How long is too long withholding feeders?

AHBD":1wm9e8z5 said:

Is he a large dragon with good size ? Can you post a few pics of him ? What you can try is to toss a small handful of greens right near him while he's hungry. Sometimes the surprise of a food item landing right near them , dropped from above will trigger the feeding response. Another thing to try is to with hold the bugs for another day or 2 and if he still won't eat any greens, just offer 1-2 large bugs, that's it [ so he has something in his system with calcium supplement ] Then again, toss a large green leaf or small handful while he's expecting another bug. This way he still gets a little something bug-wise but should be hungry enough to go for some veggies.

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BeardieSmaug":10jyoxiu said:

AHBD":10jyoxiu said:

Is he a large dragon with good size ? Can you post a few pics of him ? What you can try is to toss a small handful of greens right near him while he's hungry. Sometimes the surprise of a food item landing right near them , dropped from above will trigger the feeding response. Another thing to try is to with hold the bugs for another day or 2 and if he still won't eat any greens, just offer 1-2 large bugs, that's it [ so he has something in his system with calcium supplement ] Then again, toss a large green leaf or small handful while he's expecting another bug. This way he still gets a little something bug-wise but should be hungry enough to go for some veggies.

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Thank you for your suggestions. He is i believe 16 in with the tail.

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AHBD":nt9fh771 said:

Cute little guy, nice orange color. He is pretty small for his age [ and BTW, are you sure it's a he ? ]
Did you say that he eats crickets too ? If so be sure to gut load [ heavily feed ] the crickets with the same veggies that you'd be feeding your beardie. That way he gets some of veggie the nutrients from the crickets. Since he's on the small side I wouldn't with hold the insects much, but keep trying with the veggies anyway.

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AHBD":3a87bzx8 said:

Yes, you can definitely gut load any insects you give him.
BTW, can you post a pic with his tail arched in the air while he's flat on a table. Arch it up high, kind of like a dog that's excited . Then take a pic with the tail arched up.

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Mysty":n117s239 said:

I would routinely withold bugs for a few dsys at a time.

A nethod which has worked for me is to put beardie on top of my superworm tub which has a clear lid. He sees some and starts tongue lunging. I then drop whatever I want him to eat, e.g. dubia roaches, greens and he usually goes for it as he's in full on eating mode.

Ine of my beardies was recusing anything but supers. He now gets them as a rare treat or after eating other foods.

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kingofnobbys":3sd4gmy5 said:

I think , and many will likely disagree with me on this , that trying to make a natural opportunistic predator (who only becomes omnivorous for very short periods in the wild in it's natural range is a mistake.

Note that the climate in the natural range of most bearded dragons is essentially more like the arid savannah woodlands in equatorial Africa than the sandy deserts (that look like the Sahara) most keepers here (Australia) and overseas imagine they live in.

Typically it can be a decade between wet periods where when á large ex-tropical cyclone or a large tropical low manages to travel inland from the east coast (Queensland) , The Gulf (of Carpentaria) , or from far north ( Northern Territory coastal waters ) , or from the far north west coast (Pilbara or Kimberley coasts) and dumps enough rain to catalyse a huge arid zone bloom, so these are very rare events.
Evidence is , that in their natural range , wild bearded dragons rarely nibble in vegs, greens, flowers or fruits (because these are very rarely found in the warm months of the year), and they are in fact opportunistic predators / insectivores most of their lives. This is reflected in the Bearded Dragon Food Pyramid : viewtopic.php?f=18&t=236074
see

and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25773132

See this table extracted from : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273714443

and

The scientific data indicates 15.5% plant material in the wild free roaming beardies studied ( % mass basis ) , 20.6% fat content (from prey animals (mice and small bird and eggs), and 61% insects (including spiders and scorpions).
This is a good a guide as anything and ties in very nicely with the Food Triangle and much better than the 80% veg diet many keepers wish to impose and have for a while.

IMO it's fine to give some insect protein each day , along with some greens and veg and this is what I do for my subadult and adult bearded dragons.
I try to include some high calcium greens each day , not so important if I have silkworm on hand who are full of either silkworm chow or chewed mulberry leaf.

I think if your dragon likes bugs , fine, let it have some each day , and make sure they have been gutloaded using veg and greens you would like the dragon to eat, this way the dragon is happy, and you know it's getting some of the greens and veg via the guts of the insects.

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BeardieSmaug":2q5z8vr4 said:

kingofnobbys":2q5z8vr4 said:

I think , and many will likely disagree with me on this , that trying to make a natural opportunistic predator (who only becomes omnivorous for very short periods in the wild in it's natural range is a mistake.

Note that the climate in the natural range of most bearded dragons is essentially more like the arid savannah woodlands in equatorial Africa than the sandy deserts (that look like the Sahara) most keepers here (Australia) and overseas imagine they live in.

Typically it can be a decade between wet periods where when á large ex-tropical cyclone or a large tropical low manages to travel inland from the east coast (Queensland) , The Gulf (of Carpentaria) , or from far north ( Northern Territory coastal waters ) , or from the far north west coast (Pilbara or Kimberley coasts) and dumps enough rain to catalyse a huge arid zone bloom, so these are very rare events.
Evidence is , that in their natural range , wild bearded dragons rarely nibble in vegs, greens, flowers or fruits (because these are very rarely found in the warm months of the year), and they are in fact opportunistic predators / insectivores most of their lives. This is reflected in the Bearded Dragon Food Pyramid : viewtopic.php?f=18&t=236074
see

and https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25773132

See this table extracted from : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273714443

and

The scientific data indicates 15.5% plant material in the wild free roaming beardies studied ( % mass basis ) , 20.6% fat content (from prey animals (mice and small bird and eggs), and 61% insects (including spiders and scorpions).
This is a good a guide as anything and ties in very nicely with the Food Triangle and much better than the 80% veg diet many keepers wish to impose and have for a while.

IMO it's fine to give some insect protein each day , along with some greens and veg and this is what I do for my subadult and adult bearded dragons.
I try to include some high calcium greens each day , not so important if I have silkworm on hand who are full of either silkworm chow or chewed mulberry leaf.

I think if your dragon likes bugs , fine, let it have some each day , and make sure they have been gutloaded using veg and greens you would like the dragon to eat, this way the dragon is happy, and you know it's getting some of the greens and veg via the guts of the insects.

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So I basically can put the uneaten veggies in his bowl and dump it in the supers/crix container?

Yep .... that's essentially what I do , as well as putting a bit of it and any dead crickets or silkworms (so long as they are fresh) out in a few old ceramic plant watering bowls for the wild skinks - they love the beardie & bluetongue left overs .... and they come running when they see the old food tub in hand , I've been mugged by them ( 8 - 12 wild water skinks and a wild blue tongue skink) crawling all over my legs and feet and under and around me when sitting on the path or glass and setting up the feeding station .... they know me and aren't scared of me and even come when called.

Very little goes to waste here.


I Feed him wax worms once in a while, but heard they are addicting, and boy is that true. My boy goes wild when he sees those little yellow worms

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