New bearded dragon owner worries

[Johrichal]

Hi everyone sorry I didnt post in the introduction thread first but I have a concern with our new baby and am hoping to get some resolution for it hopefully its nothing serious.

I got my son a baby bearded dragon for christmas I picked it up on friday and gave it to him early. The first two days everything seemed to be going fine the little guy was eating well but would only eat crickets no greens or other vegetables on sunday morning we got it to eat a piece of spinach and a wax worm and a calci worm. But now the little guy wont eat anything he is still having bowel movements and still looks fine he just wont eat. We also gave him his first bath sunday night which he didnt seem very fond of.

Ive checked the temperature at his basking spot and its a little over 100 degrees. The cold side of his tank may be a little cool it is around 75 degrees but he doesnt spend any time over there. We have a heat lamp and a uvb lamp on for about 12hrs a day. I was a little worried about humidity because we live in the Pacific north west and it is very humid here so I bought a dehumidifier for the room he is in and it is sitting on top of his tank. The cheap humidity meters from the pet store still say it is 60-70% humidity in his tank but when I put my Kestrel in his tank it says it is 37% which should be ok.

Do you guys think him not eating is anything to be worried about? Ive read a few things that said they may not eat much for a few days while getting used to their new homes but it seems odd to me that he was eating well and just stopped. Thanks in advance and any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[Tabasco]

Dont feed spinach! Mustard greens, collard greens, turnip greens, carrot tops. 75 is fine for cool side. Dust crickets with Calcium with d3. What UVB light do you have?

 

[PatsyB]

Under my comment is a link to some general care. If you go to the website beautiful dragons.com and click on nutrition, you will get a good list of items that are great to feed. Spinach binds to calcium so it's a no go. Kale is okay if it is fed with other healthy greens like the ones mentioned in the other comment.'

They tend to go through a period of relocation stress. Try not to handle it too much the first few weeks to give it some time to settle in. They may eat real good the first few days and then slow down as they realize they are in a different place and aren't going anywhere else. They then start to get comfortable in their new home.

You need the basking spot to be around 107 degrees. Get a digital probe thermometer and keep it right in the basking spot or get a temp gun to measure the temps. The analog displays only measure the temp of the glass and the area around it not the actual spot your dragon is sitting.

 

[Johrichal]

Thanks for the reply! It sounds like maybe things are ok that makes me feel better. I did get her/him to eat 2 crickets today so hopefully it will keep improving. Tabasco the light I have is a reptisun 10.0 but it is the bulb not the tube light I plan on replacing it with a tube version soon.
Thanks for the advice Patsy I will look into those probe thermometers.

Other tham that does everything else look ok with the habitat?

 

[PatsyB]

Everything else looks fine. I would change to the tube UVB as soon as you can. The bulbs provide little to no UVB unless your dragon is sitting right under the bulb.

 

[Johrichal]

Ok thank you. Griff is doing pretty good now appetite is getting a lot better. Very skittish around humans though doesnt like to be touched at all. Is that normal or is there something I can do to improve it?

 

[PatsyB]

It’s normal. Just keep talking to him so he gets used to your voice and hold him while he’s in his tank so he gets used to being held but he’s in his own surroundings.

 

[Tabasco]

Also they are easy to hold when sleeping, just before lights come on n the morning. I used to bring Tabasco out and stick him on my chest in the easy chair, he would wake up on me and be all relaxed.