PLEASE HELP :( baby beardie has not been eating

[Claire Miclat]

hi everyone, I got a baby beardie from Petco (not a good place to get them from...) about 3 weeks ago. First week and a half he was fine, and has been struggling ever since. I originally had a compact bulb which as of yesterday I switched to a T8 slimline Zilla 50UVB fixture that I hung from the top of the mesh ceiling in his cage about 8 in from his basking spot using loop wire. I also removed the plastic covering. My dial thermometer reads about 105-110 for basking, about 75 in the coolest spot. Until I got the new uvb fixture he stopped eating almost entirely aside from greens. He was eating about 10-15 crickets a day starting off and some meal worms as well. Today, being his first day with the new fixture, he ate a mealworm and some greens and lazily attempted to catch a cricket but failed. aside from his horrible eating patterns, he’s very active and always perked up. I haven’t been handling him or letting him run around my bathroom lately because he has not been eating enough and I don’t want him to burn too much energy. I bathe him a couple times a week. Please please someone help me - should I return him so that they can legally have him seen by their reptile vet and then pick him up once he’s doing okay, or should he improve within the next day of having this light fixture? I am so beyond stressed and worried for my little man. Someone please help!!!

 

[PatsyB]

He really is a cutie! Get a digital probe thermometer or a temp gun and measure the temp right in the basking spot. Those analog dials on the side of the tank aren't measuring the temp where your dragon is sitting. It's possible the basking spot itself isn't getting to the temp that it needs to be.

Check out the web site Beautifuldragons.com and look at their nutrition chart. Crickets are a good feeder but meal worms have a real hard shell that can be hard to digest.