Bearded Dragon Being Picky

[beardiethumper]

We got a young bearded dragon about two months ago as a rescue. We were feeding him crickets at fist and he liked them but then lost interest (and they were a pain to keep track of). At that point, we switched over to Dubia roaches as his primary protein.

That went great for about a month but now he seems to have lost interest in those, too. He loves his mealworms but I know those cannot be his primary bug food source. He also loves his greens.

Any advice on another type of staple feeder to try or maybe how to get him interested in roaches again? We normally put the bugs in a small container which we then put in his enclosure and let him go to town. Maybe a feeding dish would work better (any suggestions on those?)?

Thank you ahead of time for your responses!

 

[Sadie]

We got a young bearded dragon about two months ago as a rescue. We were feeding him crickets at fist and he liked them but then lost interest (and they were a pain to keep track of). At that point, we switched over to Dubia roaches as his primary protein.

That went great for about a month but now he seems to have lost interest in those, too. He loves his mealworms but I know those cannot be his primary bug food source. He also loves his greens.

Any advice on another type of staple feeder to try or maybe how to get him interested in roaches again? We normally put the bugs in a small container which we then put in his enclosure and let him go to town. Maybe a feeding dish would work better (any suggestions on those?)?

Thank you ahead of time for your responses!

Are you feeding salads? How old is the dragon? Please go over your UVB brand and bulb where in the tank? Basking temps and how your getting them? No stick ons you want a digital probe thermometer for surface temps not air -- place the probe where he sits for basking wait 10 min then get the temp -- UVB NO coil please -- I can help you w/ that if you need assistance post websites for what you need --- a long tube fixture 24" for a 40 + gallon tank

 

[beardiethumper]

Are you feeding salads? How old is the dragon? Please go over your UVB brand and bulb where in the tank? Basking temps and how your getting them? No stick ons you want a digital probe thermometer for surface temps not air -- place the probe where he sits for basking wait 10 min then get the temp -- UVB NO coil please -- I can help you w/ that if you need assistance post websites for what you need --- a long tube fixture 24" for a 40 + gallon tank

Thank you for your reply. We are feeding him salads and he loves them. He also loves to eat different types of worms. We have read many times over what type of environment he should have so the UVB, temperature, etc. is where it should be. We just found it odd that he went from inhaling roaches to eating just a few at a time. We wanted to try another staple feeder but we are not sure what to give him.

 

[Sadie]

Thank you for your reply. We are feeding him salads and he loves them. He also loves to eat different types of worms. We have read many times over what type of environment he should have so the UVB, temperature, etc. is where it should be. We just found it odd that he went from inhaling roaches to eating just a few at a time. We wanted to try another staple feeder but we are not sure what to give him.

Your basking temps and UVB are what is going to keep him eating? NO coils for a UVB please - you can try some BSFL or silk worms are good staple feeders and its great hes eating salads -- if any of the things I have asked about are off he will quit eating all together and they do get tired of eating some staples but if hes hopping from one bug to another it could be the UVB depending on where it is and what it is --

 

[Badwolfe]

you still haven't said how old this Beardie is. If he's over 12 months old 80% of his diet should be plant matter anyway. They should only eat a mainly live food diet as hatchlings and juveniles.

If you've done your research and lighting, temp, etc is up to par then it might just be that your dragon has now switched over onto a more plant based diet (again if you tell us roughly how old the beardie is it makes this easier) and will only need a couple of livefood feedings a week

It might just be that you need to rotate the types of livefood more often as they can get bored of eating the same thing every feeding but theres also a good chance its just the fact that your beardie is at the age where he's not so bothered about insects every day and is happy with the greens

 

[Mummabeardy]

you still haven't said how old this Beardie is. If he's over 12 months old 80% of his diet should be plant matter anyway. They should only eat a mainly live food diet as hatchlings and juveniles.

If you've done your research and lighting, temp, etc is up to par then it might just be that your dragon has now switched over onto a more plant based diet (again if you tell us roughly how old the beardie is it makes this easier) and will only need a couple of livefood feedings a week

It might just be that you need to rotate the types of livefood more often as they can get bored of eating the same thing every feeding but theres also a good chance its just the fact that your beardie is at the age where he's not so bothered about insects every day and is happy with the greens

I'm worried my guy who's about to be 1 will never get there! He's super picky with all greens and veggies and devours bugs!! I try to hold out on the bugs but he will give me the evil eyes!!

 

[Badwolfe]

I'm worried my guy who's about to be 1 will never get there! He's super picky with all greens and veggies and devours bugs!! I try to hold out on the bugs but he will give me the evil eyes!!

Hehe you do occasionally get the odd one who simply refuses to eat greens or very little of them. All you can do in that case is to make sure you don't over feed the bugs with higher fat content and try to keep them as varied as possible

 

[Sadie]

I'm worried my guy who's about to be 1 will never get there! He's super picky with all greens and veggies and devours bugs!! I try to hold out on the bugs but he will give me the evil eyes!!

Hes training you -- have you tried adding BSFL to the tops of his salads?

 

[Mummabeardy]

Hes training you -- have you tried adding BSFL to the tops of his salads?

Yes! He will pick them right off his salads! Or when they squirm to the bottom, toss veggies 9ut of bowl all over tank to just eat the BSFL!!

 

[Mummabeardy]

Hehe you do occasionally get the odd one who simply refuses to eat greens or very little of them. All you can do in that case is to make sure you don't over feed the bugs with higher fat content and try to keep them as varied as possible

He also hates tubby time and being outside of the house!!! LOL

 

[Sadie]

He also hates tubby time and being outside of the house!!! LOL

Ok well don't force the issue on both - dragons do not need baths unless they drink from the bath have pooed on themselves or have plugged femoral pores- as far as outside mine don't like it outside either if it is stressing him out too bad I would refrain my taking him out

 

[Badwolfe]

If you are forced to feed solely bugs as a last resort just make sure that you gut-load them well with varied types of greenery - that way your dragon will be having greens without realising it