stubborn hatchling?

[chastity]

we have a single bearded dragon in a 20 gallon long(for now, he's tiny). my husband got him for me as a gift since i have several leopard geckos and adore reptiles. his temps in his basking spot are around 100-105 and he has a cooler side around 80, temp drops to about 75-80 during the night as all lights go out. he has the UVB 10.0 bulb as well. he poops normal & is fairly active when he's not basking, he also loves being around people.he brought him home around a month ago maybe longer and all he has eaten since we got him is crickets. he's about 6.5" long & all he has shed since he's been with us is on his tail as of today. he refuses potatoes bananas lettuce carrots apples & the bearded dragon food, he closes his eyes when you touch him with a mealworm or waxworm. we're going to try squash this week. my problem is i'm not really seeing any growth with him, although i didn't measure him when we got him. some days he'll eat several good sized crickets and then he wont eat the next day. i give him nice warm baths every day and offer him crickets several times a day but i don't know how to get him to eat anything else. i'm going to get a scale this week to weigh him but is this normal? i heard bearded dragons are supposed to grow fast and be good eaters but he is soooo picky and stubborn. -.-

this is him after a bath getting his bask on.

 

[SC Geckos]

Most beardies when they are young tend to only want to eat insects. As they start to get older they will eat more ond more veggies. I have never tried to feed my beardies any of the things you listed "potatoes bananas lettuce carrots apples & the bearded dragon food" other than carrots. How are you preparing the harder veggies like carrots? The best way IMO is thin shavings not cubes. (I feed them mostly collard greens, mustard greens, and organic spring mix. You may want to try putting a few super worms (medium sized) in a bowl mixed in with the veggies. This is how I got one of my beardies to start eating veggies. They are stimulated to eat by movement when they are young so this helps attract them to the greens. Mine also love dubias.

 

[chastity]

Most beardies when they are young tend to only want to eat insects. As they start to get older they will eat more ond more veggies. I have never tried to feed my beardies any of the things you listed "potatoes bananas lettuce carrots apples & the bearded dragon food" other than carrots. How are you preparing the harder veggies like carrots? The best way IMO is thin shavings not cubes. (I feed them mostly collard greens, mustard greens, and organic spring mix. You may want to try putting a few super worms (medium sized) in a bowl mixed in with the veggies. This is how I got one of my beardies to start eating veggies. They are stimulated to eat by movement when they are young so this helps attract them to the greens. Mine also love dubias.

i was trying things i read online that got peoples beardies to eat their veggies. that's why i tried all the different kinds of stuff.i've been cutting them all up into tiny little pieces, cubes but very tiny ones. i'll try the supers even though they're gross haha.

 

[KTyne]

Are you dusting his Crickets with Calcium powder? My Fiance's previous Beardie was stunted because he had no supplements whatsoever in his first 2 years of life.

 

[SC Geckos]

i was trying things i read online that got peoples beardies to eat their veggies. that's why i tried all the different kinds of stuff.i've been cutting them all up into tiny little pieces, cubes but very tiny ones. i'll try the supers even though they're gross haha.

I did not mean that as a bad thing on your part, just that I have never offered them to my beardies. I am no expert on beardies by any stretch. lol. I have only been keeping them for about 2 years or so.
To cut up any hard veggies I use one of those carrot peelers. It is fast and works perfect.
Another thing that might work is butternut squash. Dropping the crickets or other feeders one by one into the veggie bowl then mix in dropping a few pieces of veggies.
If you dust the feeders, you can also try dusting some of the veggies before attempting to feed them.
Hope one of these ideas works for you.

 

[chastity]

Are you dusting his Crickets with Calcium powder? My Fiance's previous Beardie was stunted because he had no supplements whatsoever in his first 2 years of life.

yeah he gets calcium on all his crickets. i shake them up every morning in a baggie and offer him some. some days he's just not interested in food. it's like a once a week thing where he'll just pick a day and not want anything but a bath.

 

[chastity]

I did not mean that as a bad thing on your part, just that I have never offered them to my beardies. I am no expert on beardies by any stretch. lol. I have only been keeping them for about 2 years or so.
To cut up any hard veggies I use one of those carrot peelers. It is fast and works perfect.
Another thing that might work is butternut squash. Dropping the crickets or other feeders one by one into the veggie bowl then mix in dropping a few pieces of veggies.
If you dust the feeders, you can also try dusting some of the veggies before attempting to feed them.
Hope one of these ideas works for you.

it's okay i wasn't offended or anything i was just explaining my reasons for trying all those. i'll try the peeler. and i read they're fond of squash so i'm going to pick some up this week and try that. i don't understand him sometimes. he'll act interested in something and then change his mind. like the other day i dropped some crickets in and he didn't want any so i put his log back in that he basks on and he sat on it and kept waiting for crickets to pass by, then he'd dangle off the log and try to get them but if they ran he'd just pull himself back up and sit there. he's lazy!

 

[SC Geckos]

I would also only give him a "bath" maybe once every week or two if that. They are desert lizards that would never come in contact with water that much on a regular basis. I have no idea if that would have any bearing on the feeding issue your having. I give mine a 5 - 10 min. soak once every 2-3 weeks.

 

[chastity]

he wont drink water at all from his bowl. i went a week without giving him a bath and he stuck his whole face under the bath water and started drinking it, i thought he was gonna drown himself.

 

[SC Geckos]

he wont drink water at all from his bowl. i went a week without giving him a bath and he stuck his whole face under the bath water and started drinking it, i thought he was gonna drown himself.

It takes a while to teach them that there is water in there bowl. Put him near the bowl and slowly pour water into it. You can also take a spray bottle and spray the water into the bowl and drip a little on his nose so he realizes what it is. He will learn that the water is there. They do not require alot of water and dont normally drink very often. They get most of there liquid from there food.

 

[chastity]

It takes a while to teach them that there is water in there bowl. Put him near the bowl and slowly pour water into it. You can also take a spray bottle and spray the water into the bowl and drip a little on his nose so he realizes what it is. He will learn that the water is there. They do not require alot of water and dont normally drink very often. They get most of there liquid from there food.

he knows there's water there he just doesn't like it because it's cold i guess. he'll run through it but he never goes over and just drinks or lays in it. i'll try and skip a few days in between baths though now.

 

[SC Geckos]

he knows there's water there he just doesn't like it because it's cold i guess. he'll run through it but he never goes over and just drinks or lays in it. i'll try and skip a few days in between baths though now.

Trust me... when he realizes its there and hes thirsty he will drink. mine would walk back and forth threw the water and have no idea it was something they could drink. Until I got them to learn there was water in the bowl I would mist the glass in a small section of the tank and they would chase the drops of water down the glass and lick them up.
I have never seen either of my beardies soak in there bowls in over two years. When I got them I read that they do soak every once in a while so I got nice big water bowls.....It has never happened yet that I have seen. lol.

 

[chastity]

Trust me... when he realizes its there and hes thirsty he will drink. mine would walk back and forth threw the water and have no idea it was something they could drink. Until I got them to learn there was water in the bowl I would mist the glass in a small section of the tank and they would chase the drops of water down the glass and lick them up.
I have never seen either of my beardies soak in there bowls in over two years. When I got them I read that they do soak every once in a while so I got nice big water bowls.....It has never happened yet that I have seen. lol.

lol! i just feel so bad not giving him his baths when he loves them LOL. he pancakes all out and closes his eyes and likes when i splash him. hahaha. it's so cute.

 

[KTyne]

Bearded Dragons don't really need a water dish, it's not a necessity. They get enough water in general from their feeders and veggies. If he's thirsty he'll drink it.
Also, water dishes in the cage can make the humidity go up too high and humidity is bad for a Beardie.
Also, what type of substrate are you keeping him on? (not sure if you mentioned this) Is he pooping regularly? If he's kept on a loose substrate like sand he could have a slight impaction.

 

[chastity]

Bearded Dragons don't really need a water dish, it's not a necessity. They get enough water in general from their feeders and veggies. If he's thirsty he'll drink it.
Also, water dishes in the cage can make the humidity go up too high and humidity is bad for a Beardie.
Also, what type of substrate are you keeping him on? (not sure if you mentioned this) Is he pooping regularly? If he's kept on a loose substrate like sand he could have a slight impaction.

he's on reptile carpet and yeah he goes to the bathroom regularly. he just doesn't eat enough. :/

 

[KTyne]

HmMmmmm, have you had him checked for parasites? Parasites can drastically affect a Reptiles appetite.

 

[chastity]

HmMmmmm, have you had him checked for parasites? Parasites can drastically affect a Reptiles appetite.

considering doing it this week sometime. someone else suggested it but i had just assumed he would have shown symptoms for it other than not wanting to eat as much.

 

[KTyne]

If it is just a mild case of internal parasites he wouldn't have a ton of symptoms. Good luck with him, I hope he starts eating for you!