Beardie spitting out dubias

[Fernfronds]

So I've only had Zola for about a week and a half. Her previous owner fed her a commercial pellet diet and never offered fresh veggies or live insects. I make her a salad every morning and she never touches it. I've been holding off on bugs because I want her to eat her veggies but I've had no luck so I gutloaded the dubias and was going to give her some today. I haven't had an issue getting her to eat her roaches at all since I've gotten her but today she snatched up 3 of them, chewed them up and spit them back out. Why would she be doing this? Something wrong with the dubias? She loved them before.

Also any tips on getting her to eat her veggies would be awesome. Should I just be tough and say no bugs until she eats her salad? I don't want her to go hungry.


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[Canicke]

Welcome - lets see what we can do for ya ---

how old is she? what kind of set up do you have? what are the temps? how big is she? how big are the dubias? have you tried any kind of worms? keep offering the salad - she'll try it soon enough. if she's never had it before, she may not know it's food.

the more info you can provide on what your set up for her is, the better we can help ya

 

[Fernfronds]

I was told she is 2 years old. She is in a 60 gallon tank, she has a reptisun 10.0 uvb and a ceramic heat emitter. Cool side of her tank ranges 80-85 during the day and the warm side stays in the mid 90s with a basking area of 103. I've given her superworms and she devours them but I'd prefer for her to eat dubias since they're healthier. I'm not sure on her exact length but she's not very big, here's a couple pictures.

I'm just using paper towel as substrate right now because it's easy to clean but I'm going to get her some ceramic tiles this weekend.


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[Canicke]

nuthin wrong with paper towels !! (easy to clean) one day at a time - keep us posted - okay?

 

[Fernfronds]

Will do! She ended up eating a few. I guess she was just being a brat, lol.


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[Canicke]

I think they do it on purpose – just to get us excited


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[Eavlynn]

Going from two years of processed pellets to juicy, wiggling bugs would be a huge change. She should transition over, with persistence and patience on your part. Then you can start working on getting her to take greens. Once she realizes how fantastic real food is, she'll never go back

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[Hdrydr31]

I think in time she will come around you can try putting a few in the greens it makes them wiggle and attracts them..gutloading the dubias are great as if she isn't eating greens she's getting them in her dubias lol
I would cool down the cool side down into the 70's they really do need the temp gradient..

 

[Fernfronds]

I'll work on positioning her lights so that her cool side drops a little. I have been gutloading the dubias, so I do feel better about that!


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[Fernfronds]

She took three big bites of her kale out of nowhere today! Progress


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[Eavlynn]

She took three big bites of her kale out of nowhere today! Progress


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I'd avoid kale if you can, it's high in oxalates. But collard, mustard, dandelion, and turnip greens are great staple veggies. It's good that she's going for salads. That's progress in the right direction!

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[Hdrydr31]

Yep as long as you feed kale along with the other leafy greens and not all the time ...

 

[Fernfronds]

Today was her first time having kale actually, I've just been trying lots of different things to see if I can spark her interest in salad. Most days I offer mustard or turnip greens, but I usually mix in other veggies as well like different kinds of squash and prickly pear.


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[Hdrydr31]

Today was her first time having kale actually, I've just been trying lots of different things to see if I can spark her interest in salad. Most days I offer mustard or turnip greens, but I usually mix in other veggies as well like different kinds of squash and prickly pear.


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collards are especially good staple.. your doing great! it can be hard finding what they will eat I know I've gone down the line on the lists of foods to see if anything they enjoy... I like to change up their salad items each time I go in to buy them..

 

[Fernfronds]

Yes I like to keep a variety in their diet, my blue tongue eats all the same veggies as Zola.


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[Fernfronds]

Yes I like to keep a variety in their diet, my blue tongue eats all the same veggies as Zola.


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Well, all the veggies I'd like Zola to be eating, lol.


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[Eavlynn]

Today was her first time having kale actually, I've just been trying lots of different things to see if I can spark her interest in salad. Most days I offer mustard or turnip greens, but I usually mix in other veggies as well like different kinds of squash and prickly pear.


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Where did you find prickly pear? I've searched all over, but I can't find it in my area. I'm half tempted to grow it myself!

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[RaeAnn]

Where did you find prickly pear? I've searched all over, but I can't find it in my area. I'm half tempted to grow it myself!

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same here. If you do grow it yourself ship some this way please haha


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[Fernfronds]

I live in Michigan and we have a grocery store here called Meijer that sells it all year round basically They have an insane selection of produce.


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[Fernfronds]

I also see them often in Mexican markets or farm markets.


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