Hi all,
I'm new to reptile forum as have recently got my first reptile, a baby beardie. I'm not sure of his age although he is around 7 inches long and 15 grams in weight. I bought him about 3 weeks ago and his feeding habits have been very up and down, I'm trying to work out if I'm doing the right thing as I seem to have tried everything now. I started off feeding him locusts but as they don't move around much he didn't seem to even notice them so I started having to hand feed them to him which he would take around 5-6 twice a day. Then I tried him with crickets and he seemed to love them as would dive into the box before I got a chance to remove the lid!
The last few days he hasn't really eaten anything, around 2-3 crickets in total. I have tried putting him in a box with the crickets away from the viv but he just wants to escape and ignores the crickets. I have tried hand feeding them to him and he just looks at it for a second then closes his eyes! If I leave the crickets in the viv he doesn't find them and I end up having to remove them which is a massive pain in the butt.
I give him veggies every morning which I haven't ever seen him touch although from what I have read on here that can be normal when they are babies so I keep offering each day anyway.
I have been giving him baths twice a week which he seems to enjoy and will happily drink water from a syringe. He seems to be pooping ok, I would say usually twice a day, little brown pellets with the white stuff on one end. Sometimes I've seen just the white stuff with no poop.
One thing that seems strange to me is that I hardly ever see him on his basking spot, he spends nearly all of his time on a branch in the middle of the viv and might have a couple of 5 minute bursts of energy where he has a wonder around.
So about the viv - its a 4x2x2 with 100w basking lamp, and a full length 12% UVB light. I have 2 digital thermometers, one on the basking spot which measures around 110-115f at its hottest. And the other in the cool end which is usually around 80f. I have the lighting on a timer which is on 8am-8pm.
For the substrate I have tiles, he has a few bits of furniture, bark for hiding (which he never seems to do!) and a couple of branches for climbing on.
I have been trying to dust his live food with calcium 5 times a week and multi vit twice a week but this is quite hard to regulate at the moment as I never know when he is going to eat! I'm not sure when or how to tell if he may be shedding (I don't notice any difference at the moment) and whether this could be a factor?
Any advice on why he might not be eating would be gratefully received and please let me know if I'm doing the right things? Sorry for the rather long essay...just wanted to get all the info in there!
Thanks!
I'm new to reptile forum as have recently got my first reptile, a baby beardie. I'm not sure of his age although he is around 7 inches long and 15 grams in weight. I bought him about 3 weeks ago and his feeding habits have been very up and down, I'm trying to work out if I'm doing the right thing as I seem to have tried everything now. I started off feeding him locusts but as they don't move around much he didn't seem to even notice them so I started having to hand feed them to him which he would take around 5-6 twice a day. Then I tried him with crickets and he seemed to love them as would dive into the box before I got a chance to remove the lid!
The last few days he hasn't really eaten anything, around 2-3 crickets in total. I have tried putting him in a box with the crickets away from the viv but he just wants to escape and ignores the crickets. I have tried hand feeding them to him and he just looks at it for a second then closes his eyes! If I leave the crickets in the viv he doesn't find them and I end up having to remove them which is a massive pain in the butt.
I give him veggies every morning which I haven't ever seen him touch although from what I have read on here that can be normal when they are babies so I keep offering each day anyway.
I have been giving him baths twice a week which he seems to enjoy and will happily drink water from a syringe. He seems to be pooping ok, I would say usually twice a day, little brown pellets with the white stuff on one end. Sometimes I've seen just the white stuff with no poop.
One thing that seems strange to me is that I hardly ever see him on his basking spot, he spends nearly all of his time on a branch in the middle of the viv and might have a couple of 5 minute bursts of energy where he has a wonder around.
So about the viv - its a 4x2x2 with 100w basking lamp, and a full length 12% UVB light. I have 2 digital thermometers, one on the basking spot which measures around 110-115f at its hottest. And the other in the cool end which is usually around 80f. I have the lighting on a timer which is on 8am-8pm.
For the substrate I have tiles, he has a few bits of furniture, bark for hiding (which he never seems to do!) and a couple of branches for climbing on.
I have been trying to dust his live food with calcium 5 times a week and multi vit twice a week but this is quite hard to regulate at the moment as I never know when he is going to eat! I'm not sure when or how to tell if he may be shedding (I don't notice any difference at the moment) and whether this could be a factor?
Any advice on why he might not be eating would be gratefully received and please let me know if I'm doing the right things? Sorry for the rather long essay...just wanted to get all the info in there!
Thanks!
