Very young bearded dragon

[Danivus]

Hi there,

This weekend I got my first reptile, a central bearded dragon. Now he (or hell possibly she) is only 2 weeks old and I foolishly trusted the breeder and chose this as the one bit of information not to google beforehand. So I know this is too young to be safely relocated, now, but nothing to do about it at this point.

Anyway, I've had him for two days now and this evening I've managed to get him to feed for the first time. He ate about 6 small, dusted crickets and a few bean sprout leaves. Great! The thing I have no idea if this is enough for a feeding. Every guide says "Whatever they can eat in 10-15 minutes". That's not really helpful. Because if he only eats 1 thing and then refuses more he's obviously not getting enough.... He's not actively 'hunting' the crickets, but took a couple from my hand and then the rest by putting them all in the little container I brought him home in so they couldn't escape. But even then he left 2 in there that I removed.

So my question is, is this enough for a feeding, or should he (in optimal, relocation-stress free conditions) be eating more?

- - - Updated - - -

I just realised this maybe should have gone in Herp Help. Sorry about that.

 

[nch90]

2 weeks is very young to let them go ur breeder shouldnt of let them go for a few more weeks til they actively feeding where did you get him from i would leave them in for a longer when he wants he will go to them just take em out when its bed time the lil fella

 

[Chris1]

he should be eating more, that being said its great that hes eating so close to having moved home.

im sure once hes settled in he'll start eating more, generally 10-20 crickets per feed, with 3 feeds offered each day at this point.
Dust 1 feed daily with calcium, he will need it for rapidly growing bones.

always leave salad in with him, he will mostly eat insects at this age, but having it there to nibble on will make the switch to eating mostly salads easier.

i generally found 5 mins with the bouncy food is enough, if hes not eating any longer will just stress him rather than encourage him to eat.

also try small roaches, theyre less annoying for the lizard than bouncy crickets.

 

[Danivus]

Okay thanks.

Yeah I know now the breeder shouldn't have sold him to me this young, but I only realised after I already had him and I figure relocating him back to the breeder would just make the stress worse. I blame inexperience on the breeders part rather than malicious intent.

Okay I'll try to build him up to that.

I've always got fresh greens in there for him in case he wants to peck and he's in love with his water bowl, drinking well and spending a lot of time in there. Might be going into shed? Dunno.

I cooled the crickets in the fridge for a minute before I offered them and that slowed them down for him.

 

[Chris1]

dont stress too much about his age, if hes feeding well, thats all that matters.

they're designed to take care of themselves from the moment they hatch, if your set up meets all his needs then he'll be fine.

pics when you're ready!!

 

[Sezzzzzzzzz]

he should be eating more, that being said its great that hes eating so close to having moved home.

im sure once hes settled in he'll start eating more, generally 10-20 crickets per feed, with 3 feeds offered each day at this point.
Dust 1 feed daily with calcium, he will need it for rapidly growing bones.

Chris are you saying a young beardy should be eating 30-60 crickets a day?? Sorry, if it sounds dumb, but i want to check, cos im only feeding mine 10 or so a day + veg.

 

[Chris1]

easy 30 plus salad,....60 is for a piglet.
(ive seen US forums talk about 50 crickets per feed 3 times a day)

its amazing what they fit in.

at such a young age its important to get a bit of bulk on them, by a few months old its fine to reduce insects to encourage salad eating.

 

[KaotikJezta]

That is way too much IMO, and they only need feeding once per day. Growing them up too quickly is not healthy. I feed about 6-10 small crickets in the morning, never feed in the evening as they don't have time to bask. I also offer finely processed veges and native flowers with the calcium powder mixed through and dust with vitamins 2 times a week. Beardies should not be almost full grown at 6 months old and a feeding regime like the above will make this happen, unless your talking about extra small crickets or pin heads.

 

[Danivus]

Yeah I'm not stressed now that he's eaten.

Pics ahoy!

His name is Roshan, which is a Persian name meaning 'daylight'...and also a video game refference lol

His mother was orange (I forget what they're called) and his father hypo so he's het. hypo I believe and I guess he'll get some orange as he grows?

 

[Grogshla]

Cool as mate. When the dragons are super little I usually only drop a few crickets in at a time. Once he gets used to eating then I drop lots more and he smashes them.

 

[Sezzzzzzzzz]

So confused now, 2 ppl i trust their opinions telling me 2 different things....

 

[Danivus]

Heh Sez, this is my problem too. No two sources on the internet agree on anything about this stuff.

 

[Sezzzzzzzzz]

Heh Sez, this is my problem too. No two sources on the internet agree on anything about this stuff.

i think you just have to find what works for you danivus. use the info as a guideline and go from there.

i'm gonna stick with what i am doing, 10 + veges (crix dusted every day. mines growing (just shed again today). and when i notice him looking for more, i will give him more.

 

[Danivus]

Pretty much yeah.

 

[KaotikJezta]

Sez, I guess it depends on the size of the crickets, I am going by the size of crickets I buy as small, but I feel growing them up to fast is just as bad as growing them up to slow. A 2 week old beardy is pretty tiny and although it probably would eat that many, whether it should or not is another matter. Back in the early days of my keeping no one fed baby beardies that much and it was considered the American way and not healthy and there were plenty of big healthy beardies getting around. Now the yanks write all the books everyone does it. As i said, it's my opinion and Chris has hers.

 

[dragonlover1]

I think some people tend to overfeed their babies,I currently have 4 babies,a pygmy about 1 month old that I bought at 2-3 weeks,another pygmy that is 2 months old I bought at 1 week, a central about 10 weeks old I picked up at 4 weeks and another central I just bought at 4 weeks.The pygmies only eat every second day (their idea not mine),the oldest central smashes about 20 small crix twice a day the young central maybe 10 twice a day.I also offer fresh veg every day,sometimes it's eaten sometimes not.I mist them twice a day.I have had beardies for over 6 years and many other reptiles for over 15 years so I am not some young inexperienced fool.
I hope this gives you some idea of what to expect of your baby.The main thing is if he eats,poops and sheds regularly then things are going good

 

[Chris1]

I said that amount of food to get some bulk on it incase its appetite drops off for some reason,...at 2 weeks old its important to build fat stores.
im thinking Sez'z bub is 2-3 month old, with some condition, and is fine on what hes eating.

100 crickets is ridiculous, i could never get mine to eat even close to that!

 

[Grogshla]

When I said drop 2 in at a time I meant not to overwhelm the little feller with 1000 crickets. When my dragon was little I would feed her 2-3 times a day and she would smash about 10 or so crickets at each feed.

 

[Danivus]

So he seems to love sleeping in his water dish. He's done it 2 out of the 3 nights it's been in there. He's weird lol.

 

[Sel]

Just let him eat as many as he wants for each feed.. if hes 2 weeks i doubt he'd eat more than 10 each sitting.
Just be careful on the size of the crickets you feed him, do not feed anything too big. He sounds like a really healthy dragon though, at this age it can be tough.