Advice - Doesn't Like Roaches ?!?

[izzbo]

Hey everyone!

I've got a male beardie named Klaude. He is 1.5 years old right now. Here is some background on his feeding habbits. He went off crickets at about 3 months old and basically ate silkworms as his primary diet until he turned 1 year old (I also mixed things up w/butters, horned worms, meal worms as treats and of course tried to get him to eat his greens). For some reason when he turned about 1 he didn't want to eat the silkworms anymore. So I switched to supers for the most part and also horned worms every so often to keep things interesting for him. He is fed live food every other day and salads every day. He isn't a big salad eater but he will munch on it.

Now starts the reason I started this post. About 9 months ago I started ordering roaches online for him to eat to see if he liked them. He really did. I went through 3 orders of 30 in a month so I figured I'll start a colony of my own. Right as I started the colony his eating slowed down due to braumation and he didn't want to eat much at all. He came out of braumation in March but I kept feeding him supers (and horned worms b/c he loves those) and not roaches b/c I had a lot of supers saved from when he was in braumation. Last week I took out 7 roaches from the colony and he happily ate them. The next feeding time (2 days later) I grab 7 more roaches. He eats the 1st one and I try to give him another one and he is not interested in it what-so-ever. I tried for 5 minutes or so but no luck. I got out the supers and he chowed down on them like normal (so I know he was hungry). I tried tricking him by giving him a roach in the middle of the super feeding but that didn't work. He almost ate it but once he realized it wasn't a super he didn't want it.

My question is is there anything I can do to get him to like roahces (I know that sounds like a stupid question) b/c I have a nice size colony and would like to use it or should I just feed him what he likes at that time. I've heard they can get addicted to supers and not want anything else. Could this be the case? He is a picky eater sometimes but it usually takes a few months before he gets sick of a food item, not a day. And how come he used to like them? Could the roaches in my colony taste different based on what I feed them?

Thanks in advance everyone!

 

[r35gtr]

I'm not sure if this will help but i had the same problem. Mine are still young (less than a yr) and i've tried mealworms, crickets, and dubias. They didn't like any of them except the crickets and i found out why. Once i placed the dubias and mealworms in their feeding bin, they would not move. My BD's weren't interested in anything that moves. Crickets on the other hand, would sometimes jump and it caught my BD's attention. From there, they would just hunt and pounce on them.

When you place the dubias, try moving them so they would run past your BD or just run fast anywhere.

 

[izzbo]

Thanks for the response. My guy is lazy. The dubias run to fast and hide and he has zero interest in chasing them. You'll see as they get older (or at least my guy) they aren't as crazed about the food as they were when they were younglings. I remember when my guy was little he would jump off his log which was about 10 times as high as him at the time as chase those guys all over. Now he just watches the roaches run by and then looks at me like "where are my supers". I do agree about the moving thing though, that is why I like the supers. They move but slowly. Dubias are fast as heck. I actually tried to put them in the fridge to slow them down and it worked. I just take the 7 or so out I want to feed and put them in the fridge for 3 minutes or so and they walk around like old men. Anyway, I'm not too worried I just wanted to see anyone else had a picky eater and what they did. I've heard you can "force" them to eat what you want by just not giving in. Eventually they'll eat the roaches but I don't like that idea. I want him to be happy and don't want him to eat what he doesn't like. But I am open for any other suggestions.

 

[r35gtr]

you could try the "starve" method?

Don't feed them for a while and when you do feed them, they'll eat anything you throw at them. Works most of the time.

 

[Valerie]

Would you recommend the starve method with a 9 week old bd? She has stopped eating anything but will jump after a wax worm.
Yesterday, I fed her some baby chicken food and she lapped that right up but I don't want to get her started on the hand feeding.

Sorry to hijack this thread. I just had to ask.

 

[r35gtr]

im doing that right now. just make sure they have a water source. Water is really important.

 

[Valerie]

I am not sure I can do that. The thing that worries me is that I know first hand how a bd can hold out and be stubborn as far as food goes. My former bd dragon held out for ever. I realize adults can go without food for a bit but I worry a baby may not be able to go very long without food.
My last bd was very picky about her foods and that being the case she was a very small adult. I think the lack of food stunted her growth. I am hoping that this bd will not be affected like my last one. I also wonder if her lack of nutrition played a part in her illnesses.
I woulkd love to have the guts to hold out and see if she will give in but at the same time I know how they can be and she will most likely win, which in turn I will be worrying more.
I would love to hear about your story and how it works out for you. How long are you going to hold out? any luck yet?

 

[r35gtr]

I usually have to wait 4-6 days before they fully eat the food i give them when they're in the feeding bin. During this time, the only thing they would take is a couple sprays of water and some occasional baths.

They would eat the roaches then go on this 4-6 days of fasting then eat again. Don't get me wrong though, even though i "starve" them, i still leave food in the cage or sometimes try to feed them in case they would eat. So far, the results are good. They are getting use to eating roaches but sometime they eat less, like 2-5, but that's better than not eating at all.

It seems like they only eat it when they are hungry and when their not, they just sit there, basking and drinking the water when i mist them.

 

[Valerie]

How old are they? Have you tried other feeders? Do you worry about them not getting the proper nutrition?

 

[r35gtr]

i got them april 20, but they hatched a week before. So that makes it a month old.

I do worry about proper nutrition and the growth stunt, but at the same time i hate having a picky eater.

They do eat the food i give them, but it's just not as much as i would like. And what i like is for them to eat like a pig. I have read on here that hatchlings are suppose to eat a huge amount, but mine aren't.

One thing that worries me is when they do eat a big amount, they seem bloated/puffy in the stomach area. I've had an adult before and it wasn't like that. The little guys do poo everyday because their cage has poop everywhere.

 

[Valerie]

I am in the same boat. My little one does not eat half as much as I wished she would. I think it is normal for them yto look bloated after eating a bunch.
I don't like having a picky eater either but I don't know if holding out will change thier minds. I would like to know how it works out for you and if they decide to eat the roaches you are wanting them to eat.
Valerie

 

[r35gtr]

One thing that works for me is i use a a small bin that can fit in my 40 gal tank, but big enough for the roaches and the bd to hunt/pounce. I put it beside the basking spot so they get some heat while they eat. Leave the BD inside the bin and wait for like 30 mins or more. When you come back, most of it or all of it will be gone. It's safe to leave them in there for an hour or so because they are still getting some heat. I've done that before and i didn't really worry because the temp. of the floor is around 95F.

I noticed too that when i watch my BD eat, they get distracted from eating. So i just do something else while i wait.

Well you're not really starving them if all you do is put one kind of food. Either way, they will get hungry and if the food they like is not there, they will go for that food you left for them. Now this might not be true for everybody but pay attention to the amount of food you give them and the amount left when you come back for it. they will eat very little at first, but give it time and they'll eat more.

If you want i can post a pic of what i do or how its set up when its their meal time.

 

[Valerie]

I would love a picture of how you do that.

 

[r35gtr]

i'll be posting a pic today. Sorry for the late reply, they haven't been eating except today.

 

[ButterflyGirl89]

This is exactly how my dragon Daenarys was when I was giving her a choice of superworms or dubia. She would still get her salad every day (she actually is pretty good about eating that. Right now her favorites are turnip greens)
But I'd try to feed her a couple dubia and she *might* eat 1. all day. 3 a week at most. If I gave her superworms though she'd eat all of those and then keep attacking the bottom of the bowl when they were gone (I fed supers in a small porcelain dish). Anyway eventually her interest in supers slowed down more and more until pretty much all she would eat was her salad. Eventually I ran out of supers and stopped offering them but kept offering her salad and one day she finally started eating up the dubias I'd offer her at a good rate, as well.
She's an 18" female and is currently eating around 3 adult female dubia at least every other day in addition to her salad. She did lose some weight when she was in her super picky salad-only phase, but now she's putting it back on very well. So don't give up! It took Danny so long that I was getting frustrated enough to think about selling the whole colony. Very glad I didn't! I think beardies just go through phases.

Also, what helps me is that I've kept to a similar way of feeding her since she was a baby. I have an old fluker's cricket food jar that I use as my duster, and once I've shaken up the insects I put the whole jar inside the tank and tilt it sideways near the floor next to her so that she can watch buggies crawl out and grab em as soon as they do. Sometimes she'll even stick her head inside to grab one. I did this for every feeding as she went through tiny crickets to huge ones and now I put one dubia into the jar at a time and do the same thing.