Recently Rescued Beardie Who only eats crickets

[xoerika620xo]

Hi everyone =) i am new here, my name is erika i am 22 years old and a new owner of a new bearded dragon. She was given to me by a family member who could no longer take care of her due to household issues. My boyfriend and I agreed to take her in since we were thinking of getting a bearded dragon for a long time now. I asked if she ate any vegetables he said no she has only been eating crickets and horn worms from time to time. I know from research dragons over a year old should be already on more of a plant based vs animal but i am not sure how to have her start eating vegetables when she doesn't eat them at all. I also would rather feed her dubia's vs crickets but she has never had them either. any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[timbalan]

Well IMO switching to dubias is a way better option and shouldnt be a problem. Maybe try putting the dubia or maybe a couple worms in a dish they cant get out of and put some greens in there with them, so when he/she eats the bugs hopefully they will get some greens with them. Than in hopes they will come to like them. Some dragons ive heard are picky green eaters so you may have to just keep trying. now im no expert and my baby is only a couple months old but i do this now with little worms and little bit of greens.

 

[timbalan]

Also be sure to post some pics. We all like to see the new additions. And welcome

 

[atochats]

In addition since you just got him/her they'll require a bit of adjustment time. Establish a routine and keep it simple. Let the little dude get used to his new home sweet home

 

[xoerika620xo]

thank you so much, we will def give that a try.

 

[xoerika620xo]

i also wanted to ask since she is only one dragon, would it be ok to start a colony of dubia roaches? or will it too much for just one dragon?

 

[atochats]

LOL I'll let you know...I only have one dragon and I'm starting a colony myself. I think probably it will be way too many but the excess can always be sold.

 

[atochats]

Can you post pics of your set up and your dragon herself? We love pics

 

[Canicke]

Re:colony. It will probably outgrow your one dragon. YOu have options - sell the excess, freeze the excess (to kill them then discard in trash), get another beardie!

 

[atochats]

Not too happy about the freezing option but if it gets really out of hand I'll have to do something. Love the idea of controling the health of my feeders tho and not paying for them anymore. The biggest of the nymphs are getting ready to turn to adults I think but it'll still be awhile till it's actually a "colony".

 

[undeadsoldier988]

What I did... because I have a 2/12 month old female, that is very stubborn about eating her greens... I recently ran out of crickets to feed her, nd I live in PA so with the weather we've been having, its almost impossible to get to the pet store to buy more crickets. What I did was, I got a big ol bag of collard greens and some mustard greens, I would shred them or buy them that way ;-) and I would hand feed her them. I would wiggle it around right above her head to make it inviting nd she would eat them. It got to where she was full and stopped eating, I would drop the remaining into her food bowl and keep misting it to keep moist anf fresh throughout the day. Some I would lay outside of her bowl and let them kinda dry up a little, in a few days... after adding bright colorful carrot shreds... she was eating her viggies right out of the bowl. They like the crunch of some dried up veggies too hence why I leave them there for the day nd just let her nitpick at them. You will see in the pictures. She was bought with over half of her tail missing :-( pet store had 5 crammed into a 10gal setup like retards, I wanted them all but I couldent buy them. Anyways... HERES LIZZIE DRAGON EATIN HER GREENS FINALLY!

sorry they posted sideways? Hmmm...

 

[atochats]

Pics aren't sideways you captured great shots!

 

[xoerika620xo]

wow that is great! i will post a picture of my enclosure. we just got her saturday from my cousin, and so far there are A LOT of things in her tank i would like to change. first of is the sand, i def would like tile or something much better, second is her lighting. She has a exo terra terrarium and the uvb is outside the screen, were going to take the background out and tape it to the back and put the uvb inside the tank using 3m hooks. She also has a 75 watt lightbulb with a red light and i know beardies can see the red light so i ordered a CHE and a new clamp for it. My house is very cold at night so I'm going to use the CHE all day for now. I hope a 60 watt will suffice, ill still use the 75 bulb and in place of the red bulb im going to put a low wattage bulb for a cool side to give her some more light.

My main concern is she isn't eating, im guessing it is because she is too cold. But i was told she hasn't been eating for almost a month now so im not sure if it is because of burmation. They were also using one of those sticker thermometers but i managed to buy a repti temp gun online for pretty cheap. I knew there was going to be some things i wanted to change but i didn't know it would be so much.

We did buy some crickets and superworms (until i can buy some pheonix worms, and silk worms), when i get paid next week ill start my roach colony. I'm trying to get her away from animal's as a stable but she is one stubborn girl, and ontop of the temperature not being good enough for her i know she's not going to eat. Ill keep you all posted, i would like some advice as to what i'm doing since you all are much more knowledgeable than i am.