6 month old beardy refusing staple bugs

[NuggetsMama]

6 days ago Chicken started refusing crickets & BSFL. He is eating his salads in full daily & will take treat worms. Dubia roaches are illegal here & silk worms are hard to come by. I was able to get my hands on a few silks this week and he ate 5 yesterday and 5 today no problem. But still refusing crickets and bsfl.

His UVB Arcadia 12% is brand new and we monitor temps with a temp gun daily. He is super active, more so than usual (puberty?)

I didn’t give him any salad this morning in hopes that he’ll be hungry for some crickets this evening.

Any other suggestions on how to get him back onto crickets / BSFL? Or what treat bug is best to keep him full of protein in the meantime. Should I keep withholding salad ? He’s only 6 months old so I don’t want him eating only salads

 

[AHBD]

He's a ' teenager " and can choose what he wants right now, it will change again so no need to worry. Definitely keep offering the salads. Is Chicken a big boy , can you post a few pics of him ? Some dragons eat so much that they grow much more quickly compared to in the wild. It's best to let them grow at a slower pace in such cases.

 

[NuggetsMama]

He’s a very big boy! He is about 17 inches long. He was a super aggressive eater since we got him averaging 70-80 bugs a day mostly BSFL and crickets. I have lots of super worms, meal worms and hornworms for my other pets. Should I offer some of them daily until he decides to get back on the good staples? Or just let him graze the salads and keep trying crickets until her changes his mind ? I’m scared to impact him with too many supers but all he wants is worms loll

 

[Claudiusx]

I agree, keep offering him all he can eat salads. That behaviour isn't worrisome at all. He's big enough to be nearly fully grown already, I'm sure his body is telling him to favor the salads now.

He'll eat bugs as he sees fit, but always have salad available for him.

-Brandon

 

[NuggetsMama]

Thanks ! I try to be weary of *treat* bugs .. is it okay to alternate hornworms & super worms daily until he decides to get back on the crickets ? Or will that spoil him ? I’m not sure if it’s better to go a day without bugs or only “non-staple” bugs. I’ve also heard mixed things on mealworms so I’ve never fed him those, but I always have some on hand for my hedgehog

 

[Bmjo]

6 days ago Chicken started refusing crickets & BSFL. He is eating his salads in full daily & will take treat worms. Dubia roaches are illegal here & silk worms are hard to come by. I was able to get my hands on a few silks this week and he ate 5 yesterday and 5 today no problem. But still refusing crickets and bsfl.

His UVB Arcadia 12% is brand new and we monitor temps with a temp gun daily. He is super active, more so than usual (puberty?)

I didn’t give him any salad this morning in hopes that he’ll be hungry for some crickets this evening.

Any other suggestions on how to get him back onto crickets / BSFL? Or what treat bug is best to keep him full of protein in the meantime. Should I keep withholding salad ? He’s only 6 months old so I don’t want him eating only salads

when mine went on a hunger strike only for blue worms I would offer crickets every day and if she didn't budge neither did i. after about 3-4 days she ate the crickets.

 

[NuggetsMama]

This strike is still ongoing !!

There were two days since he began refusing crickets & BSFL that he ate some crickets , most being 17 on October 27. Since then he’s again refusing anything but worms. We were able to get silk worms a few times and he gobbled them
Up no problem. He also will go for any worm (wax, super, horn, butter) but we’ve been holding off because he hasn’t pooped since Nov 1 so it’s been two weeks today. We’ve tried baths and a touch of olive oil with no change. His behaviour is still normal, though he’s not crazy hyper like he was when this started. He spends a lot of time in his hide but does come out multiple times a day and will run around per norm. Is it possible this is a early version of brumation even though he’s so young ? Also should I be very concerned about him not pooping in 14 days? His belly doesn’t feel hard or anything.

 

[Claudiusx]

No he isn't brumating if he's coming out multiple times a day. How big is he?

If he isn't eating much, he won't be pooing. So that's normal.

-Brandon

 

[NuggetsMama]

No he isn't brumating if he's coming out multiple times a day. How big is he?

If he isn't eating much, he won't be pooing. So that's normal.

-Brandon

He’s about 18 inches long . He has eaten approx 40 bugs since his last poop and also still eats a little salad every day. I’m wondering how long of this type of behaviour ongoing would warrant a vet trip. I’ve been hoping to get a fecal done since before this started, I knew I should have saved the last poop lol

 

[Claudiusx]

It's not uncommon at all for them to go that long without pooing, especially as they are getting bigger/older.

I personally don't think there is any issue with you just giving him the other worms for the time being. Variety is best anyways IMO.

And like I mentioned earlier, he's getting near full grown. Let him just eat up his salads. He's going to keep transitioning away from bugs as time goes on.

A lot of times, superworms become the staple feeder for my adults since they don't need too many of them anymore like a growing dragon would.

-Brandon