Reptile & Amphibian Forums

She will only eat roaches, I used to feed her crickets and superworms but then I switched to dubias so that is all she will eat now. I can't seem to get him to eat any greens, she will eat any fruit, but no greens. Does anyone have any good tricks or if I should just stop feeding roaches till she will eat some greens, any advice would be nice. She usually eats about 4 male adult dubias a day and has normal bowel passes daily, she is healthy as it gets but I just know soon she needs to start eating more veggies for her age.

Heres a pic of her, its on a cell phone because I lost my dig camera, so its really bad quality.

At ten months they seem to not be very interested in greens at least mine didn't. I would say just keep providing them and someday they will eat them. Also if you are trying to get them to eat greens after they just ate live food good luck at least for me. I start mine out with greens and squart a little water on them and for sure rinse them before giving so they are nice and wet and clean. Seems to help if they are thirsty and the water drops give them a little movement. It works for me maybe for you. Also what kind of greens are you feeding? Mine is crazy for collard greens but isn't interested in mustard greens. Every beardie has its own thing good luck trying to find what yours likes.

She looks pretty big. How long is she and what does she weigh? At some point you will need to cut back on the live food offering only the greens at times. Then when she is hungry she will eat the greens and her diet will be more balanced.

If you offer a child chocolate cake at every meal with a bowl of salad. What will the child eat every day?

I would cut out the roaches completely and just over greens. Make sure the greens are a good mix so she doesn't just become picky with just one kind of green.

What are her setup details? (ie temps, basking and cool end, UVB, substrate etc). I am not sure how big the kind of roaches you are offering are but 4 a day doesn't seem too much. If they are really big, you are probably offering too large (insects should be no bigger than the space between the eyes in length). Soft bodied insects like silkworms and hornworms are fine.

I suggest just offering greens, maybe one or two smaller roaches in the salad (the movement of the roaches should get her to eat the salad, or at least have her eat greens accidentally with the roach, thus giving her a taste for them).
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PHLdyPayne

The adult dubia roach is about 2" in length. I do not feed adults to my 2 year beardie due to the fact if he gets one sideways it could become a problem. They are equal to feeding a beardie 5 crickets (IMO) based on body value. The good thing is they are a better food source than crickets so props there.

That's IMHO. Personally I tried Dubia's and had issues. I personally think crickets as much as I hate them are the best feeders for hungry dragons. ie. females in egg laying season.

I have a 4x2x2 cage, a 20watt normal bulb on one side and a 100w Megaray on the other side for the basking area. Temps rang from 100 to 118 degrees on her basking rock. Around 75-85 air temp on cool side, I take surface temps with ir gun. She will eat 2 days in a row and then take a day off is usually the trend. I've never had any problems with the roaches I have been feeding adult males lately since I have so many. I use collard greens, mustard greens, summer squash, bell peppers (for water), and some papaya, mostly likes the veggies and fruits. Sheis 19 inches and haven't weighed her in a while havent had a scale, but I would say around 375-400gms.

I would say try to cut back on the roaches and see if after a couple of days your beardie eats more veggies to make up for the amount of food. Thats what I would do especially if your beardie is taking a day off from eating every third day.

You need to get a scale. try scalesonline.com. They have a suitable scale that measures in 1 gram increments for $25. A scale is an absolute necessity when keeping herps. The only way to manage their weight and assess their health is with a scale.

For sure a scale would give you a great idea on how much to feed your dragon. I have been starting my dragon on dubia roaches. He seems to be very interested in them but I have not been feeding him adults. I trying to get them about half way there. A little bigger than crickets. If you have a good coloney going you will not have a problem finding the right size food for your beardies. If you feel your coloney is getting to big just reduce the amount of females and you can slow your coloney down very fast. When you need it to pick up just add them back in. They are so easy to take care of way eaiser than crickets with less smell. Good luck getting him to eat more veggies they will come around if you continue to try.