Beardie scared of Crickets and won't eat them

My beardie, Oscar, seems to be scared of crickets. When they get close to him he gets this bewildered look on his face and scoots away from it. If a cricket gets on him he goes bazerks! He won't eat them. I'm worried because he's just a baby and he needs the protein and nutrition. At first i just thought he was full and didn't want any, but after watching more i figured out that he is just plain scared of them. It almost seems backwards because most people say that babies won't like salad and prefer crickets, but oscar loves salad and hates cricks. They are very small baby cricks about half the size of his head, so i don't think they would be too big for him... Any suggestions?

-Emzers & Oscar

How many are you offering him at once? Some dragon get overwhelmed if there are too many dumped in the cage at once. Only offer 1-2 at a time and see if that helps. You can also chill the crix in the fridge for 5 minutes to help slow them down some.

There is usually 5 cricks in there at once. I'll try the fridge thing. Thanks for the advice! Also, Oscar is a month and a half old, can i feed him butternut squash? Maybe just put 4 or so small chopped pieces. Is he old enough to eat them or will they impact him?

-Emzers & Oscar

He can have squash, just make sure its really small. A fine cheese grater works great.

Okay, so i took all the stuff out of his viv for feeding time. He tried to catch crickets, but he missed every time. Then he gave up and just sat there for 5 more minutes till i put all of his stuff back in and he started basking and eating his salad. I'm going to try it again today, but i'm going to chill the cricks in the fridge before i put them in. I will grate the butternut squash and see if he likes it. Thanks for the advice! And also, where can you get dubia roaches? Are they easier for baby beardies to catch? Do they impact?

-Emzers & Oscar

So what about dubia roaches?

-Emzers & Oscar

look under the for sale on this site. There are a few people who sell roaches on here. You can get them in all sizes. I wish I had done that when my girl was little. She got scared of crickets too.

Dubia are easier to catch and no, they won't impact as long as you feed the proper sized ones. You can find plenty on the for sale forum. Have you ever tried feeding you dragon in a separate container? You could use a small rubbermaid tub, makes crickets easier to catch and you don't have to worry about some getting loose in the cage.

Gail,

I tried the seperate feeding cage thing, and it didn't really work out but I will try it again. The crickets seem to be biting him. I will convince my mom to let me buy the dubia roaches. I'm just worried because every body else is saying that their baby beardies are eating like 5 or 6 crickets a day and oscar only eating only maybe 1 every other day. I know it's crucial that he eats his meat while he's young because he needs to grow. I just really want him to be okay :|

-Emzers & Oscar

Just thought I would share... We feed our baby in a separate container and for the first 2 days he (3feedings a day) he hated it. He just wanted out and didn't want the crickets. He would eat one then crawl to a corner and claw at the side. Around about the 3rd day he started eating more (but only a couple) and my son picked him up and moved him towards a cricket and poof! Cricket eaten! So he moved him towards another and he swiped that one up with his tongue too! The next 2 days that's how the feedings went. He would eat a couple on his own then a couple while my son moved him to the crickets. I have been increasing his cricket amounts by 1 each day so when he just started out with 1-2 a feeding he is now at 12 each feeding and he eats them all by himself. It just seemed to take him awhile to figure it out. Maybe he your little guy just needs a little help too.

Nikipop,

Thank you for the story, it was really encouraging. I tried the feeding cage this morning and he ate one cricket and started clawing at the sides wanting to get out like yours did. I will try again this afternoon and hopefully he will eat more and maybe Oscar will do the same as your beardie did in your story. I will try to help him find the cricks like your son did and hopefully it will help. Thanks! :mrgreen:

-Emzers & Oscar

You are most welcome! Keep us posted on how he is doing

Oscar is doing well, but still picky about crickets. He will eat one or two and then one will bite him and he will freak out and not eat anymore until the day after the next day. Like say i put him in his feeding tank today (Wednesday) and he ate one then a cricket bit him. He then scratches the side of the tank and runs around crazily and tries to jump out until i take him out and put him in his real tank. He wouldn't eat another cricket till Friday. It's weird :? . Since he doesn't eat much crickets, i dust the calcium dust on his salad instead of the crickets, is that okay? If he is not getting the proteins he needs to grow from the crickets because he doesn't eat many, will the calcium dust help him grow too? Because i don't want him to have a delayed growth problem thing or something . Do I just need to switch to silkworms for his staple? Do they have enough protein? I will try crickets a little while longer and if they still dont work, i will switch to dubia roaches or worms. The only problem is that my mom hates roaches of any kind so she won't let me order them (i'm only 12). Aren't they less nasty then crickets? Anyways, i will keep trying the feeding cage and hopefully Oscar will end up liking it like your beardie did. Thanks!

-Emzers & Oscar

Phoenix worms are a good feeder too. They are high in calcium, and they don't bite. maybe you could talk
your mom into buying those if she won't buy roaches.

Okay, thanks!! Do phoenix worms have good protein? They don't impact like mealworms, right? I know that mealworms can eat through beardie's stomachs (this happened to my previous beardie ), can pheonix worms do this? If they do, i can smash their heads before i feed them to Oscar. And my mom will let me get the worms, i'm still talking her into the roaches :wink: . Can phoenix worms be used as a staple meat? Thanks for the advice!

-Emzers & Oscar