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Baby Bearded Dragon won't eat crickets and is very small, what is wrong?

Meghan - 2009-08-03 13:47:58 - Reptiles

I have a baby bearded dragon, appox 1 month old. On average she would eat about 4 crickets a day, 4 mealworms, plus fruits and veggies. Two weeks ago, she started eating about 2 crickets a week. If that, but she still eats the mealworms and fruits and veggies, it is the crickets she won't eat. I have her cage at the right temps, 105 on the basking side and 85 on the cooler side. I mist her and give her a bath often. I noticed on Friday that she was starting her first shed, I am wondering if this is the cause, or if she does not like the crickets anymore? She is acting normal and everything, nothing unusual at all. One other thing I noticed is how small she is. However I am comparing her to my friends beardie (but they did come from the same batch) who is 4 times as big, I swear! I am just so worred, and hopefully for nothing. I have never done this before so I am not sure how to reply to the answers I got. Anyway, thank you all so much for the answers. They have been very helpful. To clarify, it seems several people thought that I was not giving my beardie crickets at all, I do give them to her as many as she wants, as the bulk of her diet. She however does not eat them. Also she does have UVB light on her and she does get calcium. On a good note she ate some crickets today. I have been trying new things to get her to eat the crickets - such as - placing them in a bowl (they are small) and I also threw out the last batch, for some reason she seems to like these better. :) Plus she is sheading so like my answers, the vet said it is normal. Thank you all for taking the time to answer me!

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Well sometimes they choose one type of what u feed them they like one more thing that other things u feed them. I love reptiles and all that so hope this helped :)

Do not be worried. This is completely normal. Reptiles that shed, eat allot before they shed, so they are not hungry when they are shedding. I would temporally change misting, to spraying. Because sometimes the skin needs help coming off.

Bearded Dragons are furious eaters, as adults they begin to refuse protein (crickets, silk worms, phoenix worms, etc) and they only eat veggies with protein on occasion. This is way as babies they are required to eat anywhere from 50-100 crickets a day. Trust me, this is not over feeding, baby beardies grow fast and if there protein is low they can develop metabolic bone disease. So, please start feeding your bearded more crickets. Your feeding schedule should be protein for breakfast, salad for lunch and protein for dinner. Please stop feeding your dragon meal worms, Believe it or not mealworms cause impaction because of their hard exoskeleton, and it blocks your beardie from digesting food this can be fatal. Oh and fruits should be given as a treat atleast 2 times a week. Waxworms are good treats too, but they contain alot of fat so only feed 1 worm 2-3 times a week. A baby bearded should have basking temps of at least 110, people like to keep it at 115 but any higher can burn your dragon. If you just got your dragon it can be stressed from the change in environment this is normal and can take over a week for the dragon to begin eating healthy. though it seems you've had him for over 2 weeks i would pay close attention to her. if your looking for cheap crickets or worms i buy my supplies from premiumcrickets.com 1000 crixs - 22.00 shipped.

Are the crickets pin head size? At 1 month that is the size she needs. Baby beardies have a big appetites. But when they are shedding the appetite can suffer. The first shedding may be very little or just part of her body. It will become a full body shed later. Since she is shedding, she is healthy and growing. That is good. Add some powdered calcium to her greens. I have a beardie that wouldn't grow so I decided it was a female. They are often smaller during the early years. My baby would not grow. We had several clutches and they all grew faster than my beardie. I called her Feather. One day my friend who is good at sexing beardies told me my little girl was a boy. Imagine my surprise. It was not long after that that he started to grow and surpassed his mate. I had to change his name to Featherton. Hopefully, your baby will do the same thing. Chuckle Enjoy

Can only back up advice given by asdf But also need to add that you don't mention any form of UV lighting or calcium supplements both of which are essential to the bone structure and growth of your beadie