Adult beardie feeding problems

[Kyky245]

So i adopted an adult bearded dragon not putting on weight very thin and then to make matters worse we ran out of crickets due to most of them dying. We had crickets on the way but they wont be here until thursday. What can we feed him or her until they get here?

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, can you post pics of him as well as his set up and list his exact type of lights ? Can you get some insects from a pet store ? Another thing you can try is a scrambled egg. I microwave 1 egg with no oil, most beardies enjoy a few bites but don't give the entire egg, save some for the next day.....a whole egg would be too much fat at once. You can also try baby food chicken [ no salt or gravy ] and green beans. Fresh greens like turnip, mustard, collard, endive, arugula are also good. These can also be fed to the crickets to make them more nutritious.

Here's how to post pics :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

 

[charmander16]

Forget crickets. Crickets are pretty much one of the worst foods for them in terms of getting them to eat them, and they aren't great nutritionally but they are okay.

The easiest thing to get them to eat typically is soft bodied worms. If this one is thin, then I'd go for the following:
Butterworms
Hornworms
Nightcrawlers

Typically butterworms aren't a great food because they are high in fat, so you don't want to make them a staple feeder. Hornworms are high in water and also not a good staple feeder. Nightcrawlers are actually an all around good feeder, but can be difficult and expensive to use on a regular basis and there are concerns about parasites and chemical contamination as most Nightcrawlers are hand picked in the wild from farm lands.

However, these are all great "rehab" foods. Good foods to get a lizard going that hasn't been eating well and they will provide a lot of hydration which is also typically a problem when they haven't been eating. Silkworms are also great, and a good staple feeder but they can be hard to find and hard to care for, even for short periods.

Once they get going again, dubia roaches are generally the best staple feeder, in addition to collard greens.

You can order all of these here: http://www.rainbowmealworms.net/

Don't feed more than 2 Horworms a day, but they can eat as many Nightcrawlers as they want. Butter worms should also be 2 or 3 a day at most, down to 1 every other day once they get back to a good weight and feeding habit.

 

[AHBD]

There are benefits to having variety in feeder insects and crickets are quite a good one. They have a decent amount of protein and not much fat and as one of the " crunchier" insects for larger dragons they may help keep the teeth clean.

 

[kingofnobbys]

I've had success with the following for sick , injured skinks who were not feeding well .

VetaFarm HerpaBoost.
VetaFarm Reptile Critta Care


I think Repashi GrubPie made as a slurry will be good too.

Soft boiled egg is good too. Skinks especially love the stuff . Can't see why a bearded dragon wouldn't tuck in either.

 

[Kyky245]

I gut load my crickets with collards or turnips then feed them to her. And i know im supposed to supplement with reptical and herptivite weekly. Im wondering if she already has parasites which is why i have a vet appointment set for tomorrow. I made it 2 weeks ago. I tried the roaches which im terrified of but anything for our babies right? She wouldnt touch them. Absolutely no interest would stare at it watch it move around and wouldnt eat it at all i ended up having to take them out each time i tried to feed her and finally i offered gut loaded crickets and she went nuts. And she eats her greens pretty good as well.

 

[fijea]

If you want your crickets to live longer (and less smelly), try keeping your crickets in a salad drying bowl.
The point is to separate their poo from the enclosure. So make sure there are holes on the under side of the enclosure.
And to make cleaning easier you can put abit of water in the outer side of the bowl. Just don't wet your crickets.

 

[Taffer]

I tried the roaches which I'm terrified of but anything for our babies right? She wouldn't touch them. Absolutely no interest would stare at it watch it move around and wouldn't eat it at all i ended up having to take them out each time i tried to feed her and finally i offered gut loaded crickets and she went nuts. And she eats her greens pretty good as well.

My bearded dragon "Monster" wasn't a big fan of Dubia roaches at first and just watched them closely, a bit suspect of them for a few days. I kept offering them to her for a few days until one crawled close to her and she finally ate one, then she was in love with Dubia! Love at first bite! It wasn't long before I ditched those smelly & noisy crickets. Of course it took me 11 months before my wife would even consider having them in the house LOL. The things we do for our little babies...and now a little over a year later she told someone today that she has gone from rock star massage therapist for a chiropractor to a roach wrangler (shaking my head). I'm not even allowed to call them roaches...I have to call them "bugs". :lol: :lol: :lol: