Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I think Spike is a juvenile and not a baby anymore - she is approximately 7 months old. Anyway, she was never really been a good eater and was small for ages. Then one day she changed and started eating a bit more and when I got another beardie the same size it was if she had a kick up the backside and started eating really well - they seemed to be having eating competitions. I was really pleased. However, this last week she has totally stopped eating crickets. I did have to use black crickets because I was unable to get brown ones and I thought that was the problem but she won't go back to the brown ones either. Nor will she eat silkworms. All she eats, with gusto, are small mealworms. My new beardie, Dru, who was actually a tiny bit smaller than Spike when I got her, has put on a huge amount of weight - she eats wonderfully. Dru now weighs 54 grammes but Spike only weighs 40 grammes. Apart from this, Spike seems really fine - alert and friendly. I'm fairly sure she is pooing regularly although, of course, it is hard to tell without actually seeing it. Oh, yes, I did wonder if it was a bullying issue and have taken great pains to feed them separately but Spike actually turns her head away from the crickets - it's as if she really doesn't like them.

Should I be worried?

Colleen

If there is an obvious size difference, you might want to separate them. The larger, better eater could be intimidating the smaller one. It is getting near the time of year when beardies will go into brumation and stop eating all together for a few months and go dormant. If you're not familiar with brumation, scroll through the older forums and you'll probably find a lot of info. I wouldn't be too worried, but you might want to keep them in separate tanks.