Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have tried feeding my beardies greens and such but they wont touch it. All they want to eat is Crickets. How do I get them off of just crickets?? I have tried not feeding them and leaving the greens in a dish but the food just sits and then I start feeling bad and feed them the crickets and they are ravenish!!! Help! Thank you!

Don't let your beardies starve. You must make a slow transition. First gutload the crix with what you plan to feed your beardies when you get them off crix. I personally choose to gutload with repcal pellets. They have all the vitamins and minerals needed to meet the best nutrition standards for your beardie. Gutload (feed the crickets) with repcal. Then give crix by dropping them in the cage (one by one) in a bowl or plate that is slightly filled with water (the crix should be able to walk or hop out of it, not drown). Then every other cricket drop a pellet. They will see that it moves and jumps too which will interest them to try it. The pellet will soak up the water and they can try it later if they don't go for it. Try your luck at this. Also, one of mine liked to be hand fed sometimes and she would eat it right up. Try shaking the bowl with the pellets in it and get their attention. They should try and grab one. Then when switching to salads, slowly switch dont make it so fast. When feeding salads or treats check out www.beautifuldragons.com. They have the best menu for what to feed and what to stay away from. Don't forget to dust your meals with calcium and vitamins and remember crickets are just calories! They are not nutritios.
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*~*Erin*~*
0.2 Tiki and Tahlie -Bearded Dragons- July 18, 2004 -high oranges-
0.2 Bailey and Mia -Degus- June 1, 2005

Thank you. I will try that!!! I have those pellets aready so hopefully it will work out the way you have me doing it. Ill let you know. I havew 2 beardies.

I'd like to argue that crickets do have the potential to be nutritious. However, most keepers fail to provide their crickets with enough food.

My other suggestion to you with the stubborn beardies, is to try a larger selection of vegetables and fruits.
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Maroantsetra Panther Chameleons
0.0.1 Long Tailed Grass Lizard
500 Escaped Crickets

Sometimes I feed my crickets fish flakes, is this ok??? They really seem to like it, they gobble it down in no time. I also just throw in some veggie and fruit pieces too.

Yeaa, I feed my crickets greens and veggies that my beardie is supposed to eat, but doesn't. Whatever you put into them goes into your pet.
Irina

Here are some tips to try:

The best way to get a beardie successfully eating greens is to have exposed them to greens since they were a baby. Seeming how your dragon is already an adult its too late for that but there are still some things you can try. Here are some tips to try and convince your beardie that salad is yummy!

1. Try dangling, wiggling, or dragging the greens across the cage floor, anything to convince your beardie that its not a piece of collard green, its actually just an unusually bright oddly shaped cricket! Seriously though, the movement sometimes is enough to stimulate their hunting sense and they will attack the greens.
2. Feed greens first. Don’t try offering greens right after your BD has feasted on crickets, instead offer the greens first. Put them in the cage in the morning and leave them their all day. Don’t be afraid to make your beardie go for a day without food, it wont hurt her. Feed her the greens when she is hungriest.
3. Try throwing some meal or silkworms in with a dish of greens. Mix it up real well so your beardie has no choice but to get a few mouthfuls of greens if they want the worms.
4. Make sure you are using a variety of veggies. All beardies have different tastes, and yours may not find the veggies you have been offering palatable. Also try veggies of different colors. You may have to spoil your beardie by offering her the yummier veggies instead of the plain old traditional greens for awhile if she isn’t taking to them. Try colorful ones like shredded carrots, shredded purple cabbage, all sorts of squashes, mixed berries, sweet clover, various bell peppers and edible flowers.
5. Sometimes it really takes dropping the veggies right into their mouths to get them to eat them. If that’s how it is, so be it. Trick your beardie into tasting as many veggies as possible, eventually she will catch on.
6. The final and most important tip I have is to be persistent! Continue offering greens to your beardie no matter how many times she turns her nose up at them. That may the only way to win her over.

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0.1 Bearded dragon (Hannabil)
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake (Morticia)
1.1.2 Leopard Gecko's (Pogo, Louise, Orion, Jeffrey Nothing)
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn (Autumn)
0.1 Bullmastiff (Asha)
4.1 Cats (Poe, Tucker, Abhid, Felicity, Emmy)

I read about staff called Jump Start. Will that help to stimulate their appetite toward greens and veggies?

Thank you for your post! I will try it. I have dangled parsely in front of them and they do eat it. So I will do as you say. Thanks!