Baby Beardie bit other Beardie's Tail???

[KittysuneVGK]

Rescued a baby beardie a while ago, for more info these will help:
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=208022
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=210118

Basically she's (about) 7 months old, scared of being touched, attacks and eats things that move even in the wind, and a day ago she bit my other older bearded dragon's tail. They aren't in the same cage but they walk outside together, and that's almost the only time they're ever near one another. It was all fine up till now, she just usually climbed on him or just sat next to him all the time, and my other Beardie (male) is always very, very calm around her, even after she bit his tail! Well his tail is fine, but the main problem is that she... still keeps going after it. Like unfinished food. She goes after it exactly like she's hunting mealworms or something, and his tail kind of looks like one. Every time I look away she just goes over to his tail and I've had to stop her once more so far. At first I thought it was an honest accident because she's still little, but now it's obviously not an accident. The thing is, she even tried to go for one of his fingers too earlier today.

Is there any way to get her to stop going after him? I already only let them out under 100% supervision, and never leave them alone together now because I'm a bit scared of what might happen. I'm guessing it might have something to do with the fact that I'm feeding her mealworms, so maybe stop giving her as many mealworms? She eats them until she's absolutely full, but 5 minutes later she's going after something else. She had a bad owner before and she never really had enough food, so could it be that maybe she's kinda thinking she doesn't have enough food??? Although there's salad everywhere?? I don't even know. Any help is appreciated, thank you.

 

[Taterbug]

You'll probably not be able to have them out together, or need keep her on a leash so she can't get to the other dragon.

How much is she eating and how often? Crickets, roaches, silkworms or black soldier fly larvae will probably be better food options than the mealworms.

 

[KittysuneVGK]

She eats every day outside and inside, meaning I feed her mealworms outside and in her cage there are always some fresh greens she eats sometimes. She eats basically until she's full, there's no food shortage, that's for sure! Mealworms are all I have in terms of live food/bugs, and the rest is all greens at the moment.

The store I have nearby doesn't have a very large selection for bugs/insects but I'll look in other places as well, thank you.

 

[Brezzy99]

I agree with Taterbug. It's unlikely you will be able to have them out together without this happening again. It's good that there wasn't a serious injury to your male.

 

[KarenInCA]

Have you considered purchasing online, or starting a dubia colony? I ordered my dubia online and keep them in a tub that is not see thru, since they like it in the dark. Some people put a hole in the middle of the lid and tape screen around it, for ventilation. But since they don't fly out (or at least mine have not), I just keep the lid slid over to the side about 6 inches for ventilation. I have about 7 egg crates in there for them to climb on, and water crystals in a shallow dish for them to drink, and small kibble dog food and some chicken scratch. They have all just started to turn into adults, and hopefully will start breeding soon. Very easy maintenance, and once the colony is established, you don't have to buy anything but their feed/crystals, which they don't go through very fast. I ordered the first batch of them, then ordered a second batch that I use as feeders now, till the other ones start to produce babies. I keep the second batch in a separate, smaller container with egg crates that are cut in half. REALLY low maintenance. To get them to breed, you simply have to have some source of heat to keep them warm on the side of the egg crates. It will take about 6 months to establish a colony, and Im about half way there, but so far, so good... You can also look online, on your local craigslist for dubia or even an established colony. That's cheaper than going to an online site. And some people get so many dubia after their colony are established they find a need to get rid of them, because their dragons can't keep up with their breeding more.

But even without dubia, you might want to consider crickets over mill worms, simply because they are easier on the digestive system, and more nutritious than mill worms for them. Most local pet stores have crickets for sale. You will have to feed the crickets though, and they make noise, and can get stinky when they start to die, etc. So, dubia are a much better way to go than crickets, IMO.

You can also order

 

[KittysuneVGK]

Quite honestly this is the first time someone mentioned dubia to me so I'll take a look at that. I can get crickets so I'll try that 100% in the meantime. Thanks for suggesting that.

By the way @KarenInCA it looks like maybe your post was cut off at the end or something? Not sure.

 

[KarenInCA]

Quite honestly this is the first time someone mentioned dubia to me so I'll take a look at that. I can get crickets so I'll try that 100% in the meantime. Thanks for suggesting that.

By the way @KarenInCA it looks like maybe your post was cut off at the end or something? Not sure.

haha The fill-in-the-blank post!

I (think) I was going to suggest ordering horn worms, or butter worms online. Or you can also try to find them locally. But, unless you have a reptile shop near by, ordering them is the only way to get them usually.

 

[KarenInCA]

I learned how to create my own dubia colony by watching YouTube videos. That really helped because they show you step by step how to set them up...BTW, you don't need to sort them out and clean the tub out like some of them show and advise, the poop does not smell, and the babies like to hide in it after they're born, so you actually want the debris and litter to stack up enough to cover one side of the bottom of the tub. After you have a little bit of knowledge of how to set it up, people here are great in helping you figure it all out.

 

[KittysuneVGK]

@KarenInCA -Alrighty then I'll take a look at all of those. Not sure if I can find them in stores nearby but maybe online I will. Are there any trustworthy sites you know for these bugs?

 

[Brezzy99]

There are a few people on this site that sell dubia. If you look under the
FOR SALE link you can find the sellers and some great deals.

 

[KittysuneVGK]

Alrighty then, thank you!

 

[Brezzy99]

The plus side to dubia is they don't smell or jump out! Dubias can be put in a bowl for easy feeding so you don't have them trying to hide everywhere. I feed my dubia the same veggies I feed my dragons. Most beardies can't resist them. I ordered my dubia from premiumcrickets.com. They always shipped a good amount over what I ordered.

 

[KittysuneVGK]

The only issue I have with many of the bug suggestions is that my mom is completely terrified of them all! So I can't really get anything major like the dubias or some of the fly larvae, but some of the worms I can manage and she's alright with them too. So for now we will try crickets.

 

[Brezzy99]

The dubia aren't creepy when they are small. The adult males are creepy. If your mom is set against dubia you could try phoenix worms. The phoenix worms are a really good feeder.

 

[KittysuneVGK]

Yeah all I had to do was show her a few photos of phoenix worms to get a single word:

"No."

I think she's just against the bugs in general! No worries though, she can get used to them. I just need to explain a bit more, that's all!