Boy oh boy do I have a picky eater

[jewl495]

It seems our Kratos is a picky boy.....please tell me there is light at the end of the tunnel haha. He eats roaches as his staple but lately it seems like he's tired of them. I try to spice things up with other feeders but the only ones he wants anything to do with are supers and wax worms. I only give 5 supers every other day as long as he is eating good. He will eat a couple butters and silks every few days and a few repti worms a day but he hates horn worms. To top it all off he is refusing his salads now.
If he was an adult I would pull the tough love card but he's only 7 mos. I'm not used to having a picky dragon, have any of your dragons gotten over their picky ways?
Julie

 

[12many]

i starve mine until he'shungru for anythig. When that happens they'll snap outof it an wil eat anything you give to them because they'regrateful they have food.

 

[jewl495]

If my guy was an adult then the tough love approach would be taken but Im not sure that's s good choice for a 7 almost 8 month old. He still has some growing to do.

 

[Valerie]

Good luck, I have been dealing with a picky eater since I have had her. We will go thru a feeder and she eats it like it is going out of style and then about 3 days later she stops eating it. I usually can give her something else and she will eat it but now she is not eating anything. I am trying wax worms,supers, dubia and crix. GGGRRR. She will be a yr old in a week or so but she is only 14 inches. { she gained 1/2 inch in length from finally eating good then.} I am guessing her small size is due to her lack of great eating and a sickness she had for a bit when she refused to eat. I have hornworms, silks and butter wormns coming from Linda on Wed. so maybe it will be a hit with her a bit. LOL
Has your always been picky or has it just started?
Valerie

 

[KBenker]

My Saffire was eating 40-50 dubia a day, then pretty much completely quit eating. Started hiding under her shelf-liner, doing lots of digging and would only eat a piece or two of greens - if I dropped it right next to her.

I was very worried over the whole thing, she's coming 6 months of age. However, she did weigh in at 79g on her vet visit beginning of November. There's no way to make them eat - her temperatures/UVB is just like it should be, she has no parasites - think she's trying to brumate a little, though she's way too young for that.

Well, today she jumped into the pan (I use an old baking pan to feed her dubias in) and chowed down, morning and night. She doesn't look like she's lost any weight in the past 3 weeks of hardly eating, just looks like she's gotten a bit longer.

As long as the husbandry is in order - all we can do is wait. Saffire finally got hungry and decided to eat again.

Karin

 

[Bwalter]

My girl has always been a picky eater. She also was slow to grow, finally at 6 months old she had a growth spurt. Now at 1 year old she is 17" but still isn't eating to much, but she is in and out of brumating too. I know how you feel. I checked everything all the time, Her lights, her temps, I guess its just her, she is very healthy so I am not worried to much.

 

[jewl495]

Good luck, I have been dealing with a picky eater since I have had her. Has your always been picky or has it just started?
Valerie

Valerie,

It sounds like your little girl gets bored easy. Geez don't they know thats unexceptable. :roll: As for my guy, we got him when he was five months so I dont know if that played a part or not. All he had before was crickets and salads but after having dubias he swore off crickets. How old was your dragon when you got her?

I wouldn't worry to much about her size if you know everything is right and she has had a clear fecal. She is on the small size but maybe her parents were smaller. Did you get her from the pet store or a breeder? You never know, she may have a growth spurt. Things you can try to stimulate her appetite are nutritional yeast, bee pollen, and acidophiluz+. I also like giving vit b off beautiful dragons website I always see a difference when I give that regularly as far as energy and happiness, which seems to make him eat a little better, My last dragon was the same. You could also ask the vet for an appetite stimulant maybe. :dontknow: Good luck with the other feeders, fingers crossed that she likes them!

As long as the husbandry is in order - all we can do is wait. Saffire finally got hungry and decided to eat again.
Karin

Karin,
I'm glad Saffire snapped out of it! Love her name btw. My guy did the whole trying to brumate thing to but mine was a light issue. I added another light fixture to brighten it up more. I use MVB'S so my light set up is a little different.

My girl has always been a picky eater. She also was slow to grow, finally at 6 months old she had a growth spurt. Now at 1 year old she is 17" but still isn't eating to much, but she is in and out of brumating too. I know how you feel. I checked everything all the time, Her lights, her temps, I guess its just her, she is very healthy so I am not worried to much.

Your girl sounds like she's a good size. How much does she weigh? I'm not really worried about size either, my guy is 460 grams and 17.5 inches long. I just wish he would eat more better, especially his salads. My last dragon ate everything put in front of him but reptiworms. oh well all I can do is try. I really wish I could get my guy to like horn worms and silks.

 

[Valerie]

Jewl,
I have had her since she was 2 1/2 weeks old. To young in my book to sell. I got her from a breeder in another city. Actually, a lady bought her from the breeder and then sold her to me. The lady had advertised them and after talking to her, I found out that she did not have them but went to pick them up for the breeder. I was not able to see her until i went to the lady's house.
The first night I was able to see her she was in a container set up for a snake. I was scared to bring her home since she was so small.She did not eat much for the lady so she moved her to another container [drawer style] away from all the others. The lady said she would hold on to her for me. I kept thinking about all night and her being in a snake container with no UVB or basking light.
She had her in one of the drawers with heat tape.
Anyway, I went back the next day and she had moved her once again to another container. She was in a 2 gallon tank with no lights at all. She told me she had put a UVB on her for a bit.
At this point I really wanted to get her out of there as she had been moved from place to another including the trip to her house and then to my house,6 times in a 48 hour time. No wonder she was a handful after a few days of being at my house.
A few months ago I did ask the breeder how big his BD were and he never answered me. He just said if she looks heathy that is what matters and had me email him a picture of her to him. Then I noticed he used her picture to promote more of his babies on craigslist.
So I am guessing between genes, stress, and a URI she had a few months ago she will always be small. After her reptaid with the URI she ate so GOOD in fact, she put on weight and gained an inch. I wish she would have another episode like that.
I do like the suppliments you suggested. Do you know how much she would get of each? I would only try one at a time.
Valerie

 

[jewl495]

Valerie,
I'm guessing by the breeders behavior his dragons probably aren't huge or in the best shape. I would say not to worry about her size too much. Your poor girl sure did have a rough start.

Have you thought about trying a mvb or the Arcadia t-5 light instead of the reptisun? It may make a difference. During the summer months get her outside as much as possible it will make a difference in her as well.

The B vits and acidophilus can be given together and you can find them on the beautiful dragon website, the doseage is on the bottles. I think you just use a pinch of the others for a few days a week maybe on salads or in slurries. Can you use the reptaid on a regular basis like maybe once a week? Or is it only when they are sick? I can't remember....
Julie

 

[Valerie]

I know reptaid can be used once a mos. I am not sure I would use it more than that unless given reason to. I do have her on it for a few days now since she will not touch anything.

Are the lights you mentioned better than the reptisun 10.0? I have heard so many good things about the reptisun.

I will check out the site you mentioned as I already have it in my favorites.
Valerie
Yeah, she did have a rough start and then with all of that she was a handful as far as aggressiveness goes. It took a while working with her but I think it was fear since she had been thru so much. Then I had changed her over to a larger viv when she got bigger and with the stress she got a URI, that was about a couple of months ago. I hope things get easier for her and me.LOL

 

[Valerie]

I noticed the bee pollen was not on that web site. Do you know how much i could give her?

 

[popsmoke63B]

Mines very young, and seems very picky as well. I've been putting a small salad out everyday (only had him/her for a week), and i put phoenix worms, and small dubias in the salad. As far as me seeing him eat, i might get to see him eat a few a day, the others are either in his belly, or i find them later in his enclosure. I can't wait for him to turn into the ferocious eater I've read about here!

 

[Valerie]

Your may or may not turn into a great eater as mentioned, mine has never been a good eater except a few days since I have had her. The good side to it is that I save money on feerders. :roll:
Honestly, I would love to have her eat better. I would not mind the extra money put out and it would be so much less on the my stress level. :?
Valerie

 

[izzbo]

My guy is also super picky. He gives me the stink eye all the time when I try to feed him things he doesn't want. It's so funny. He then shuts his eyes like it will go away if he shuts the long enough. I've never gotten him to eat any fruit and went off of crickets at 6 months old. He then did silk worms for a few months and got sick of those. Then I did dubias and supers. He got sick of the dubias after I started my colony (I should've know better w/him!). It drives me crazy sometimes so what I do is just buy a bit of everything to see what he's in the mood for. He has more choice in the house than any other pet I can imagine. Just last week I had horned worms, butter worms, wax worms, silk worms, dubias, supers, and repti-worms. The supers, dubias, butters, and wax worms are easy to keep for long periods of time but the horned and silk worms only last a week or two. That along w/turnip greens, mustard greens, and fresh squash. He eats like a king.

I just wanted to say I feel all your guys pain. I remember my last pet which was a dog. He would eat anything. The good old days ... (j/k - I love my guy to death!).