Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My dragon ate a bunch of superworms one day and then suddenly stopped eating them the next day. She has refused the worms the third day as well. Up to this point, she had never missed a meal. I offered crickets again, and she devoured without hesitation. Any ideas why she would suddenly refuse superworms?

Some background info:
- She is ~13" long, around 9 months old
- Ambient hot side: 88-90*
- Peak basking: 118% (measured with temp gun)
- Ambient cool side: 75*
- Substrate: washed playsand
- Bright cage, UV from 10.0 Reptisun (5 months old)
- Cage dimensions: 4x2x2
- Typically aggressive feeder, not so much on greens though.
- Very handleable, not skittish
- No changes to cage location or anything like that

The only think I can think of is that maybe she just doesn't like them much. Maybe wait a few days and then try again.

My primary food is Silkworms, but a few dragons have no interest in them. Same goes for supers and crickets which I also keep. But, if they're real hungry then dragons will eat what is available.

My suggestion is to just keep feeding her what she likes until she is an adult. Then you can work on changing. Personally I think well gutloaded crickets are the best choice for a dragon her size.

It's best to keep a variety of feeders if you can. Keeps their diets varied and interest up.

Crickets, roaches, supers, hornworms, silkworms, waxies and butterworms on occasion too.

Dragons do get tired of eating the same thing all the time, so offering a variety as was already suggested works good. The important thing is your dragon is still eating and healthy. Keep offering plenty of mixed greens too, misted with water to ensure your dragon can get plenty of moisture with the greens. Sprinkling on silkworms or butterworms on top of the greens will help encourage dragons to eat some greens too. I find silkworms are great to put ontop of a salad as they tend to stick to the greens and more often then not small pieces get carried into the dragon's mouth by the silkworms as they are eaten.
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PHLdyPayne

The weird thing is that I have only used crickets up to this point. She loved the superworms when I first introduced them, and then stopped cold. Is it possible that the worms injured her or something which caused her to reject them?

not likely...as dragons are very good at killing them. Though I had my blue tongue skinks getting bit by the superworms...if they didn't kill them before they tried to eat them. Unlike dragons who tend to use their tongue (which is sort of sticky, interestingly enough) to bring food into their mouths before chomping on them with their teeth, blue tongue skinks just scoop up things into their mouths...or bite one side of live food then spend quite a bit of time bashing it about with sideways sweeps of their heads (which makes feeding them silkworms and hormworms potentially really messy). But a couple times a superworm managed to get under the skinks' tongue and bite. Poor things...the bite isn't serious or cause any risk of infection...but superworms do have a painful bite...as I have been bitten a couple times by them.
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PHLdyPayne

Superworms are the only bugs my dragons do get tired of. Feed other bugs and come back o them.
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www.moonstonedragons.com

Like everyone else mentioned,most beardies go through phases....eat a ton of them one day and refuse them the next. Mine have done that many times. Your dragon will almost certainly eat them again in the near future.