Eragon is hiding: please advise!

I'm new! My BD (Eragon) is hiding under his basking branch and is listless. He is shedding, and has almost finished. He ate 15 crickets last thursday when I first brought him home. He has nibbled at some Repcal yesterday (half a pellet) and has not touched the collard greens.
Today I gave him 10 crickets and he was very energetic and ate them all. Now he is back under the branch and appears listless again. He does not want to bask like he did when I first got him. The temperature on the sand is 90, and it is 100 on the basking branch, but he still won't bask. What is wrong with him?

How old is he? Have you attempted to feed him any crickets since 4 days ago?

I should say.......in between 4 days ago and today......

He is 6 months old. He ate on thursday, and then today; only crickets with a half a repcal tablet on sunday.

At 6 months old, he should be eating much more than 10 or 15 crickets at a time, and more often than every 4 days.

Offer him a variety of chopped greens, sometimes you need to find something he likes. Add a bit of finely diced fruit, maybe that will entice him to his greens. Did you soak the Repcal pellets before feeding them? Has he had any water?

Do you know if he was eating before you got him? This time of year, even some young dragons will go off feed somewhat and enter a semi-brumation state...

Has he seen a vet?

I soaked the pellets in apple juice. He has water in his tank, but I have not seen him try any.
He was eating well before I got him. He has not seen a vet yet.

Have you tried misting him, or giving him a nice tepid bath? Many dragons will never drink water from a dish, but will if misted or soaked in the sink.

No offense intended by asking if you soaked the pellets...some people don't know you are supposed to, lol.

We bathed him yesterday for about 8 minutes; he seemed to really like it.

hows eragon now, is he still hiding away? how long have you had him for now?

I hope he's feeling better, if not let us know.

jojo xx

ps, cool name

His foot is in the food dish and he seems a little more alert; I think he was just starving! Thanks.

Something I do to help them eat greens it put a meal worms or wax worms in the greens. they make the salad move. Mine will eat the whole dish just to get the mealworms. I only put about 10 in and it makes a big difference.

glad he's feeling better

jojo xx

ps love the mealworms idea melinda, might try that myself just for fun!

More questions...you posted that his basking temps was 100 (which could be upped just a bit), but what are his cool side temps? He has to be able to get away from the heat if he chooses, and by hiding under the log, he may be trying to do that?

Did he eat more today then?

A couple more questions..

Where exactly are you measuring the temps in the enclosure and how are you measuring them (what kind of thermometer?)?

Is there UVB lighting?

When he eats crickets, does he eat in the enclosure and how good at catching the crickets is he?

OK, I am measuring the temp with a coil thermometer (I know, not the most accurate, but I've checked it and it's close; +-3 degrees).
He eats the crickets in the enclosure and is very enthusiastic about the whole business. Excellent at catching them. We gave him mealworms (yuk!) and he liked them too. That's a great idea about mixing the worms with the greens. I will try that next feed.
He does have a uvb light, it's at the opposite end of the enclosure.
He seems to be a little better now, and really seems to enjoy being handled.
Thanks for all your help.

A concern with the temperatures and using the coil thermometer (aside from accuracy) is placement. The temperature on the basking spot should be measured right on the basking spot, not on the glass/wall at the same level. The same goes for the cooler side and ambient temperatures. As Cathy (Cat 72) said, the basking temp could come up a bit; I would up it to 105 at least. 108 - 112 would be even better, especially if the basking spot is a multi-level spot, giving the dragon access to different temps.

We didn't get the clarification on the ambient and cool side, but that temperature needs to be about 85.

A few suggestions if you don't mind... one thing many folks overlook on the UVB lighting is placing the light incorrectly because it doesn't fit with the heat lamp on the top of the enclosure. Make sure your little guy is basking under the UVB too, otherwise it does him no good and he won't get the benefits. (You mentioned it being on the other side of the enclosure, so I'm just making sure on that one.)

Try what you can on finding the greens your dragon will eat, try the mealworm suggestion, and make sure the greens are chopped well enough; also make sure they're not right under the heat so they don't dry out right away. Feed the greens first thing in the morning, and feed crickets later on in the day. I don't know what your schedule is like, but it would be ideal if you can feed crickets early afternoon and then again a couple hours later for a couple of months; you can back off one feeding and only feed once a day when he's closer to a year old. He should be eating as many as he can in a 10-15 minute period each time. A dragon that age should be eating upwards of 50/day or more, depending on the size. Feeding them later in the day after the greens should help kickstart the greens intake, too. If he's enthusiastically chasing them and good at catching them, that's a good sign; just make sure he's not ingesting sand with that enthusiastic hunting. My male is 'stupid' and misses too often to keep him on sand; for some dragons, it's just not an option.

To help with keeping him hydrated which is of the utmost importance, make sure the crickets and mealworms you are feeding are well-nourished with their food intake. I feed my feeders the greens my dragon won't eat so he at least gets some of the nutrition that way - it helps on the moisture content and the dragon benefits from their hydration, as well.

Something else to try - when you bathe him (before he's in there long enough to soil the water) move your fingers around in the water a bit to make it move and see if he'll dip his head down and drink.

There are lots of good folks here with lots of knowledge and ideas that might work for you when something else doesn't. Keep us posted and enjoy!