How to break a beardie of mealworm bad habits

[bltkpo]

We recently acquired a new beardie. Though his owners ment well, we kind of consider him a bit of a rescue. He was stone cold to the touch when we met him. He was fed primarily a diet of meal worms and romaine salad. He's about 1 year old, and wasn't under an UVB when we saw him. To say the least, we swept him right up and brought him home.

We gave him a salad of Endive, Collard greens, and Bok Choy that he ate right up, so I am not concerned of his veggie habits, but I am a little concerned about those darn mealworms.

I have no access to roaches, so don't even suggest !! lol. I could try ordering some repti-worms, but they are super expensive.

The owners said he just one day decided he wasn't fond of crickets anymore, so that is why he is on the mealworms.

How do you break that bad habit? I would like to get him back on crickets, as they are the only affordable, decent staple feeder we have access to. We will offer silks/horns every once in a while (super expensive!)

Are there any tricks? He's a bit thin, so I don't want to deprive him of his protein. He does eat his salad, so he wont starve to say the least.

He's going to be a challenge I think! Our sweet Bindy is such a beautiful little easy going darling. This guy is a brute that obviously has some 'tude.

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi there,

So have you tried crickets an he hasn't been interested in them at all?

It's great that he is eating salad!

Remember, just because hes an older dragon doesn't mean he can't/wont suffer from relocation stress too.

Eventually he will be hungry for some bugs and should go after the crickets. Since he is eating his salad I wouldn't be worried about him going without protein for a few days until he breaks his spoiled ways! :mrgreen:

-Brandon

 

[bltkpo]

Oh, relocation stress has been taken note of. He's a jump guy, but still eating. He has been with us for less than 24 hours, but I am just hoping to get a game plan in gear to get rid of the mealworms. If there was any tricks other than starvation haha.