Baby beardie likes veggies better than bugs!?

MrCheese":znke24u5 said:

I recently got a baby beardie. <<< can you put him on the kitchen scales in a little tub and weigh him . Suggest doing religiously on a weekly basis and charting his weight.
He was from PetSmart and he's very small (his head is the size of a Canadian quarter). I accidentally got him while goig to get fish supplies but I did my research and was going to get one in a few months anyway. I didn't have all the supplies prepared unfortunately and my stupid PetSmart did not carry reptisun 1.0 for some reason :/ So I ordered one and it'll be here next week... Lucky us the sun is also not out so we cannot go bask outside. I know their appetite may not be as good when they don't have UVB, so I am not too concerned on why he isn't eating much (he is also stressed from moving). <<<< Get a 26W UVB200 and mount it either in a NanoHood or a dome reflector socket until the 10% UVB tube (is it a T5 or a T8 ?) arrives , make sure he can bask with 8" (20cm) of the bottom of UVB200 globe.

He needs very high ( > 30% ) UVA to have a strong apetite and be very active as well correct heat leaves in the tank ) .
what is the basking spot temperature and what are you using to arrive at that temperature ?
....(needs to be 100 degF (40 degC) at the basking spot. The warm zone during the day needs to be about 30 degC). The warmth is needed to enable him to digest his food properly.

He needs the highest possible levels of UVB (at least 10% UVB , 12% and even 14% is BETTER) in order for him to metabolise his dietary calcium.

I currently have him on Repashy Grub Pie and he seems to enjoy eating it. <<< if he likes grubpie keep giving it to him for now. I gave him a few gutloaded crickets and he would NOT eat it. I put it in front of him, on his nose, by his mouth, near his eye, nothing. I even put some sweet potato baby food on the cricket but still no. He watches them run around but never tries to eat any. He refused to eat them so I decided to get rid of them for now (tried today, still no). Next I tried little silkworms and he ate two and left the rest. Then they just died so I gave up on those as well. The grub pie seems to be the one he wants the most right now. He'll eat 3-4 chunks of it when I put it on his nose (he is confused on why he cant lick them up so he doesn't eat them if I offer. He tries to lick them and it doesn't work so he just stares at it).
<<< cut back on the greens and veg and offer him his crickets first while he's hungry , when he has a growth spurt he'll become ravenous wrt the live bugs. You can also try handfeeding - in this case what I'd is (and what I do for all my babies and very small hatchlings) is
---- I select 3 - 4 crickets who have been gutloaded overnight and dusted
---- I take them out of the dusting tub and disable them by squashing their heads , and pulling off their big hind hopper legs (drumsticks)
---- place hatchling on chest facing face, one hand cupped over the body to stop him from dash off
---- then take a drumstick and slip it between the lips at the side of his mouth gentle but firm pressure until he start chewing it
---- this next step takes good timing and practice - while chewing the drumstick (likely under sufferance) place the squashed gooy end of the cricket next to his lips and apply a little bit firm pressure - very likely he's get the taste and smell and start to eat it .
Will take a bit practice to get the technique down pat, and for him to get the hang of the handfeeding lurk , and expect some accidential finger tip nips - comes with the territory.

Once he gets a taste for the crickets and in the feeding mood , he should , if the UVA and heat are right be ready to catch and eat the crickets himself provided you only drop them in 2 or 3 at a time.



I put a bit of kale in his dish with some grub pie and the last of the crickets (too small to escape). I saw him DASH towards the bowl and I was hoping he'd eat more bugs, but to my surprise- he started to gobble up all the kale! He finished most of it (I only offered a tiny piece). He ignored all the bugs and grub pie and just ate all the kale till his tummy was happy and he climbed back onto his basking spot. I offered him the pie, crickets, and kale on my hand and he ran for the kale and ignored everything else... The little guy seems to love kale and cilantro more than anything else. He needs to eat lots of insects right now and I don't know how to get him to eat more. He does eat some of the grub pie when I put a piece on his nose but he will eat the kale by himself. I'm in Canada so I can't get dubia roaches.

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roddy":2342y180 said:

How often are you bathing him, if you are concerned that he may be blocked up then a nice long bath may solve this.

It is also possible that he just does not have the confidence to go for live crickets. The advice above sounds good and may well work, but alternatively you may want to try him with some small meal worms, just to get him in the habbit of eating live food.

Meal worms are not good as a standard diet, but if you can get him eating them over a week or so, you may raise his interest in other live food. <<< better still , find someone who has silkworms and buy some small (1.5 inch long) silkworms and chow or fresh mulberry leaves off them .... very rare for a young beardie to turn it's nose up at 3 or 4 yummy looking and soft squishy and tasty silkworms on a piece of mulberry leaf. (and the mulberry leaf is good for them to eat too.)
Silkworms are an excellent feeder insect to use as a staple food for a hatchling.

Personnaly I would not recomend providing hiding places for the crickets, I strip all items out of my viv when I release crickets as my beardies seem to get put off by 'hidden' insects in their home, but if the insects are in clear sight they love it and run around like crazy catching the bugs.

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