Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I've had my beardie for about a week now, and he loves worms, won't touch crickets, and more importantly hasn't eaten any fruits or veggies i've given him!! I've tried romaine lettuce, strawberries, beets, cucumber, blackberries, gooseberries, and papaya, and the most I have ever seen him do it lick them! He seems to like it when I hand feed him the worms, so I tried that with the F&V but to now avail, and he won't touch beardie pellets either!! He seems healthy, and he is even shedding very nicely, he's temp is perfect, and he actually likes to get misted! Is there any other solution you guys (and gals) can think of? Any help would be muchly appreciated!!

First off, I would change the mix of veggies you're giving him. A good list to look at is the Nutrition Content section of www.beautifuldragons.com/
He needs greens like collard, mustard, turnip greens, endive or escarole. Those are far better than romaine lettuce, which has little nutritional value. Cut back on all the fruits to maybe just a couple times a week.

Now, if he's just a baby it's kind of normal for them to sometimes not want their greens at first. What you need to do is offer the veggies first thing in the morning and wait on the insects until later in the day. That way when he gets hungry he'll learn he has to eat his veggies. It's just like a little kid, huh?

Also, try to get him off those worms. I'm assuming you mean mealworms or waxworms, not silkworms? Silkworms are the only worm I would endorse as a staple. Waxworms are too fatty, it's like you're letting him fill up on candy and so of course he won't eat what's good for him! Mealworms are not good AT ALL. Very little nutritional value, and can cause impaction in babies quite easily. So unless you're using silkworms you need to break him of this habit. If you try to offer veggies and crickets, but you cave and give him the worms he wants, he'll never want to eat the good stuff.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)

0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
0.0.1 tarantula (Otto)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Oh god no, I know all too well that wax worms are a treat only, but butter worms and silkworms are so expensive! Weird that you mention that website cause I found it right after my posting! But that veggies in the morning is a good idea, also what advice do you have on feeding him pinkies? I know they are a treat as well, but i heard somewhere that you have to crush their heads it make it edible...but his head is totally big enough for an un crushed pinkie ( I made sure to get small ones just in case)

And have you heard of beardies that like to be misted?

Thanks for your advice! I'm thinking about naming him (now this may not be the correct spelling, but phoenetically it works) Tanifah, which is Maori for monster! What do you think?

I like that name! Very creative.

One of my dragons hates misting, and the other seems to enjoy it. I think it's just a personality thing.

As for pinkies, I've heard way too many mixed opinions. Some say only feed them to gravid females for the extra protien, some say NEVER feed them at all. The way I see it is, my beardies get plenty of nutrients from a well balanced diet of salads and gutloaded insects, why risk it? I've heard they can cause problems from parasites to impaction, so I don't even mess around with them. I save the mice for my kingsnake.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)

0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
0.0.1 tarantula (Otto)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)