Bearded Dragon Eating Habits

Question
QUESTION: My baby dragon is 5 1/2 inches. I think the crickets from the pet store are too big as he is only eating 1-2 a day. He does not eat any veggies or fruit I put in the cage. His color is good and he seems healthy. He spends most of his time sleeping under the heat lamp and loves to be held. He really perked up today when I took him outside and he tried eating a fake plant on the porch so I bought some red lettace. He ate 2 bites and was no longer interested. How many crickets should he be eating a day and how large? What else could I do to help get him to eat more?

ANSWER: Hello Loreal, well he should have quite an appetite. How big are the crickets? Usually babies eat much more then adults. They are growing and need lots of protein and nutrients. I know a site that has tons of Bearded Dragon information. http://www.beautifuldragons.com It has nutrition facts of good foods and all kinds of information. Check out the food section and make sure you are feeding good insects. You can always buy smaller crickets too. Medium would probably be best. You do have a UV light correct? And the crickets are live? Try feeding something like worms and see if he goes for them Silkworms are always good waxworms are good but sort of fatty and should be used only as treats. Metalwork should be really rare as they have very few nutrients and they can be hard on the digestive track. You can try to hand feed (watch your fingers) you can use tongs to hold the food and see if he will go for it that way. If his appetite considerably drops down you should take him to the vet for a check up. As long as he eats everyday he will probably start eating more. Where ever it is you bought him try asking them what they were feeding him before you got him and make sure he was eating it. That site above (the link) has a very long list of foods (good and not so check the color code box) it will help immensely. Good luck and

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QUESTION: Thank you for your reply. After more research I've decided that his cage is not warm enough. I have an under tank heater and over head heater but temps max at 95. I'm going to get a stronger bulb. Also, I have read not to put babies on the reptile calcium enriched sand. What do you know about this? I was going to just put a sheet of paper towel over the sand because if I remove the sand, the under heater will be too hot on his belly.Thanks!

Answer
Well raise up the heat and that will probably help out a lot. You should probably also get a infrared bulb so that he has heat at night also. Do not use sand for babies or adults the problem isn't heat or anything. Its that when they go eat and snap up their food off of the sand they can end up swallowing the sand and it can cause impacting within the digestive system. Also it can get stuck between their toes and cause great irritation. I would prefer if you removed the sand. Calci-sand, play sand even the sand sold specifically for reptiles I don't recommend. Its just the manufacturers trying to get money out of you and not caring about the affect (or not doing research and knowing its not to good.) One of my favorite substrates is slate. Go to like a Home-Depot or any other home improvement store and get some slate tiles and line the tank with it. It cleans easily its natural, looks nice and warms up. But it can get hot so be sure to have a cool spot. You can also use fake slate tile or any other tiles. Reptile carpet is nice too. Does your under tank heater have a thermostat? What is it set too and if not what size tank is it for? Because you can lower the settings or buy a smaller one if the temp gets to hot for him. And if you get a log or something for him to climb up on he can get up and off of the tank bottom as he pleases. And please make sure you have a cool side. (not cold) But if he needs to cool down be sure its available. Good luck