Got my Beardie today, need some advice

[Death Adder]

Ive got him in the tank. he seems happy enough, I tried giving him a small cricket but he dosnt seem interested in it, is this because he's not hungry?

[pugsly]

Mate he has had a stressful move for a little guy, now he is probably somewhere unfamiliar.

Let him settle in for a day or two then throw a few crickets in.

Pics of the set up?

[Death Adder]

Im gunna feed him out of the tank, cos ive got sand in there and I dont want him getting impaction. Ive got some pics of the set up in the gallery under lizard enclosures.

[pugsly]

Not sure how that will go for you...

If you keep taking him out every day or two he will just get more stresed and won't eat.

If you do then put him in a plastic tub with the crickets in it for him to chase around.

Everyone has impactationphobia at the moment..

[Death Adder]

is impaction as common as what it seems or is it pretty unlucky for the beardie to get it?

[Miss B]

I'm not sure how common it is, but (imo) not worth the risk.

There are people who keep young beardies on sand with no ill effects, and there are those that have lost beardies due to impaction from being kept on sand. It's up to you whether you consider it too risky or not. I personally wouldn't keep young beardies on sand, just because I'd prefer to eliminate as many risks as possible.

[Logan & Allana]

Just give him time to settle in. Impaction can be caused from many things not just sand, so it would be in my books hard to blame a beardie having it purely from sand. The common reason people avoid it is because dragons are always getting sand in there digestion when kept on it, weather from eating things covered in sand or running around licking it. In saying that though in the wild they don't have fresh news paper so I guess personal opinion. This such as over feeding or feeding pray to large cause impaction and mealies are not a good choice as food as there shells over time are known for causing impaction, so if you do feed them make sure they don't take up more than 10% of there diet and try to avoid using large mealies.
Allana