Baby Beardie Not Eating, Should I be Worried?

[TheSnakeEye]

I agree with everything mentioned above, make sure his temps are on point and make sure he's close enough to the UVB that the rays are still effective. Also a baby beardie should be eating WAY MORE than 3 crix a day. Try feeding him pinheads and feed him as much as he'll eat in about 10 minutes. Mine would easily eat 25+

[enchantress62]

Yea see this is what I am worried about. He has never eaten a lot of crickets. At Petsmart I was told that they were feeding him mealworms and lettuce. I was also told that he was 3 wks old. I've had him almost 2 wks now so he would be around 5 wks old now. He's a little less then six inches long from nose to tip of tail. I work the night shift so I feed him when I get home in the morning and when I wake up in the evening. I spray him with warm water at the same time. Just now I placed a salad made of finely diced asperigus, collard greens, apple pieces, and mealworms for movement. I also gave him 6 calcium covered crickets and yes they are babies. So what's he doing... He's sitting there under the basking light watching his meal as if waiting for it to come to him. lol I will say this much. At least he doesn't seem lethargic anymore.

[enchantress62]

Here is a picture of him.

[TheSnakeEye]

Yea see this is what I am worried about. He has never eaten a lot of crickets. At Petsmart I was told that they were feeding him mealworms and lettuce. I was also told that he was 3 wks old. I've had him almost 2 wks now so he would be around 5 wks old now. He's a little less then six inches long from nose to tip of tail. I work the night shift so I feed him when I get home in the morning and when I wake up in the evening. I spray him with warm water at the same time. Just now I placed a salad made of finely diced asperigus, collard greens, apple pieces, and mealworms for movement. I also gave him 6 calcium covered crickets and yes they are babies. So what's he doing... He's sitting there under the basking light watching his meal as if waiting for it to come to him. lol I will say this much. At least he doesn't seem lethargic anymore.

First, no more meal worms at least until he gets bigger. I've always heard that their exoskeletion is very hard for BD's to digest and can cause impaction. Second soak him in warm water and see if maybe he poops, perhaps he's a little constipated and thus won't eat. If not check check check your temps. If he's not properly heated up he will not eat. Trust me 3 crickets is far too little.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I've always heard that beardies should never get meal worms. Ever. Not even mini meal worms.

Adults can have super worms but meal worms do have a hard exoskeleton.

I agree with giving him a warm soak. Try to get him to go to the bathroom. I bet he's eaten too much hard stuff.

[enchantress62]

Okay, I'm really confused about that. On this site I've been advised to not use meal worms then advised to use them in the salads to encourage him to eat his greens. I wont feed them to him if I shouldn't but the contradiction is confusing. By the way he ate all the crickets this morning but none of the meal worms or salad.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

Like was said by the other poster, babies usually won't eat their greens. Just don't offer the mealies anymore. Too much of a risk. Keep offering plenty of extra small crickets every day. Offer a finely diced salad of greens or even try the spring mix that comes in a bag since it has more colors. It does have a decent amount of calcium in it. It's about equal to the amount in turnip greens but tastes better to babies. Offer the salad in the morning/early afternoon. Then offer the crickets in late afternoon.

This is the best way to encourage him to start eating his greens. Eventually he will have some. As he gets older he will eat more and more of it.

It's ok if he doesn't eat any right now. Babies eat mostly insects anyway. After his first year he will simply not want as many insects and will eat a bowl or 2 of salad every day.

My dragon is over 2 years old now. He hates crickets now. He only gets super worms, silk worms, or horn worms a couple times a week. He eats a big bowl of greens every day though. If I put 6 worms in a bowl for him he will only eat a few and leave the rest for the next day.

Babies eat about 90% protein (insects) but its the opposite for adults. No worries. Just fatten him up with his calcium dusted crickets. Use plain calcium too. Not the kind with D3. This is dangerous for them.

Oh and no spinach! Spinach blocks the bodies ability to absorb calcium. Just greens, spring mix, and diced fruits n veggies. No citrus.

In the summer if they grow by you pick him some yellow dandelion flowers and leaves as well. These are nutritious for them and they love them! And clover leaves and their purple and white flowers.

[enchantress62]

Okay, Got it. So out goes the mealworms. I do have Babie Bites by Nature Zone so I'll start offering him that too. The calcium I have does have D3 in it so I'll throw that out and get just calcium. FYI I've been judging his decline of condition based on what I see when I get home in the morning but today it occurs to me that he's asleep when I get home and maybe it just takes him awhile to wake up. I thought at first that he was dead because he was so still but fifteen minutes after turning his lights on he's up chasing crickets around his cage. lol

[Jabberwocky Dragons]

It is absolutely false that mealworms are bad for bearded dragons... they are one of the best supplemental feeders you can give. Mini mealworms are a great feeder for baby bearded dragons although your primary food source should still be dubias (preferably) or crickets. I remember years ago it was common rumor not to feed mealworms without pinching the heads off because "they can chew their way out of the dragon's stomach!"

Superworms are much harder to digest and I've witnessed and heard many first hand accounts of dragons throwing up after eating too many superworms in one sitting.

Instead of taking my word for it, I would recommend visiting the "Bearded Dragons and other creatures" website (The Dachiu's, introducer of the leatherback to the US) for further information or getting a copy of a good bearded dragon care book. There is a lot of misinformation on bearded dragon care on the internet (as I'm sure is the case with a lot of other species), especially care sheets on some breeders' websites .

[enchantress62]

That site is awesome and answered a lot of my questions and concerns. For those of you who are interested here's the link

http://www.dachiu.com/