new to bearded dragons. he wont eat...

[Lilclap]

Ok. Just baught a bearded dragon and its a baby. Thought id go cheap & buy pebble food to start.. he wont eat.. well the store said crickets.. well the town i live in dosnt have a pet store within an hour drive so crickets are a no go temperarily.. Should i give up pebbles & go to greens? Do you think he would have better luck with finely cut freash greens? Please help

 

[Jp]

Go green!

 

[Lilclap]

Ya & today is tue i got him sun afternoon, so today will be his 2nd actual day in his new temperary cage, so maybe he just has to get comfortable..? & i wasnt excited about the pebble food anyways i think im going to stay with greens. But an important question to top the other ones.. if i go with leafy greens & fruits.. can i feed him just that & be safe with it or is it better for his health to do crickets & worms also? If i can & their is no negitives to just greens & fruit id like to stick to that.

 

[Lilclap]

& just to add.. i did buy mustard greens & some parsley & finely cut it up.. he is eating little amounts now. Yay for cheko! (his name) lol

 

[Jp]

Babies need plenty of protien in their diet 2 help develop a healthy growth rate.

 

[Chelsey]

I feed my baby a mixture of greens and Baby Bites (Nature Zone makes them) every day, along with crickets most days (worms on off days i.e. when I run out of crickets and the pet store doesn't have any either). There are a few websites that have been passed around on this forum about ordering crickets off-line if you don't have the means to constantly be buying them (i don't know much of anything about that though), but as far as I've been told, it is important for your little one to get both greens and live food.

Also give him a bit to get settled in his new home. My little one didn't eat much of anything the first few days. If it is there and he gets hungry enough he'll eat.

 

[Jaime]

Im fairly new to them as well and learned a lot from this board! ...With that said, I learned as said early in this post, babys need a lot of protien to grow. I feed my baby about 30-50 small crickets a day (now that he has his appetite back, when I first got him he would hardly eat, they say its just from stress mostly and they will come around), ontop of feeding him 30-50 small crickets a day he gets a dish of chopped collard green spritzed with water (collards are the only veggies he'll eat lol, I do plan to try more in the future). Now that his appetites picked up hes been growing like crazy and seems much happier about life. Crickets are his absolute favorite. I aslo put calcium fortified cricket quencher in with the crickets so he gets his calcium for bone growth from the crickets. He also may be reluctant to eat if hes not warm enough with a basking bulb and UVB bulb? Im still learning too but it sure is interesting! lol. Unfortunately I do have to go to the petstore about every 2 days because he goes through so many crickets and if you puchase too many they seem to die right away. I usually get 150 at a time. Someone on here suggested ordering them online, that might be your best bet. Good luck!

 

[ajandj]

hi and welcome to the big wide world of fussy bearded dragons
Firstly your new little fella is probably settling in. He needs crickets or worms a couple of times a day to grow. Crckets, woodies or silkworms are the way to go. You also need to offer lots of greens, even if he doesn't eat them. Things like dandelion greens and flowers, nusturtium leaves and flowers, mustard greens, collard greens, carrot greens, turnip greens, rosepetals everynow and again. Here is the list that l use as a guide.
Also as Jaime said, temp is very inportant for your beardie What temps are your basking area and cool end. What sort of UV light are you using and as far as the pellet go, i soak mine and offer every now and again just so l know that if l'm away for the night, l know he will have something l can leave in the enclosure for him to eat. If you get crickets, NEVER leave them in the enclosure. They are nasty little buggers and come out when your beardie gets cold and will start feeding on him. NEVER feed anything - bugs or greens, that is bigger than the space between your beardies eyes. It can get stuck and lead to impaction.
ENJOY and don't forget to ask as many questions as you have. The only silly question is the one not asked.
Oh.. don't forget to post a pic of your new buddy and his home. I would love to see

 

[LittleMerlin]

Some reptiles take longer to adapt to their new homes. He may just still be adjusting to the new home. I would go online to order crickets, worked well for me. I got mine from premiumcrickets. Very decent prices and great timing on delivery. Plus you can pick the exact sizes of crickets that you need and order in bulk (which is MUCH cheaper than going to pet store). Try offering veggies every day. Turnip Greens and Kale are good to start with. If he doesn't eat within a week or so, then I'd probably call a vet. Make sure to give him a bath a couple times a week (don't let water get up above the shoulders, just below it is okay from what I understand), make sure to have UTH and all the proper lighting and such. That could also affect the appetite. For the veggies, make sure they're chopped up really well so they don't get too big for the bearded dragon to eat.

 

[Lilclap]

Day 5.. tried something new & learned something today.. first off he is eating his greens now!! Yay for cheko! 2nd off i learned that he dosnt like his food & water in 1 big bowl (food all lumpped in one corner of the bowl). He is very particular. I baught a new smaller bowl & put his greens in it & he started chowing down. He seems way happier. Btw i baught crickets & i think that got him jump started on eating. Thanks all!

 

[ajandj]

great to hear. Just make sure the crickets are no bigger than the space between his eyes and that you don't leave crickets in the enclosure for an extended time

 

[LittleMerlin]

Glad to hear all is well!