Waxworms question

[Michele654]

I recently added waxworms to my beardie's diet because she won't eat her greens at all. I had decided to trick her by adding in waxworms in with the veggies. She ate the worms but dug deep into the bowl to avoid eating the greens. Anyway not long after that I noticed she became a little plugged up so I took her to the Vets. They got it going again and all fine for about 2 days. Now she hasn't gone in 4 days. The Vet mentioned it could possibily be the change in weather and/or shedding but nothing for sure.
My question is, can waxworms be causing the constipation?

 

[renich]

Hmm. I've never head of them causing impaction. They are high in fat and should be offered as a treat and not a staple.

You can try phoenix worms, silkworms, and/or dubia roaches as staples.

 

[lexi]

I'm not a vet, but I would think diarrhea would be more likely, just because of the high fat content of the waxies. I was told that you can withhold bugs for several days (actually, I was told up to 2 weeks, but that was for an adult and I'm not sure how old your beardie is) if they're not wanting to eat their greens. We had this issue with Sal when we first got him and it worked really well.. turns out, once he tried the greens he really enjoyed them

Is this a herp vet you're taking him to or a regular dog and cat vet? Also, what is your substrate and temps (forgive me if you already answered that in another thread, I can't remember ) because that could account for some of the issues.

You also don't want to leave food in overnight or feed them too late (kind of like the 'Gremlins' movie ) because not being able to get their bodies to a good temperature to digest their food once the lights go out for the night can cause problems as well.

Just some thoughts..

 

[egg 80]

now im gonna say be careful with those wax worms cos they are like beardie crack , only offer wax worms as a treat ,i tend to put morios unde the salad in my vivs works a treat
paul

 

[Michele654]

"Crack for Beardies"...LOL good one..lol..just wish she'd get the munchies with it..lol

Thank you all for your replies. I'm in Northern Ontario Canada so the protein sources you've recommended are very hard to have shipped here. I used to buy Silkworms and hornworms from a wholesaler here. He recently told me the import of Silkworm, Hornworms and dubias roach's were band. Does anyone know if this is true? Probably bull-lony. Just wants to unload his waxworms and supers.

Question for Madysin-Alexis, when mentioned about Sal, how long did you have to withhold before he started eating his greens? How long should I do so? Kiwi is 18 months so perhaps she is too young for me to attempt it? Right now her eating habits are 25 to 30 large cricketsevery other day with a sprinkle of 3 parts Calcium +D and 1 part Multi Vitamine dust. I alternate this with a plate of green (collard, dandelion, Kale, shredded carrots, zucchini and ore other shredded squashes) ..I of course mix is up so she doesn't' see it's always the same thing. I tried everything. Plus she wont touch fruits we've had a bad Strawberry experience...lol

Anyway for now I"ll keep bathing her and take her off all worms keep giving her greens and crickets then hope she poops before Monday or she's heading back to my Herp Vet.

 

[corrine]

Have you tried mango? Princess came from a pet store and never saw greens. I was having a hard time making her eat them so I stopped bugs for a week and gave her collard and mustard greens mixed with mango. She now eats her salad

 

[Michele654]

ok I"ll try the mango

 

[lexi]

Question for Madysin-Alexis, when mentioned about Sal, how long did you have to withhold before he started eating his greens? How long should I do so? Kiwi is 18 months so perhaps she is too young for me to attempt it? Right now her eating habits are 25 to 30 large crickets every other day with a sprinkle of 3 parts Calcium +D and 1 part Multi Vitamine dust. I alternate this with a plate of green (collard, dandelion, Kale, shredded carrots, zucchini and ore other shredded squashes) ..I of course mix is up so she doesn't' see it's always the same thing. I tried everything. Plus she wont touch fruits we've had a bad Strawberry experience...lol

It took about 6 or 7 days... I also found that all of my beardies really like watercress in their salads. They also like orange bell peppers.. but only orange.

You should be offering her greens every day, whether it's a bug day or not. You might want to also have a look at http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html to see about mixing up the salad and trying some new stuff. They respond well to brighter colors (or so I'm told) and it certainly holds true with mine. Athena loves all things orange..

I would also back the multi-vitamin off to once per week, and not do calcium on the vitamin day. They can get sick from too much vitamins, so you don't want to over do it.