Baby Beardie that wont eat bugs, what to do?

[Spikeshuman]

So I adopted a roughly two month old baby beardie with three crunchy black legs that didn't work at all. He had to scoot himself along with just his left arm. He couldnt chase bugs, he was begining to get weak from lack of nutrition. I syringe fed him reptiboost and soaked him frequently. He regained his strength and after a month of soaking ever other day his legs began to peel. What I first thought was probably fungus, ended up being three layers of stuck shed. All three layers of shed came off in a few days once he started peeling. His legs were so thin from the constriction that they still did not work at first.. but about three months into my care he began to actually walk again. All this time he was fed with reptiboost with the occasional chicken and mixed veggie baby food thrown in as a treat. So here begins my problem. As soon as he was able to move around again I tried introducing crickets again. He is terrified of crickets. No problem.. I bought phoenix worms. He stares at them like they are little green aliens. I have tried everything I can think of. We are now around 7 months after I brought him home. This little guy refuses to eat any sort of bug. He will tear up veggies like no ones business.. and still loves baby food.. or reptiboost.. anything in a syringe.. but will not touch a bug. Is this ok for him? Is there something else I can be feeding him thats better for him? Hes also significantly smaller than my female was at the same age. I am not sure if it was because of the rough start in life.. or the fact that he does not eat bugs. Probably a mixture of both. Any thoughts, suggestions are welcome.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm so glad to hear you have been able to get him healed even to this point. That's a major accomplishment! I have a similar problem with my rescue, but he doesn't go after solid veggies either. At 7 months and lots of healing to go, I wouldn't deprive him of the protein. I'd keep going with the reptiboost or some carnivore care if you can get it. I would also try some additional variety. Maybe a dubia roach or a silk worm? If he tears into the salads, I'd also try letting the worms crawl around the salad so he starts to associate them with a known food. He will obviously need to be weaned off the syringe at some point, but I would do this carefully due to his young age.

 

[Spikeshuman]

Someone suggested to me today.. the freeze dried crickets.. so I thought I would give that a try. I have some on hand.. as a treat for my uromastyx like once a month. I know I'm a bad mommy and he shouldn't have any at all.. but he loves crunchy things so much.. so I let him have two whenever I have upset him by cleaning his house. Seeing as crickets terrify him.. I am going to go ahead and assume dubias would probably terrify him as well. I have yet to try super worms because even though hes seven months old he is well under the 16+ inches he should be to even attempt a super worm. Anything that moves faster than a slow wiggle just sends him running like a little girl. I mostly was looking for a protien source other than chicken baby food and reptiboost. I have tried sneaking worms into his salad.. and hes great at picking around them. Its so funny cause my other baby is great at picking all the worms out of her salad and leaving the veggies. Could they be more opposite?
Here are some pics I took of him last week.

 

[Taterbug]

What a cute little thing! Have you tried immobilized or pre-killed crickets? Or (gross as it sounds) smooshed up crickets?

 

[Spikeshuman]

I also thought to myself today.. what if I put the crickets to sleep in the freezer for a few minutes. When I get home tonight I will try these things and let you know how it goes!

 

[Luv4animalz]

I was going to suggest pre-killed circkets as well. My lil guy is quite lazy and likes my to actually feed them to him with plastic feeding tongs so they're not moving around. Let us know how it goes!! He's very adorable and looks healthy!

 

[Spikeshuman]

So, I killed and hand fed Pringles (that's his name) three crickets last night before he realized what was going on. Wasn't great but it was a start. He still guzzled down his baby food tonight. I will keep trying the bugs. Does anyone know.. is chicken a bad for of protein for them? Seems to me like it's probably not the most suitable. As for him seeming healthy.. he is. He looks like a super healthy little baby until you take into account that he's about 8 months old.

My daughter named him pringles because when we rescued him he was about 3 inches, pale yellow, and crunchy. Poor baby.

 

[Taterbug]

So, I killed and hand fed Pringles (that's his name) three crickets last night before he realized what was going on. Wasn't great but it was a start. He still guzzled down his baby food tonight. I will keep trying the bugs. Does anyone know.. is chicken a bad for of protein for them? Seems to me like it's probably not the most suitable. As for him seeming healthy.. he is. He looks like a super healthy little baby until you take into account that he's about 8 months old.

My daughter named him pringles because when we rescued him he was about 3 inches, pale yellow, and crunchy. Poor baby.

I love the name I wonder why he doesn't like the crickets. My qualm with baby food is that it's not really nutritionally complete or balanced and that adding vitamins/calcium can get tricky, (imo a pinch isn't really balancing it properly) Have you considered a recovery food like Carnivore/Critical Care? It doesn't help get you out of the syringe feeding though.

Also, another thought - it's not really suitable as the only protien, but as far as solid protien goes Pepper love scrambled egg. (Microwave with no butter/oil)