New baby beardie, no energy and wont eat. Help :(

[CaHarding]

Ive only had him since last week on sunday (10 days i think) now. I plan to buy BSFL but hear they only last a few weeks and wanted to make sure he was going to make it before i ordered.

Pretty sure the little stinker is gunna live now though he refused to eat ANYTHING today even when i tried to hand feed him the salad and held a cricket for him to his face. I have dipped the baby food and crickets in the baby food since the day i got him trying to get him to eat them on his own but he will only eat if its out of the syringe and while im holding him. He ate NOTHING today and looks skinnier already... (from the top view, side view he still has a lil belly).

Crickets are being fed the baby food and i will try again tomorrow. Im just worried he will get weak again... really attatched and dont want to hinder him if he isnt fully recovered.. if he doesnt eat tomorrow or friday i will have to cave and go back to hand feeding him saturday again for a fee days and then try again, i know i wont be able to hold out any longer... im a push over for this lil guy!! Hahahaha

if i order the BSFL what size should i get for him and do you have a preferred website you have used?

I have no experience with baby food. But I’ve read they shouldn’t go without food for longer than 24 hours as babies. If losing weight I’d be so scared to skip days. I think you are doing great and maybe when stronger you can try other bugs?

 

[Dexter_Dragon]

Ive only had him since last week on sunday (10 days i think) now. I plan to buy BSFL but hear they only last a few weeks and wanted to make sure he was going to make it before i ordered.

Pretty sure the little stinker is gunna live now though he refused to eat ANYTHING today even when i tried to hand feed him the salad and held a cricket for him to his face. I have dipped the baby food and crickets in the baby food since the day i got him trying to get him to eat them on his own but he will only eat if its out of the syringe and while im holding him. He ate NOTHING today and looks skinnier already... (from the top view, side view he still has a lil belly).

Crickets are being fed the baby food and i will try again tomorrow. Im just worried he will get weak again... really attatched and dont want to hinder him if he isnt fully recovered.. if he doesnt eat tomorrow or friday i will have to cave and go back to hand feeding him saturday again for a fee days and then try again, i know i wont be able to hold out any longer... im a push over for this lil guy!! Hahahaha

if i order the BSFL what size should i get for him and do you have a preferred website you have used?

Awww, he sounds like a character even as young as he is. Hang in there, could be he's still adjusting to everything if you've only had him 10 days. Can't quite tell by pic, but he does look young. When Dex was a baby and refused to eat any salads peeps here told me not to stress about that too much as long as he was getting some even via the baby food. It's the protein he mainly needs at a young age. (80% protein to 20% vege ratio) I'd certainly try different feeders, could be he just doesn't like crickets.

Roaches are a good feeder. I'd definitely go with the very smallest size. You don't want them any bigger than the space between his eyes. Same with the bfl. They are recommended as good feeders. Again for his size I'd get the smallest ones. Some sites will actually show you a pic of size using a penny for comparison. I actually just placed and order via Josh Frogs [https://www.joshsfrogs.com/] yesterday for bfl. I ordered 1,000 large and total cost with shipping was about $37.00. Not too bad. There are many reputable sites you can order form. It's just finding the one best suited to your area, I think.

Looked like earlier you were still waiting on some things to get his husbandry fully set up. Once his lighting and temps are at optimal settings, you might see an improvement with his eating habits, as well. Hope this helps. Keep us posted on his progress.

 

[Sadie]

Hello!

Just got this lil guy/girl Sunday. I had a Beardie as a teenager but kinda forgot most care stuff and had to do some research and re educate myself on their needs. If you see anything off let me know, the cage furnishings will be upgraded.

Husband saw the baby at petco and wanted to save him, i told him i wasnt sure he would make it and i hate to buy from the petstore but he really wanted to save him. He was definitely an inpulse buy. I thought he was impacted (was on cali sand! ) gave him 4 baths and he finally pooped (very hard and had chunks of sand).

He hasnt eaten ANY crickets or salad yet. I got chicken and butternut squash babyfood and did 2 parts chicken / 1 part squash mixed with some calcium d3 and multivitamin and have gotten him to eat that out of a syringe by putting little bits on his nose and squeezing more there ones he goes to lick it off. I held live crickets to his face and salad but he wont touch it. He did lick the babyfood mix off a cricket though any tips?

He moves around when i took him out to hold him and looks around, he swam in his baths too but besides that i dont see him move at all except to sit up and gape or lay down flat in the basking area. Not sure if he is strong enough to climb down so i put him on the floor at night and back up to the basking area in the morning. I work from home and his cage is right beside my workstation so i can keep an eye on him.

Here is the set up so far, i plan to add more and nicer looking furnishings and slate tile flooring soon this was just the bare minimum to bring him home.

40 gal breeder
CHE on rheostats (basking 108F and cool side 83F)
Reptisun 10.0 in T8 hood, placed on top of screen (have coming in the mail a t5 10.0 and t5 hood)
Rep Cal calcium with D3 and Rep Cal Herptivite (repashy plus coming in mail)

Really hoping he will make it, growing very attached already to the sweet little thing

Did you get the T 5 yet? Basking temps and UVB are the two most important things in the tank!! Basking temps need to be 105-110 for a baby taken w/ a digital probe thermometer No stick ons they are inaccurate- UVB has certain placement and distance requirements- they will go thru relocation stress- their eating will be off but they should not quit eating completely- you can get some BSFL from here www.symtonbsf.com- they are small order the size that is no bigger than the space between his eyes length wise- please let me know when you get the UVB I will help you place it

 

[Skybug]

I wouldn’t order any more than 200 i just threw away some cause they started to pupate , if he wants baby food just give it to him lol make shure its low in sugar aswell , but do try and ween him off, 10 days isnt long to have him, consistency is important for a baby to acclimate better, just be there for him talk to him some days he wont eat my beardy did that to me as a baby and it stressed me too , but as mentioned before dont let him go longer than 24 hrs without something in his belly. And feed after hes warmed up and not 3 hours before bedtime, they need light to digest their food.

 

[Squids_Girl]

Did you get the T 5 yet? Basking temps and UVB are the two most important things in the tank!! Basking temps need to be 105-110 for a baby taken w/ a digital probe thermometer No stick ons they are inaccurate- UVB has certain placement and distance requirements- they will go thru relocation stress- their eating will be off but they should not quit eating completely- you can get some BSFL from here www.symtonbsf.com- they are small order the size that is no bigger than the space between his eyes length wise- please let me know when you get the UVB I will help you place it

I have the T5 with carolina fixture and also got a solar meter. He has 2 spots to get the UVB one at 3.0 and one at 4.7. Basking is set at 108F with a digital probe and rheostat. I also have a temp gun and have made sure all the probes are working as they should.

He ate 5 crickets yesterday but only when i dipped their heads in baby food and rubbed them on his mouth, i also got him to eat a tiny bit of collard green with this method. Today he has only eaten 2 and wont eat any more. He has figured out he is eating more than just the baby food and wont open his mouth wide enough now, just licks the baby food off.

 

[Squids_Girl]

I wouldn’t order any more than 200 i just threw away some cause they started to pupate , if he wants baby food just give it to him lol make shure its low in sugar aswell , but do try and ween him off, 10 days isnt long to have him, consistency is important for a baby to acclimate better, just be there for him talk to him some days he wont eat my beardy did that to me as a baby and it stressed me too , but as mentioned before dont let him go longer than 24 hrs without something in his belly. And feed after hes warmed up and not 3 hours before bedtime, they need light to digest their food.

Just offered him some more baby food and the lil brat ate a ton so he IS hungry lol just picky! He has energy and runs around and even comes to the corner of the cage and looks at me i think begging for baby food.

Wont chase the crickets or touch his salad though, i even tried putting dots of baby food on the salad to temp him and put in little “bites” people said their dragons love (even though they aren't the healthiest, just trying to get him to eat without having to hand feed) and a killed cricket dipped in baby food. Trying to give him the most variety and choices i can just to grt him to eat SOMETHING without having me have to hold him.

Salad looks nasty imo hahaha

 

[Squids_Girl]

He is basking now after eating the baby food and i swear he looks smug that he got me to cave... hahahhaa gotta give him a bath later to get the baby food off his chin

 

[Skybug]

I have the T5 with carolina fixture and also got a solar meter. He has 2 spots to get the UVB one at 3.0 and one at 4.7. Basking is set at 108F with a digital probe and rheostat. I also have a temp gun and have made sure all the probes are working as they should.

He ate 5 crickets yesterday but only when i dipped their heads in baby food and rubbed them on his mouth, i also got him to eat a tiny bit of collard green with this method. Today he has only eaten 2 and wont eat any more. He has figured out he is eating more than just the baby food and wont open his mouth wide enough now, just licks the baby food off.

He sounds like trouble already, when he gets bigger he might scratch at the tank to say “i want out” its important you only take him out when he exhibits behavior you like, for some of us its too late and we have naughty beardies :| , how much does he weigh? And about how long is he? If you can post a pic of his hips that would help too , those little green and red bit things in in salad arnt the best (think dry dogfood for ur beardie) and of course hes not eating crickets when he can get his mama to feed him he sounds spoiled rotten already

 

[Skybug]

Wow hes small, i didnt know he was a baby baby, i dont think it would be bad to feed him protein baby food for another week or two , but the longer he has it the harder it will be for him to switch to live bugs, you should see a “prey drive” start to develop after his lights are up for a couple days, do keep us updated on the lil guy.

 

[Squids_Girl]

He sounds like trouble already, when he gets bigger he might scratch at the tank to say “i want out” its important you only take him out when he exhibits behavior you like, for some of us its too late and we have naughty beardies :| , how much does he weigh? And about how long is he? If you can post a pic of his hips that would help too , those little green and red bit things in in salad arnt the best (think dry dogfood for ur beardie) and of course hes not eating crickets when he can get his mama to feed him he sounds spoiled rotten already

1 oz or 2 grams and about 6 inches (i think he wouldnt stop moving lol) if you need a better pic of his hips than the one with the ruler let me know

 

[Squids_Girl]

Sometimes he is really dark like this and other times he is a light golden brown. Doesnt seem to be any pattern to when he changes or why

 

[CaHarding]

1 oz or 2 grams and about 6 inches (i think he wouldnt stop moving lol) if you need a better pic of his hips than the one with the ruler let me know

He’s so freakin cute Aw

 

[Skybug]

He looks like a fat ravioli about to pop, your pictures are good thank you, he looks very happy and acclimated already, your gonna have quite the personality there to deal with , good luck you’ll need it

 

[Sadie]

I wouldn’t order any more than 200 i just threw away some cause they started to pupate , if he wants baby food just give it to him lol make shure its low in sugar aswell , but do try and ween him off, 10 days isnt long to have him, consistency is important for a baby to acclimate better, just be there for him talk to him some days he wont eat my beardy did that to me as a baby and it stressed me too , but as mentioned before dont let him go longer than 24 hrs without something in his belly. And feed after hes warmed up and not 3 hours before bedtime, they need light to digest their food.

I have the T5 with carolina fixture and also got a solar meter. He has 2 spots to get the UVB one at 3.0 and one at 4.7. Basking is set at 108F with a digital probe and rheostat. I also have a temp gun and have made sure all the probes are working as they should.

He ate 5 crickets yesterday but only when i dipped their heads in baby food and rubbed them on his mouth, i also got him to eat a tiny bit of collard green with this method. Today he has only eaten 2 and wont eat any more. He has figured out he is eating more than just the baby food and wont open his mouth wide enough now, just licks the baby food off.

Your UVB needs to be inside the tank if your screen is a fine mesh 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor -- for a wide hole screen it can sit on top w/ a distance of 8-10 inches directly above the basking decor

 

[Dexter_Dragon]

I wouldn’t order any more than 200 i just threw away some cause they started to pupate , if he wants baby food just give it to him lol make shure its low in sugar aswell , but do try and ween him off, 10 days isnt long to have him, consistency is important for a baby to acclimate better, just be there for him talk to him some days he wont eat my beardy did that to me as a baby and it stressed me too , but as mentioned before dont let him go longer than 24 hrs without something in his belly. And feed after hes warmed up and not 3 hours before bedtime, they need light to digest their food.

Good to now! I was worried he wouldn't have enough. Where he's not eating his crickets right now I'm supplementing with the bsfl along with his dubia. I'll see how he does on devouring this bunch and may adjust. Thanks!

I added a bunch to his salad this morning. Talk about hilarious. His eyeballs where going all around his dish while he was eating because they were moving. He couldn't decide if he wanted the salad or the worms. Had to remind him to breathe in between chews. hahahaha I'm pretty sure he was vibrating with glee.

 

[Dexter_Dragon]

1 oz or 2 grams and about 6 inches (i think he wouldnt stop moving lol) if you need a better pic of his hips than the one with the ruler let me know

Awww he's so adorable! Ummm . . . yeah, looking at his pics it seems like you're gonna have a frisky one. lol He looks just like my Dex did when he came home.

Don't be discouraged and keep trying with the bugs. He's still very young. I went through the same thing with Dex and hand feeding him baby food veges. Fret not, when Dex was that young it took him a little while to eat his bugs in quantity. First few weeks he only managed 3-5 tiny crickets and 1-3 tiny roaches a day along with his tiny bit of baby food. His lil tummy just wasn't big enough. He looks plenty plump and healthy for his age.

 

[Squids_Girl]

Awww he's so adorable! Ummm . . . yeah, looking at his pics it seems like you're gonna have a frisky one. lol He looks just like my Dex did when he came home.

Don't be discouraged and keep trying with the bugs. He's still very young. I went through the same thing with Dex and hand feeding him baby food veges. Fret not, when Dex was that young it took him a little while to eat his bugs in quantity. First few weeks he only managed 3-5 tiny crickets and 1-3 tiny roaches a day along with his tiny bit of baby food. His lil tummy just wasn't big enough. He looks plenty plump and healthy for his age.

Thanks i ordered some bsfl and if he wont eat them on his own i plan to moosh them up and mix them in with the baby food and feed them to him with the syringe. He will eat them one way or the other hahaha !

 

[TheLongfellows]

Awww, he sounds like a character even as young as he is. Hang in there, could be he's still adjusting to everything if you've only had him 10 days. Can't quite tell by pic, but he does look young. When Dex was a baby and refused to eat any salads peeps here told me not to stress about that too much as long as he was getting some even via the baby food. It's the protein he mainly needs at a young age. (80% protein to 20% vege ratio) I'd certainly try different feeders, could be he just doesn't like crickets.

Roaches are a good feeder. I'd definitely go with the very smallest size. You don't want them any bigger than the space between his eyes. Same with the bfl. They are recommended as good feeders. Again for his size I'd get the smallest ones. Some sites will actually show you a pic of size using a penny for comparison. I actually just placed and order via Josh Frogs [https://www.joshsfrogs.com/] yesterday for bfl. I ordered 1,000 large and total cost with shipping was about $37.00. Not too bad. There are many reputable sites you can order form. It's just finding the one best suited to your area, I think.

Looked like earlier you were still waiting on some things to get his husbandry fully set up. Once his lighting and temps are at optimal settings, you might see an improvement with his eating habits, as well. Hope this helps. Keep us posted on his progress.

Thanks i ordered some bsfl and if he wont eat them on his own i plan to moosh them up and mix them in with the baby food and feed them to him with the syringe. He will eat them one way or the other hahaha !

I always get the large bsfl they are not that big even when my baby was little the larges are good

 

[Squids_Girl]

I always get the large bsfl they are not that big even when my baby was little the larges are good

Dang i ordered mediums. Oh well, maybe they will be easier to shove in his mouth when i dip them in baby food LOL!

 

[TheLongfellows]

Dang i ordered mediums. Oh well, maybe they will be easier to shove in his mouth when i dip them in baby food LOL!

Yeah my baby ate those up and their high in calcium and protein great for baby bearded dragons. I actually toss all of them into a Tupperware container with organic wheat bread and baby food and leave them in there for a week or two and they grow like three times the size the reason for me doing this is my baby seven months old now and she’s not interested in the little BSFL else because like I said even large aren’t very big