Anyone got tricks to get beardie to eat pellets?

[Za941]

Hi there,

My little girls is just turning 3 months and she's a VERY fussy eater. I finally got her into calci worms and she loves them, however with my new schedule at uni there will be two days where I'm going to be at uni all day. I usually leave her worms in her bowl but she eats them all at once, so I've bought her some pellets because at least whilst I'm away she'll still have something to snack on till I get home but she doesn't touch them. She picks the worms out when I mix them with the pellets. They're Juvi pellets from exoterra and very small. Any tricks I can use to get her interested?

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

I honestly wouldn't blame her for not eating the pellets, their practically junk food for reptiles that barely gives any nutrition.
And half the time reptiles often can't digest them properly like proper food.
Some pelleted foods are good to add on occasion (Like Mazuri diets, I've heard good things about them), but the ones often seen in stores are mostly just junk food for reptiles.

Possibly get someone, a trusted friend or a family member, to help out and refill her bowl.

To even get her to eat any sort of dull colored pellets would be pretty challenging most likely.
Beardies are often attracted to wiggling things and bright colored objects.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Your bearded dragon hatchling is being smart. Silly hooman thinks those horrible pellets are food.

Give the pellets to the crickets or roaches or locusts to eat , they are much better insect food than dragon food.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Hi there,

My little girls is just turning 3 months and she's a VERY fussy eater. I finally got her into calci worms and she loves them, however with my new schedule at uni there will be two days where I'm going to be at uni all day.
>>>> give a good feed of crickets or roaches , first thing in am , even if you have to set the lights and heat to come on at 6am, then leave some calciworms in an escape proof feeder dish ( easy to make - see viewtopic.php?f=75&t=239661&p=1837017#p1837017
to allow her to graise at her leisure during the day , and then give another feed when you get home.
Lights out 2hrs after last feed.

I usually leave her worms in her bowl but she eats them all at once, so I've bought her some pellets because at least whilst I'm away she'll still have something to snack on till I get home but she doesn't touch them. She picks the worms out when I mix them with the pellets. They're Juvi pellets from exoterra and very small. Any tricks I can use to get her interested?

 

[Za941]

I don't blame her, they smell horrid and I'd rather only give her live food. Since she's a baby I just don't want to leave her hungry.

She's gone off crickets. First she loved them and now she'll just sit there even if I leave the room and let them crawl on her, I got scared she'd get bit so I've stopped and I for the life of me can't do roaches, i tried but it's a genuine and valid phobia from bad experiences, not afraid of anything else.
Maybe I'll try locusts are they more filling?

 

[Za941]

Your bearded dragon hatchling is being smart. Silly hooman thinks those horrible pellets are food.

Give the pellets to the crickets or roaches or locusts to eat , they are much better insect food than dragon food.

That is exactly how she looks at me when I try the pellets ???

 

[kingofnobbys]

I don't blame her, they smell horrid and I'd rather only give her live food. Since she's a baby I just don't want to leave her hungry.

She's gone off crickets. First she loved them and now she'll just sit there even if I leave the room and let them crawl on her, I got scared she'd get bit so I've stopped and I for the life of me can't do roaches, i tried but it's a genuine and valid phobia from bad experiences, not afraid of anything else.
Maybe I'll try locusts are they more filling?

Silkworms are a great feeder , slow moving , very soft bodied, wont bite her back , and she can probably handle silkworms as large as 30mm long, 4 - 6 of these in meal is equivalent to 20 -30 BSFL or 8-12 x 1/3 size crickets (she should be big enough to handle 1/4 - 1/3 size crickets now at her age).

When my beardies were about the same age as your girl I was giving a big feed or live crickets as meal #1, then about lunchtime a smaller meal of crickets, and late afternoon I was giving a feed of silkworms (I left up to 8 small (mealworm sized) or 4-6 medium size worms in salad dish on a mulberry leaf and these were in the same dish as the greens and grated veg.


If you offer insects that are too small, reptiles will ignore them , more work catching them than energy they can get from eating them.

 

[Za941]

Hey guys, thanks for all your replies. From what you've told me I realised the reason she might have gone off crickets was because they were too small so I went to the pet shop today and bought her some slightly bigger ones and sure enough she chased after every single one! I've also put her pellets in their pen and the crickets do love them!

I'm going to try the bigger meals of crickets in the morning and then hopefully she'll just be full enough to want graze on her worms throughout the afternoon and then some bigger meals on the evening.

Never knew I could love something so much that I'd go through all this fuss ?

 

[ncc74656]

i use the pellets along with other veg as gut loaders for my roach colony and it seems to work quite well, i figure if its what beardies are meant to eat it must be decent for a roach

 

[kingofnobbys]

i use the pellets along with other veg as gut loaders for my roach colony and it seems to work quite well, i figure if its what beardies are meant to eat it must be decent for a roach

My crickets , superworms and mealworms do love those adult beardie pellets ....