help with bearded dragon hatchlings

[haightrevor]

hi..this is my first time on rfuk. could anyone help...i had my first beared dragon hatchlings born last sunday (great father's day present). i have read that they can go several days before taking their first meal but it is now 7 days and apart from the odd small cricket they have not interest... in fact they act as though they are afraid of them...HELP

[charlottej1983]

just keep offering them, they wil eat eventually, check your temps etc to. how are they set up?

[haightrevor]

Hi...i have them split in two groups in large plastic containers..one container has 3 hatchlings and the other has 4. I keep these containers in a large viv with a basking light at both ends...it is 100 degrees under the basking lights with an ambient temp of 80 degrees. I have egg boxes in the containers so they have plenty of places to hide or climb. they are still very active and appear health enough.

[TCReptile]

I often use the tiny micro crickets for hatchlings who don't show any interest. Although not the ideal size as they are so small, they most often snap a few up, then after a couple of days feed them small crix or locusts. You'll find that for the first week or so they tend to run aware from the food, run up to it and wave trying to make friends, or run around licking everything. Very cute and funny to watch. They will eventually learn that this is what they should be eating.

[kevin cross]

some will eat straight from the egg, others can take anything from 3 to 10 days to get there full appetite as they develop there hunting skills befor they develope there catching skills, im sure they will get there appetite soon
best of luck with the babys

[haightrevor]

thanks guys...i appreciate the advice...i will keep trying....talk later

[erewegoagain]

Baby beardies eat more vegetable matter than adults: try them on a salad mix with grated carrot and courgette

[HadesDragons]

Originally Posted by erewegoagain

Baby beardies eat more vegetable matter than adults: try them on a salad mix with grated carrot and courgette

It's the other way round... adults eat more salad than babies. You want babies to be eating around 3/4 livefood, whereas adults should be eating 3/4 greens.

What instar cricket are you feeding them? If they're acting scared, it could just be that the crickets are too large...?

[erewegoagain]

Yes my mistake, salad mix should be given every other day to babies

[TonyH1981]

Originally Posted by erewegoagain

Yes my mistake, salad mix should be given every other day to babies

I personally feed our hatchlings (now 6 weeks) and past hatchlings small crickets after 48hrs and 9 x out of 10 they all eat. I then give finely chopped greens or cress everyday. Adding more variety over the next 5 - 6 weeks. Eventually i get a good idea of what they like and make notes of this for future reference/ new owners. I have also used lucky reptile flower mix and my hatchlings seem to like that too.