Anyone know...How long does "Spring Fever" last in males

[Leeann830]

Hi, I was told my 8-9month old beardie is possibly going through "spring Fever". The symptoms are on spot on with him, glass dancing, head bobbing, wrecking his tank trying to get out, ect.. so I believe thats the problem. But, how long does it last?? its been about 3 weeks now maybe 4, he has not eaten any crickets, which concerns me. He will have a maybe 2 bites of his greens but nothing else, no carrots, squash, or any fruits at all. What he WILL eat though is..superworms! but how many of those should I give him a day?? If anyone out there can answer my questions for me, that would be great! just getting worried. thank you so much!

 

[Lycia]

I'm no expert, I just made a year with my beardie and didn't even know such a thing as 'Spring Fever' existed but now that you mention it Apollo, who is also male was wrecking his tank not too long ago. I'd come home and the plans would be moved aside, food bowl upside down and such and he sometimes did run around his tank and climb the walls and I'd think he wanted to get out and really needed exercise but then he'd just do a few laps around the living room and settle into his usual spot to sleep. However he was coming out of brumation and I know they can get pretty wild sometimes after that. Honestly for months none of his behavior has been typical to me! That's first year parenting for you!

But as for the food thing I don't think you need to limit his food. Beardies won't overeat so you should feed them as much as they'll eat. As long as leafy greens are available and protein let your beard choose. Maybe some of the more experienced owners can weigh in with more/better info.

 

[AHBD]

Lycia's advice + observation are pretty accurate. Only thing I'd be careful of is that dragons can actually over eat superworms and sometimes vomit them back up. They also can become addicted [ sounds like your boy is ] to supers. If he's pretty big you can give him 5-7 at a time, but not much more than that. Once he's an adult, you can give him do some " tough love" by with holding the supers if he's still snubbing other insects, and keep offering crickets. You can also try dubias, silk worms and hornworms [ and greens of course ]

 

[Leeann830]

thank you very much. i have been offering him crickets still everyday, when i see him go for his greens every morning, i'll drop about 5 in there, he just stares at them and lets them climb on him, he has absolutely no appetite for them. But if i hold a super worm in front of him he goes right for it. I've only been offering superworms because he's not eating crickets. Crickets were always his staple protein. I would only buy super worms once in a while and feed them to him as treats. So, right now give him around 4 or 5, twice a day. should i limit it to only once a day? I don't want him to think thats all he's going to eat from now on. he's still very active glass dancing, and running around his tank, we take him out everyday and he runs around the whole house bobbing his head like crazy, (looking for that female,lol) poops are normal, not as big as normal, but considering he's not eating 25 crickets a day like he used to. still wondering....anyone know how long this spring fever lasts??