Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just had a quick question. My beardie Homer will be year old July 12, but I've had problems with him since I got him. Problem #1 is that he hardly ever "chases" his crickets. The vet said there isnt anything wrong with him. It seems though that he can't see them unless they are right in front of him. Hence I've started to hand feed him his crix, and he seems to be happier with that. Is it normal for people to always handfeed? Problem #2 is that he hardly ever eats any of his greens. He munches a couple pieces, then just leaves it alone for the rest of the day. Is there anything I can do to get him to increase his greens intake. And the last problem is that I don't know if this is normal but he seems to be extremely lazy. He just sits on his log under his UV light, or under his basking light all day long. Whenever we take him out, he just stays in one spot, or sleeps. The only time he runs around is in the living room. The vet said he's perfectly healthy, but I'm just a little paranoid and felt the need to let off a little rant.

thanks

- Dan

I cant' help you with everything but try mixing it up with his greens. I feed my dragon Bubby, raspberries mixed in and he devours them. Try looking on www.beautifuldragons.com for listings of different greens. Instead of crickets try silkworms. You can but them in with his greens which may encourage him to eat more plus they don't move quickly so he won't have to chase them. Hope this helps.
MB

What's his temps. What kind of UV light do you have him under. Do you ever let him get natural sunlight. I know that since I've been taking mine outdoors, they have more energy....just a thought...
Jamie

Breadies are kind of typically lazy as is. Kind of a reason i'm looking to also get some ackies. Love my beardie but a little boring to watch. He has got more active since I put a dirt and sand mixture in his tank for him to dig some. I hand feed him his roaches right now but thats only cause I feed him lobster roaches and they will climb the glass. I'm doing some discoid roachs now and getting ready to make a full blown swap to them now. So for the hand feeding crix if its working for him him eat stick with it.

I had a heck of a time to get mine eating greens once I went to roaches mine beardie would go days without eating and hold out for the roachs couldn't figure out why. I was able to hand feed him some greens,but I don't have time to hand feed him everyday. So I did a lot of reading on this board about how to get them to take greens and the thing that worked for me and I forget who it is that posted it or I would give them the credit. But put some water in the bowl you keep the greens in. It keeps them from drying out and they tend to enjoy them more. Mine also loves acorn squash so I make sure to drop some of that in the bowl.

Hope this long post helps you some.