Baby Beardie Not Eating, Should I be Worried?

A little background info. I've had my baby beardie for 1 wk. He's about 6" long and seemed healthy when I bought him. He's in a 40L aquarium with a UVB light and 100w basking lamp. I spray him with water once a day and he's been eating crickets. BUT... I haven't been able to get him to eat his veggies, fruit, or baby bites. Then 2 days ago he stopped eating the crickets. All he seems to be interested in is sleeping or being held. Once in awhile he will wake up and climb around his home for a few minutes but then goes right back to sleep. Is this normal for baby BD's? I can't see anything different on his body but I'm worried that something is wrong. Please advise.

It's completely normal for one that young to disdain veggies. 2 full days without eating crickets is a bit long though unless he absolutely gorged himself on his last meal. The first thing to do is check your temps. What is your basking spot and cool spot temperatures?

You didn't mention how often you hold him but I'd also recommend not doing it at such a young age and definitely not after just getting him. Very young beardies don't enjoy being held, they are full of energy and it's easy to accidently damage them if they make a quick break for it. It may be stressing him out and stress can equal not eating.

It's interesting to know that they don't like being held because at petsmart the workers said that he was their favorite animal in the store and they carried him everywhere they went. That said, I hold him about every other day but I do transfer him into his feeder cage at least once a day.

The Petsmart employee was mistaken. Reptiles don't feel like mammals do. I like to think my adult beardies enjoy being held, but most likely they associate my presence with food, not being a predator, and probably enjoy my body heat when I hold them. Baby bearded dragons are prey for nearly every animal they encounter, including larger bearded dragons. They are skittish by nature because they are #1 on the food menu. They are also delicate so it easy to injure them by trying to stop them if they suddenly make a run for it.

My personal preference is to not use a feeder tank. If he is stressed out already, moving him to a different environment will compound it and may result in him not eating.

I would double check your temps since improper heating and cooling is often the cause for poor feeding. If he's still not eating after you're sure the temps are spot on and his stress has been reduced as much as possible, it would be time to get a fecal check for parasites if you haven't already had one done.

Everything that's been said is total on. But you need to make sure everything is correct first of all. Basking temps should be 105.f for babies and a UVB 10.0 is 100% necessary. Babies should not be held and a 2 week acclimation period is usually the best thing. Also stop transferring into a feeding cage. This is just unnecessary stress. He should be in paper towel to prevent impaction as well. I've always fed my baby beardies in there cages because I've seen that if you transfer them out then they don't feel comfortable enough to eat. He wont be eating many veggies but you should still offer and make sure they are in teeny tiny peices for him to eat. Finely diced is best. Make sure you are dusting his crickets with calcium with vitamin d3 3 times a week and dusting his veggies daily with pure calcium. A cheap and effective version of pure calcium is plain tums or fruity tums. I've been using tums with my beardies for years for pure ca dusting and they really like the fruity version.


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Thanks to all for the advice. I will do as suggested and let you know what the outcome is. I don't want to loose him. One question though. I was told he was 3 wks old when I bought him. How old should he be before attempting to hold him again?

3 weeks is really young. It takes about 6 weeks (4-5 if they are power fed daily) to reach 6 inches long. I would wait until he's at least 10-12 inches before regularly holding him.

I think the holding thing has a lot to do with his refusal to eat. This morning I sprayed him while in cage and placed 3 crickets in there. He literally jumped off his branch and ate 1 right away. To answer your questions, however, The UVB light is 10.0, the basking light is 100w, and the temps I'm not sure about because the thermometer is grossly inadequate.

Sounds like he might be cold, he needs a basking spot of around 105+ during the day(very important) on one side of tank and cooler on the other side. Night time temps should stay in the 70's for babies and they should be eating all the time.

Beardies sleep for weeks in the winter when they brumate but babies should not be brumating but may if they are cold.

I put small worms in my bowl of greens and the movement and accidental bites of greens as they eat the worms helps them develop a taste for them.

Check temps and make sure you are giving calcium and vitamin supplements with insects as babies need it to develop proper bone structure.

How large are the crickets? He should be getting crickets that are no longer than the space between his eyes. If he's as young as you say, that means extra small crickets. Otherwise they are difficult to eat and can cause impaction. He should also be offered as many as he can eat in a 10-15 minute time frame twice a day. Beardies his age can eat 30-50 appropriately sized crickets a day.

This is the biggest reason beardies are unhealthy in pet stores. They are not fed properly. The other big reasons are lack of proper UVA/UVB lighting and the proper basking temperature.

If you don't have a digital thermometer with a probe to measure the basking surface temp where he sits under the light, run to Walmart and pick up an Accurite weather station. It's a rectangular grey unit. A few inches tall. Sold near the tools and paint section by the thermostats and thermometers.

It shows 2 temperatures and humidity. You can also use it for snake cages (highly recommended). Use the probe to see how hot the basking temp is. Then adjust the lamp until its where it needs to be.