so what are her temps now in the 3 areas? (Basking, warm, cool) may just need to tweak it a bit to find what she likes..

 

[EmilyandRue]

Basking is 102-105, warm is about 85, and cool is 76-79. She's eaten around 13 crickets today.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Basking is 102-105, warm is about 85, and cool is 76-79. She's eaten around 13 crickets today.

Temps are not bad maybe raise the warm to 90 and let the cool side dip closer to 70.. It's possible she's just not that hungry.. Are the crickets med?

 

[PatsyB]

Are you feeding anything other than crickets? I'm wondering if she may just not want them.

 

[Hdrydr31]

that's a very good point PatsyB! what else have you tried to feed?