my baby beardy is not eating

Question
QUESTION: i purchased a baby bearded dragon last week on thursday evening. he was very alert and lively in the store but when i got home he started to do the death roll!!!. he did it from time to time until saturday morning. he has calmed down but he is not eating or drinking water. i have misted the tank walls and him to keep hem hydrated. i dont know how old he is but he is about 4, maybe 5 inches from nose to tail tip. my tank setup is simple, i have him in a 10 gallon, it has a water dish, a rock and small branch under the UV bulb and paper for substrate. the bulb is the " Sun Glo" from exoterra and the temp gets to 105 . since saturday evening he calmed down, he is acting normally and moving about. hes basking and seems calmed and alert.i tried to feed him yesterday but he didnt touch the salad nor the crickets. he seemed to be anoyed by the crickets. So how do i get him to eat? hope to hear from you soon.

ANSWER: Hello Victor,

He is doing the deathroll?  
What is the humidity in the tank?  What are you measuring the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?  
A 10 gallon tank is pretty hard to maintain a good temperature gradient though. Could he be getting too hot in there?  The Sun Glo is a decent basking bulb.  What type & brand of UVB are you using, a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light?   I really need the brand of your UVB light, though.
Or is your UVB light the Sun Glo?  If so, the Sun Glo is not a UVB, but the Solar Glo is.  
Be careful, if you are using the Solar Glo it is a mercury vapor bulb, & that will overheat the 10 gallon tank.  Dehydration can cause severe problems in behavior.
How large are the crickets?  Are they smaller than the space between the eyes?  Have you tried feeding him in a separate feeding bin so they don't overwhelm him?
Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie

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QUESTION: my BD is about 5 inches fron nose to the tip of his tail (his tail is reallt long).the distance between his eyes is 1/2 an inch.the bulb im using is the Sun Glo 60W, brand is Exo-Terra.the thermometer is the stick tape kind and the highest temp reading has been 105F.Im not sure he is dehydrated because im misting the tank and i also mist him with water.i thought the sunglo was a UV bulb, sorry my mistake. what UV bulb do you recomend? im not sure about the size of the crickets, but i know they are not small 3/4 inch crickets. their bigger but im not sure how big. some seem to be a bit larger than the distance between his eyes.Im also having trouble finding the small crickets because the petshops in my area bring medium sized only, so im just hand picking by eye the smallest crickets i can find in the containers.Im also ripping of the crickets jumping legs off so that their easier to catch.should i get a 20 long tank? is paper good as a substrate for baby BD? i currently only have the sun glo 60W for basking, what UV bulb should i get? any other tips you can give me, especially about getting him to eat? yesterday(sunday) he acted normally, like the baby BD i see on youtube and stuff. he climed up and down his branch. he would clime to bask and later clime back down to move aroun the tank. he actually ran around a bit, unfortunatelly not to catch a cricket, i think he was exploring because he went to chek out the salad. he kind of took a small bite to chek it out but no enough to say that he fed, it was just a bite. he then ran towards the water dish, checked it out. climed in and climed out. so i think that was somewhat normal behavior. he only observed the crickets from his basking spot in the tree, they did not inerest him. i dont know if he is afraid or still settling in to his new home. i know im keeping him hydrated, my main concern is getting him eat either the insects or some salad beacuase i brought home on thursday evening last week and he still has not eaten anything. so can you give me any tips to encourage him to eat?

ANSWER: Hello Victor,
Ok, the Sun Glo is not a UVB light, unfortunately.  :-)
If you want to stick with Exoterra products, that is fine.  Do you have plans to upgrade the tank a little bit?  If you would like to use a mercury vapor bulb, the Solar Glo by Hagen/Exo terra, then you can get a 30 or 40 gallon tank & use that light.  It will provide heating & UVB lighting all in the same bulb.  Then you will just need a non uvb coil or tube light for extra brightness.  
Or, you can get a Reptisun 10 flourescent tube UVB light & use a halogen light or your Sun Glo light for the basking bulb.  Whichever one is an easier setup for you.  
You could get a 20 long, or you could just upgrade to a 30 or 40 gallon.  He will need a 75 or larger for adulthood though.  
The stick on thermometer does not measure the basking spot.  It will only measure the ambient temps of the tank, or the glass temperature.  You will need to get a digital probe or a temp gun for better accuracy.
Are you using calcium supplementation?  As a baby he needs it 5 times per week on one dusting of crickets or feeders, daily.  
Remember, he could still be going through some relocation stress as well so be patient with him.  Make sure the crickets are small, not to exceed the space between the eyes or he will be scared of them.  
He will need to be eating at least 50+ crickets per day so you will need to order crickets from online if you can't find them at the petstore.  Try either  www.premiumcrickets.com    or  www.armstrongcrickets.com
They are much cheaper in bulk like that!
Yes, paper towels are great for babies, as substrate.

Keep me posted on how he is doing.
Tracie



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I'm planning on upgrading the tank size, ill probably get something that my ball python can inherit.A friend is going to help me build a 4x2x2 enclosure as soon as he gains some size.Could you send me a list of the things I'm missing in order to meet his needs? I have a budget, but if it will keep my baby BD healthy and its within my pockets reach i will buy it. It doesn't have to be exo-terra, the only reason the bulb i have is exo-terra is because it was the only one i could in the pet store. Could give the tips and tricks that have worked for you? Cheap or expensive, i just want my BD to be healthy.I also have good news, i left him a salad with some meal worms in it and he ate one. At least i assume he did because i didn't find it in the tank. He seems very alert and active. Although his activities come in between long periods of basking.Is this normal? Hope to here from you soon, and please feel free to shoot any tips my way and most importantly thank you very much Tracie.

Answer
Hello Victor,
Good you are going to upgrade to a larger tank soon that should help alot.  The 4x2x2 is the perfect size.  That is what my hubby builds for ours, too.  
You don't need to change much.  The mercury vapor bulb is optional, really.  You are doing great.
All you need is a UVB light.  The Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb is the best tube light you can get.  Just use that in conjunction with the Sun Glo basking light you have & that should be adequate lighting for him.  Make sure the Reptisun 10 is 6-8 inches from him, & that the basking light is placed directly beside the UVB on one end.  Focus the basking light to where he can get the heat & the UVB in one spot.  
A temp gun or a digital probe are the two best ways to measure temps.  You can get a temp gun from  www.temptun.com  OR  www.reptileuv.com

The Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb you can get from any of these places:

www.reptilesupply.com
www.petmountain.com
www.bigappleherp.com

It sounds like he is starting to adjust to his new home so just give him some time.  The worms in his greens & veggies are a good idea.  Remember, don't feed too many mealies, they can be too fatty & cause impaction.  

Keep me posted on him.

Tracie