guys this is horrible. my 1 and a half year old beardy is not eating much at all. He only eats worms, and that is after maybe 1 week of no food. He will not even eat blueberries. HE refuses kale and celery and anything that is a plant. My neighbors bearded dragon who is 3 years old, on the other hand, eats all the time. I have no idea why he will not eat. This has been going on for several months now and I am terribly worried. Please help.
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MY BEARDIE WON'T EAT VEGETABLES AND WONT EVEN EAT MANY BUGS!
- Thread starter Gyroo
- Start date
Are the worms he’s eating “Superworms”?
- Messages
- 691
- Location
- Hogwarts
If they are superworms, he may have become addicted to them. You can try adding a few small ones to his salad to get him to eat them. Superworms aren't healthy and are high in phosphorus-it's like offering him McDonald's for every meal.
Exactly, my beardie was addicted to them as they are so fattening. Now he only gets them as a treat twice a week.
So, he is not eating salad because he is addicted to and only wants meal worms?
- Messages
- 691
- Location
- Hogwarts
Switch off the mealworms, they're even worse than superworms in terms of fat content. They also pose a higher risk of impaction and should only be offered as very rare treats to adults.
What other foods do you offer? Is he completely refusing to eat now?
What other foods do you offer? Is he completely refusing to eat now?
I would get him on a staple insect -- crickets dubia roaches silk worms or even some BSFL although those are really small and you would want to supplement them w/ one of the above staple insects however they are a good lure to the salad bowl - the silk worms also as they stick to everything so they can be added to the salad bowl -- super worms meal worms horn worms all should be fed as treats please not as a staple feeder -- if you need websites for all the above please ask I will post some for you
Bostonfinest
Juvenile Dragon
- Messages
- 212
Is your beardie shedding if so they will slow down on eating... another thing is make sure he is hydrated and not losing weight if you have a digital scale weigh him once a week. The most important thing is take him to the vet for a checkup and a fecal because it is possible that he could be going into semi brumation. They will give you some carnivore protein powder and syringes to feed him temporarily and you can also prepare a veggie slurry till he start eating on his own again
Hi. I’ve been keeping, rescuing & rehoming beardies for close to 10 yrs now. I agree with most of what has already been said. I do have a few thoughts to share.
1. Captive beardies are no different than other animals, including humans. They will become habituated to eating foods that are higher in fat, when given that option. Why? They taste better. Which would you prefer? A nice juicy rib eye steak, or a side salad? Dragons (& other omnivorous lizards) in captivity will train their owners to give them what they want. When they can. What does that mean? We have to be stronger willed than our pets. And trust me, it’s hard to out stubborn a beardie. In that vein, I have a few suggestions. Re: the vet exam - always a good idea, but unless your beardie looks ill and/or is obviously dropping weight and dehydrated (skin will tent up & stay that way when pinched & saliva is thick & stringy, or even crusted in the corner of the mouth), it’s not likely your baby is impacted or egg bound (if female).
2. Get set up properly to out stubborn your beardie. Order a supplement called “Emeraid Herbivore Sustain” & a cheap gram scale. Make sure you have plenty of calcium on hand. Make sure you have purified water for mixing supplements & get a supply of “Repti-safe” water treatment, 16 oz should be plenty. Get a couple of 10 cc oral syringes. All are available on Amazon & relatively inexpensive. I’ve found if I ask a pharmacist in any drugstore if I can purchase a couple of 1 & 10 cc oral syringes they will usually just hand me a couple for no charge. Get a couple types of pure babyfood in some of the sweeter veggies. I like pumpkin, butternut squash & carrot. Get everything needed to make a gourmet beardie salad. My staple salad mix is: at least 50% dandelion greens, the other 50% made from collards, curly red kale, red cabbage (no more than 10%), & grated carrot. I make this weekly & keep in a vacuum canister in the fridge. The vacuum prevents it from turning to black goo in 2 days. Mine lasts easily a week. In a separate container, put small pieces of yellow squash, zucchini, red bell pepper, etc. Look online for the “good” beardie veggies. Do not use avocado, rhubarb or celery! You can use a VERY small bit of watermelon placed on top of the salad to attract your dragon. They are attracted to bright colors, especially red. Be careful with quantity as you don’t want to replace a fat addiction with a sugar one!! Now you’re almost ready.....Make yourself a sign that says, “I am more stubborn than any lizard on this planet!” Post it everywhere & refer to it multiples times a day. You’ll need it.
2. Weigh your beardie in grams & write it down.
Every day, weigh your baby in the morning & write it down. Then offer gourmet salad - it’s acceptable to place them directly in front of it, pick up a piece of two of veges & wave it around. Make it act like moving prey - try to get them excited enough to try it! If a piece of carrot doesn’t work, try a piece of squash (mine love yellow squash, but only the outside solid part - they wont touch the inside with the seeds & without the peeling; they WANT the peel). If not successful in getting a feeding response, leave the salad in their tank & go about your day. If possible, repeat the “salad as prey” routine a couple more times each day.
3. If the dragon isn’t losing a lot of weight or looking sick, you can do this routine for up to 3 days even if they don’t eat. Do NOT give in and offer supers or hornworms. As others have said, hornworms should be an occasional treat - 1 worm a couple times a month. They’re quite hi in fat. Most worms are.
4. I’d you get to day 4, still no eating from dragon, you need to do some assessments. Are your UVB lights old? They should be replaced every 6 mos. period. Is your dragon getting under the basking lights daily? Or staying in a hide or in the cool side of the enclosure? If avoiding warmth, your beardie may be brumating. This is a normal instinctive reaction to shorter days and cooler temps in winter. There are various attitudes about captive beardie brumation even among vets. Some will try to help you “force” your dragon’s body to prevent or limit brumation. My vet, with my agreement, believes we should allow the animal to do what it normal for it. That being said, you should still weight your baby daily, offer them salad, & observe their behavior closely! If they voluntarily stay in the cool zone of the tank & aren’t losing a lot of weight, likely they’re brumating. Soak them for 20 mins 3-4x/week & as long as they don’t lose more than 10% of their body weight in a month, leave them alone. They’ll come out of it when their body says it’s time. My 1st beardie didn’t brumate until her 3rd year & scared the crap out of me. I thought she was dying. Turned out, I needed to do more research on the species!
5. if your beardie isn’t avoiding the warm end of the cage, likely you’re engaged in a battle of wills between a very stubborn animal who wants what he’s become accustomed to & tastes good. This is when your sign comes in handy. Once I establish it isn’t brumation, I offer salad daily. Every 3rd day, I mix 1.5 tsp of herbivore sustain with a pinch of calcium powder, a tsp of baby food plus enough purified tap water to allow it to be drawn upon a syringe easily. Assist feed the dragon with 2-4 cc of this mix every other or every 3rd day. As long as the beardie is past the baby stage when it’s diet should be 80% lean (buggy) protein, they do not need a protein supplement in the short term. This mix is readily taken by most dragons & will provide them with a balanced, vegetable based diet (which is what a normal adult beardie in the wild would be doing) with the occasional bug tossed in for a bit of protein. The supplement has mint in it & smells really nice. I’ve never found a beardie that wouldn’t eat it after I introduce a little into the mouth. The baby food provides moisture & xtra calories as well as acting as a natural laxative. The next day, go back to the routine of salad. I know some have suggested you put various worms on the salad to entice the beardie to eat it. In my experience, dragons are way smarter than your average human. They’re experts at separating the bug from the (ick!) greens. You can try making a “cricket burrito” by wrapping a cricket inside a piece of green, putting on tongs & offering it to the dragon. This is super labor intensive (aka PITA), & again I’ve found the dragons are great at separating the bug from the greens. You can try it tho & see if you’re more successful.
6. what’s the Repti-safe for? I add it to my soaking water to make sure my dragons aren’t absorbing chemicals from water they shouldn’t have. They’ll often drink their bath water too.
7. Last but not least. Don’t panic. Most of us are used to mammals & mammals in general need to eat daily. Reptiles on the other hand can literally go months without eating. Those that fully brumate can hide without eating for 3 solid months & not come out any worse for wear. I do not recommend allowing that without at least weighing & soaking, plus giving the occasional assist feed. Hang in there. Remember your sign - you can out stubborn a beardie. You can!! One last thing. In the line of appropriate feeder bugs for Beardies. My research & experience over the years has been that the best quality protein is, hands down, roaches. Dubias or discoids. I believe that so strongly I actually began a colony in my garage. I live in Fl where dubias aren’t legal & discoids are hard to find AND expensive. So I started raising my own. That way I know exactly what my dragons are eating. Crickets are ok, but the meat to shell ratio is very poor compared to roaches. They stink, have very short lives (7 weeks compared to 12-18 mos for roaches), are nasty, cannibalistic & master escape artists. These particular brands of roaches are none of the above. I strongly recommend trying them. My dragons especially like them just after shedding. They will be solid white (called nymphs) & have no exterior shell just after shedding. It takes a few hours for them to turn brown & develop the exoskeleton after shedding the old one. Having a large colony, I can pick thru it & find enough nymphs to go around daily.
7. this is a lot of info. Some of it had already been said. Some is contradictory to what’s been said. I don’t believe there is only one “right” way to deal with beardie issues. The above is what I’ve learned & employed in raising my dragons & more than a few rescues. I hope it helps! Keep us informed on how your baby is doing! Good luck!
1. Captive beardies are no different than other animals, including humans. They will become habituated to eating foods that are higher in fat, when given that option. Why? They taste better. Which would you prefer? A nice juicy rib eye steak, or a side salad? Dragons (& other omnivorous lizards) in captivity will train their owners to give them what they want. When they can. What does that mean? We have to be stronger willed than our pets. And trust me, it’s hard to out stubborn a beardie. In that vein, I have a few suggestions. Re: the vet exam - always a good idea, but unless your beardie looks ill and/or is obviously dropping weight and dehydrated (skin will tent up & stay that way when pinched & saliva is thick & stringy, or even crusted in the corner of the mouth), it’s not likely your baby is impacted or egg bound (if female).
2. Get set up properly to out stubborn your beardie. Order a supplement called “Emeraid Herbivore Sustain” & a cheap gram scale. Make sure you have plenty of calcium on hand. Make sure you have purified water for mixing supplements & get a supply of “Repti-safe” water treatment, 16 oz should be plenty. Get a couple of 10 cc oral syringes. All are available on Amazon & relatively inexpensive. I’ve found if I ask a pharmacist in any drugstore if I can purchase a couple of 1 & 10 cc oral syringes they will usually just hand me a couple for no charge. Get a couple types of pure babyfood in some of the sweeter veggies. I like pumpkin, butternut squash & carrot. Get everything needed to make a gourmet beardie salad. My staple salad mix is: at least 50% dandelion greens, the other 50% made from collards, curly red kale, red cabbage (no more than 10%), & grated carrot. I make this weekly & keep in a vacuum canister in the fridge. The vacuum prevents it from turning to black goo in 2 days. Mine lasts easily a week. In a separate container, put small pieces of yellow squash, zucchini, red bell pepper, etc. Look online for the “good” beardie veggies. Do not use avocado, rhubarb or celery! You can use a VERY small bit of watermelon placed on top of the salad to attract your dragon. They are attracted to bright colors, especially red. Be careful with quantity as you don’t want to replace a fat addiction with a sugar one!! Now you’re almost ready.....Make yourself a sign that says, “I am more stubborn than any lizard on this planet!” Post it everywhere & refer to it multiples times a day. You’ll need it.
2. Weigh your beardie in grams & write it down.
Every day, weigh your baby in the morning & write it down. Then offer gourmet salad - it’s acceptable to place them directly in front of it, pick up a piece of two of veges & wave it around. Make it act like moving prey - try to get them excited enough to try it! If a piece of carrot doesn’t work, try a piece of squash (mine love yellow squash, but only the outside solid part - they wont touch the inside with the seeds & without the peeling; they WANT the peel). If not successful in getting a feeding response, leave the salad in their tank & go about your day. If possible, repeat the “salad as prey” routine a couple more times each day.
3. If the dragon isn’t losing a lot of weight or looking sick, you can do this routine for up to 3 days even if they don’t eat. Do NOT give in and offer supers or hornworms. As others have said, hornworms should be an occasional treat - 1 worm a couple times a month. They’re quite hi in fat. Most worms are.
4. I’d you get to day 4, still no eating from dragon, you need to do some assessments. Are your UVB lights old? They should be replaced every 6 mos. period. Is your dragon getting under the basking lights daily? Or staying in a hide or in the cool side of the enclosure? If avoiding warmth, your beardie may be brumating. This is a normal instinctive reaction to shorter days and cooler temps in winter. There are various attitudes about captive beardie brumation even among vets. Some will try to help you “force” your dragon’s body to prevent or limit brumation. My vet, with my agreement, believes we should allow the animal to do what it normal for it. That being said, you should still weight your baby daily, offer them salad, & observe their behavior closely! If they voluntarily stay in the cool zone of the tank & aren’t losing a lot of weight, likely they’re brumating. Soak them for 20 mins 3-4x/week & as long as they don’t lose more than 10% of their body weight in a month, leave them alone. They’ll come out of it when their body says it’s time. My 1st beardie didn’t brumate until her 3rd year & scared the crap out of me. I thought she was dying. Turned out, I needed to do more research on the species!
5. if your beardie isn’t avoiding the warm end of the cage, likely you’re engaged in a battle of wills between a very stubborn animal who wants what he’s become accustomed to & tastes good. This is when your sign comes in handy. Once I establish it isn’t brumation, I offer salad daily. Every 3rd day, I mix 1.5 tsp of herbivore sustain with a pinch of calcium powder, a tsp of baby food plus enough purified tap water to allow it to be drawn upon a syringe easily. Assist feed the dragon with 2-4 cc of this mix every other or every 3rd day. As long as the beardie is past the baby stage when it’s diet should be 80% lean (buggy) protein, they do not need a protein supplement in the short term. This mix is readily taken by most dragons & will provide them with a balanced, vegetable based diet (which is what a normal adult beardie in the wild would be doing) with the occasional bug tossed in for a bit of protein. The supplement has mint in it & smells really nice. I’ve never found a beardie that wouldn’t eat it after I introduce a little into the mouth. The baby food provides moisture & xtra calories as well as acting as a natural laxative. The next day, go back to the routine of salad. I know some have suggested you put various worms on the salad to entice the beardie to eat it. In my experience, dragons are way smarter than your average human. They’re experts at separating the bug from the (ick!) greens. You can try making a “cricket burrito” by wrapping a cricket inside a piece of green, putting on tongs & offering it to the dragon. This is super labor intensive (aka PITA), & again I’ve found the dragons are great at separating the bug from the greens. You can try it tho & see if you’re more successful.
6. what’s the Repti-safe for? I add it to my soaking water to make sure my dragons aren’t absorbing chemicals from water they shouldn’t have. They’ll often drink their bath water too.
7. Last but not least. Don’t panic. Most of us are used to mammals & mammals in general need to eat daily. Reptiles on the other hand can literally go months without eating. Those that fully brumate can hide without eating for 3 solid months & not come out any worse for wear. I do not recommend allowing that without at least weighing & soaking, plus giving the occasional assist feed. Hang in there. Remember your sign - you can out stubborn a beardie. You can!! One last thing. In the line of appropriate feeder bugs for Beardies. My research & experience over the years has been that the best quality protein is, hands down, roaches. Dubias or discoids. I believe that so strongly I actually began a colony in my garage. I live in Fl where dubias aren’t legal & discoids are hard to find AND expensive. So I started raising my own. That way I know exactly what my dragons are eating. Crickets are ok, but the meat to shell ratio is very poor compared to roaches. They stink, have very short lives (7 weeks compared to 12-18 mos for roaches), are nasty, cannibalistic & master escape artists. These particular brands of roaches are none of the above. I strongly recommend trying them. My dragons especially like them just after shedding. They will be solid white (called nymphs) & have no exterior shell just after shedding. It takes a few hours for them to turn brown & develop the exoskeleton after shedding the old one. Having a large colony, I can pick thru it & find enough nymphs to go around daily.
7. this is a lot of info. Some of it had already been said. Some is contradictory to what’s been said. I don’t believe there is only one “right” way to deal with beardie issues. The above is what I’ve learned & employed in raising my dragons & more than a few rescues. I hope it helps! Keep us informed on how your baby is doing! Good luck!
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