# my baby beardie isn't eating.



## Amylou86 (Mar 17, 2014)

Hi all. I'm new to this site. Also I'm a first time new bearded dragon owner.
My Elliott is about 4 months old. I'm totally in love with him but he barely eats and it's causing me worry.
OK so I'm not going to lie, I am totally freaked out by live food. I get twitchy and itchy just thinking about it. I was told that I could feed him complete supplement food pellets along with fresh greens.
Anyway he's never touched the pellets and his health is more important to me than my phobia. So after a few days of having him I got some crickets and meal worms. He isn't interested. I've tried everyday to get him to eat them but he isn't having any of it. Even let's the crickets walk all over his face.
So it's been about 3 weeks now that he's barely eating. I can't even tell how much of his veg he's eating as the conditions of his viv cause it to shrivel and wilt.
I've tried hand feeding him but no joy.
I went to the poet shop where I bought him from and explained. They suggested trying him on hoppers. (OK the thought of this makes me cringe so some reassurance about hoppers would be appreciated) but they don't have any in stock until Thursday.
Do you think he will be OK until then?
He is pooing and his viv temperatures are fine. He has an active period and seems happy to be handled.
I've given him baths which he tolerated. His tummy just seems really soft. Like I could squeeze it compltelt together.
Is there anything else I can do for him? There are no other pet stores around so I can't go elsewhere for hoppers. I will keep trying with the crickets and mealworms until then. 
He has a varied green diet. I'm trying lots of different things to see if there is anything that really takes his fancy but so far he's just indifferent. I'm worried he's starving.
I feel like a terrible irresponsible owner. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks.


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## CloudForest (Nov 27, 2013)

if he's pooping fine, then he's probably just not eating as much as you expect, as a baby he's not going to eat that much. pics of the setup, and info on temperatures, heating, thermostats and thermometer types will be useful to confirm the setup is right.

to reassure yourself, you could simply count out 10 meal worms, put them in a small dish, then see how many are left towards the end of the day, top it up whenever needed and increase the number when he starts finishing them off, this will give you an idea of what he's actually eating

I wouldn't get hoppers (locusts) at this point personally, they can climb glass, and that makes it more difficult for the beardie to catch, locusts are a great food, but they arnt going to help you figure out if he's eating or not - and no pet shop feeds their livestock locusts (they are expensive compared to crickets n meal worms), so I dont think there is a food preference issue going on


I dont think you have much to worry about tho, a 4 month old beardie isnt going to eat hundreds of crickets a week, keep up with the fresh veg and monitor the number of mealworms being eaten


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## PDJ (Jul 24, 2013)

Just keep offering live food. Chances are he will eat when he is hungry. Don't leave crickets in the viv overnight. They have been known to bite beardies while they sleep. My beardie has been of her food for a little while lately. She probably has a couple of morio worms every couple of days. In the wild they probably wouldn't catch bugs everyday so I don't think your friend will starve.


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## Amylou86 (Mar 17, 2014)

I can't upload images for some reason. His viv is 6ft by 4ft. Right now the cool end is 26.1 and the hot end is 32.9. They vary throughout the day by about 5 degrees. He has a basking lamp and a hide underneath it. His substrate is calci sand. He has 2 UV bulbs that are on a timer and on for 13 hours a day.
He has a big log and 2 plants and vines.
He's got quite a plush little set up. 
I've counted mealworms and thought he'd eaten a few. Until a couple of days later I found them under his water dish.
The crickets I thought he had eaten until I went to change his food and found the little blighters in there. ( I nearly had a heart attack)
He's ever so friendly and I handle him a few times everyday. I just think he's quite small. He doesn't seem to have grown since I've had him. But maybe that's normal? 
I don't really know how to monitor his greens as they wilt and shrivel quite quickly.
Also. Is it normal that crickets smell? I was not expecting the stench that hit me when I opened the box!


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## CloudForest (Nov 27, 2013)

yep crickets are stinky things, they need LOTS of ventilation and all the dead ones removed every day, or the stink will keep on building and they will die off quicker.

6 X 4 enclosure, that is awsome, lucky beardie  if only everyone gave them that much space!

how are you measuring the hot end temps?

are you measuring the substrate surface temperature, directly below the heat lamp, with a digital meter, or using a dial/analog meter on the side of the enclosure?

dont worry to much, as said already if he's pooping then he's eating - the only thing that might need adjusting is the basking area tempreture, but that depends on the questions above...


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## Amylou86 (Mar 17, 2014)

Hhmm ok now my inexperience as a beardie owner really comes out. As I'm not understanding what you mean about measuring temps.
I have 2 digital thermometers one at each end of the tank, that are programmed to beep if they go below a certain temp.
The hot end is set toward the back of the viv near the heat lamp. 
The viv is over 3 levels and I only have calci sand on the bottom. The upper levels have reptile carpet? Looks a bit like sand paper.
My brother in law who is a zoo keeper set the viv up and built it etc while I just stared lovingly into beardies eyes, not paying much attention. I wish I had now lol.

Is it quite normal for him to be really tiny still? And should his little tummy feel so soft and squashy? I've just tried him with some crickets and he's closed his eyes and is pretending to be invisible. So far he has not gone for even one. I'm also pretty sure none of today's greens have been touched yet. Still time though I hope.


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## CloudForest (Nov 27, 2013)

put the probe of the thermometer which is on the hot side, directly underneath the heat lamp, on the surface of the substrate, and leave it for 15-20 minutes, that will tell you the basking temperature

pics would be good, i'm intrigued by the setup, sounds interesting!


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## GoodbyeCourage (Aug 14, 2013)

Try posting your questions in the section, you'll get more responses Lizards - Reptile Forums

By the sounds of it it just sounds like your beardie is settling in as they do take a while to come round when moving into a new home. I'd recommend removing the cali sand asap though as it is a high impaction risk for baby beardies since it contains calcium it entices them to eating it which when eaten clogs up their intestines - really not a very nice way to die. Of course this isn't guaranteed to happen but I personally wouldnt take the risk which is why we use textured tiles for our beardie, easy to clean and 100% safe 
If it hasn't already been mentioned those pellet diets are crap and do no good for anyone bar the manufactures who sell market them at people who are a little squeamish when it comes to livefood. I'd advise offering a variety of live foods, our beardie loves roaches, locust and morio worms but you can offer silkworms, calciworms, crickets, mealworms etc etc etc... It's just finding out what your beardie likes best  Live food should always be gut loaded with fresh greens prior to dusting and feeding to your beardie to ensure he's getting all the good nutrients. Veges and greens should also be dusted and offered daily, you can find an excellent list of what to feed here Nutrition Content
Once again trying a variety of foods and just seeing which your dragon likes best will help massively. 
I can't help in terms of set up without actually seeing it so if you could please post a photo that'd be brilliant. Heres how to post pictures if you're unsure http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/newbie-advice/112135-how-post-pictures-using-photobucket.html


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## caen (May 11, 2013)

Can I ask what make your thermometer\dimmer is? I had one that alarmed that I thought was great until I came to set up an incubator. The temp was about 7 degrees out against three thermometers. The make was Geko and purchased from fleebay, it is now in the bin. I now have habistat ones. Try checking your temps with two or three thermometers until you are happy that the temp is correct. 
Ref feeding. Get a container with nothing in it. Place the live food in the container and then place your dragon in the container. This saves you handling the live food and your dragon will only have the food to focus on.
The temp should be checked at the basking spot on the hot end. The UV’s should be positioned at the hot end also. This allows the cool end to have a shadow and allow your dragon to take on heat and UV when required. This does have a name and Arcadia explains this very well.
You say your food shrivels up, is your food in the cool end? Mine lasts 24 hours in my cool end.


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## CloudForest (Nov 27, 2013)

i think that putting it in a box for feeding will simply stress it out even more, it just needs time to settle and less interference while it does


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