My 9 month old beardie stopped eating dubias

Hi everyone. One of my beardies, Rambo, stopped eating dubias all of a sudden. He’s always been a great eater but he’s stopped eating them about two weeks ago. He does eat super worms (and even that he does a lot less than usual, but he does eat them) but because of their hard shells I try not to feed him too many for digestive purposes. He’s also been sporting a black beard lately.

He’s housed with another BD, Ecko, around the same age and he eats great. I’m actually building a separate enclosure because it’s aboit that time that they had more room. Is this a phase that he’s going thru? I thought it was brunation but he’s been pretty active. Ecko is definitely the more aggressive one and I think this may have something to do with it. He doesn’t physically beat him up but who knows what happens when daddy isn’t looking. I’m no BD whisperer but I’m sure that there are some psychological affects going on here.

I mean, I put the roaches on tweezers to feed him and he either shrugs them off, licks them and doesn’t eat, and sometimes just runs away. Could he be afraid of the roaches, or even the tweezers? I tried giving him small roaches thinking their size is too much and the same result.

At the moment both are in 40 gallon breeder, basking is at steady 110 degrees with 85 on cool side. Reptisun t5 10.0 uvb bulb roughly 8-9 inches inside of the tank cover. He hasn’t lost any weight, thank goodness, but hasn’t gained any either. They both had parasites in their system but took them to the vet and they are ok.

Any ideas?

Sorry for the long post ?

Having the same issue with my 5 month old, she is 10.5" long and just stopped eating dubias, but maybe 1-2 a day (3/8" ones). Bummed because we went a few days of meal worms and ground turkey before I get her some now she will hardly touch them.
She will much on meal worms but I only give her 5-8 a day dusted and she clears them.
She now eats salad like crazy, collard greens minced up or chard. She is eating 1/2-1cup minced daily.

I was thinking this was too young for the adult diet....but she seems to be making that transition of not wanting live feeders often.

She has a 10.0 UVB, a basking light and a heat lamp, basking area is 105-110, cool said is 78-85 depending on top of or under the hammock. Now that I think about it, she does not bask much in the hot side like she used to, but likes the hammock on the cool side lately.

Like the OP I would like some opinions and thoughts.

Their appetites fluctuate over time and will decrease between growth spurts. That part is fairly normal so just keep offering food as normal for now and they are likely to return to their routine after a while. The black bearding is more of a concern because it often indicates distress or illness. In this case two dragons are housed in a very small space so my guess is that one is starting to dominate resources such as basking spots and the other is feeling threatened. I would give them their own spaces at least as large as a 40g breeder (preferably larger). Hopefully that will get Rambo feeling better.

Thanks @cooperdragon. They’re each getting their own 4x2x2 enclosure within a couple of days. I figured that the black bearding may have been due to distress from the other dragon.

Regarding the fluctuation in eating, that’s a relief to hear as well. The slightest change out of the norm just stresses me out lol. You can tell I’m new at this right?

The worry is universal and doesn't ever completely go away =). It's tough to know what they need because they don't vocalize but in time you can become more tuned in with their body language and gestures to know how they are feeling. It's good that you are paying attention to know when something is not normal and act on it.