Baby beardie will only eat every other day???

[hazzaram]

I've been having a lot of trouble getting my baby beardie to eat. I've had her a month now and I've had nothing but problems. It's like she doesn't want to eat and it's driving me crazy. I am so frustrated with this whole situation. Don't get me wrong, I love Momo to death but I wish she would eat for me!

The breeder said she was eating like crazy for him but I've yet to experience it. He was feeding her 3/8 size crickets so that's what I got her, but she won't eat more than 6-8 per day, and only once a day because that's how the breeder fed her. For the life of me, I can't get her to eat more than once per day.

I went back to the breeder and he suggested getting her mealworms since he fed those to her, too. So I did, even though I know they're not the best for her. I just wanted her to eat. The first time I tried feeding them to her, she went crazy. I was so excited to see her eating that I accidentally gave her too many and she ended up getting sick. The next day she wouldn't eat anything. The next day I only gave her 6 small worms and she didn't get sick. She gobbled them up happily. Today she refused to eat again. Crickets and worms.

Salad is no better. She won't touch it. I did get her to eat a few small pieces of fresh plum yesterday and that's the first time she's ever eaten something from a salad. I've tried all the daily greens from the beautiful dragon site and she won't eat any of it. I know babies are bad at eating salad but I still offer it every day.

She also won't drink. I give her a bath every day and let her soak for 10 minutes but she never drinks in there or from her bowl.

As far as specs, because people are going to ask: She's in a 20 gallon tank with a 150w heat bulb that I keep on a dimmer. Her basking temp is 104-105. She also has a reptisun 10.0 ho uvb bulb that I keep over her basking spot, with nothing blocking it. She has lots of wood climbs and a hammock that she loves.

She seems pretty normal except for her eating habits. I just don't know what to do

 

[albithebeardie]

I've been having a lot of trouble getting my baby beardie to eat. I've had her a month now and I've had nothing but problems. It's like she doesn't want to eat and it's driving me crazy. I am so frustrated with this whole situation. Don't get me wrong, I love Momo to death but I wish she would eat for me!

The breeder said she was eating like crazy for him but I've yet to experience it. He was feeding her 3/8 size crickets so that's what I got her, but she won't eat more than 6-8 per day, and only once a day because that's how the breeder fed her. For the life of me, I can't get her to eat more than once per day.

I went back to the breeder and he suggested getting her mealworms since he fed those to her, too. So I did, even though I know they're not the best for her. I just wanted her to eat. The first time I tried feeding them to her, she went crazy. I was so excited to see her eating that I accidentally gave her too many and she ended up getting sick. The next day she wouldn't eat anything. The next day I only gave her 6 small worms and she didn't get sick. She gobbled them up happily. Today she refused to eat again. Crickets and worms.

Salad is no better. She won't touch it. I did get her to eat a few small pieces of fresh plum yesterday and that's the first time she's ever eaten something from a salad. I've tried all the daily greens from the beautiful dragon site and she won't eat any of it. I know babies are bad at eating salad but I still offer it every day.

She also won't drink. I give her a bath every day and let her soak for 10 minutes but she never drinks in there or from her bowl.

As far as specs, because people are going to ask: She's in a 20 gallon tank with a 150w heat bulb that I keep on a dimmer. Her basking temp is 104-105. She also has a reptisun 10.0 ho uvb bulb that I keep over her basking spot, with nothing blocking it. She has lots of wood climbs and a hammock that she loves.

She seems pretty normal except for her eating habits. I just don't know what to do

Do you mean the long tube bulb or a compact? I know that they can have appetite issues with th compact. Also I would skip the mealies, I find they really bung up my baby and once I even found that she had pooped an entire undigested worm which freaked me out so I would stick to crickets and softer bodied feeders. I was also going to ask how old is she ? What are her pooping habits like? also are you dusting all her feeders with calcium or a multi vitamin? Also when you say she got sick in what sense do you mean? I definitely feel for you though because I have also been going through some eating issues lately.

 

[hazzaram]

Do you mean the long tube bulb or a compact? I know that they can have appetite issues with th compact. Also I would skip the mealies, I find they really bung up my baby and once I even found that she had pooped an entire undigested worm which freaked me out so I would stick to crickets and softer bodied feeders. I was also going to ask how old is she ? What are her pooping habits like? also are you dusting all her feeders with calcium or a multi vitamin? Also when you say she got sick in what sense do you mean? I definitely feel for you though because I have also been going through some eating issues lately.

It's the long tube type. I read they were better on the guides here.

With feeders I'm really limited here in Canada. Roaches are illegal all across the country and Reptiworms are super expensive. To get 2 containers of 150 worms it'd cost me $95 with shipping and I just can't afford that. So I only have crickets and mealworms, really, and she's not good at eating either of them.

She hatched at the beginning of July so she's not that old. And as far as I can tell, she hasn't grown at all since I've gotten her.

And yes, all food is dusted. She gets both. Calcium every day and the multivitamin only once or twice a week.

I don't think she puked. It looked like poop to me. There were bits of poop with undigested worms all over the tank.

It's super frustrating. I don't think she can continue on like this...

 

[albithebeardie]

t's the long tube type. I read they were better on the guides here.

With feeders I'm really limited here in Canada. Roaches are illegal all across the country and Reptiworms are super expensive. To get 2 containers of 150 worms it'd cost me $95 with shipping and I just can't afford that. So I only have crickets and mealworms, really, and she's not good at eating either of them.

She hatched at the beginning of July so she's not that old. And as far as I can tell, she hasn't grown at all since I've gotten her.

And yes, all food is dusted. She gets both. Calcium every day and the multivitamin only once or twice a week.

I don't think she puked. It looked like poop to me. There were bits of poop with undigested worms all over the tank.

It's super frustrating. I don't think she can continue on like this...

I also live in Canada and I feel your struggle of not being able to buy roaches, where in Canada are you located? I would suggest wax worms, or baby supers if you can find them also since babies aren't the best hunters I know it's sorta gross but you can pull off the cricket's back legs so they are easier to catch. If you really don't think she has grown I would suggest taking her to a reptile vet because it sounds like your set up is great. You could also look into alternative feeding options like carnicare or baby food. There are more experienced posters who could shed more light on those kinds of things.
Hope I am a little helpful :?

 

[hazzaram]

I also live in Canada and I feel your struggle of not being able to buy roaches, where in Canada are you located? I would suggest wax worms, or baby supers if you can find them also since babies aren't the best hunters I know it's sorta gross but you can pull off the cricket's back legs so they are easier to catch. If you really don't think she has grown I would suggest taking her to a reptile vet because it sounds like your set up is great. You could also look into alternative feeding options like carnicare or baby food. There are more experienced posters who could shed more light on those kinds of things.
Hope I am a little helpful

I'm in Ontario. I'll probably have the same issue with the other feeders because of shipping. I have a rat supplier for my snakes and he does insect feeders but he's sorta expensive with them. His supers only come in one size and his wax worms are $23 for 250. Maybe that's not expensive? I don't know. I'll look into the other two.

Are wax worms and supers healthier? Are supers as hard for them to digest?

I've tried baby food and she will have nothing to do with it. She gave it one lick and refused it ever since.

I might have to look into a vet. Sigh.

 

[onceblue]

If you've had her a month, it's not a bad idea to take her to the vet and get a fecal done, just to make sure everything is okay. It's generally recommended after they've had a month or so of settling in. Young beardies commonly have parasites and if she has them, it would affect her appetite.

The pulling off the crickets legs is a good tip, some baby beardies get stressed by the crickets jumping around everywhere. I wouldn't use waxworms as a staple, though, they are very fattening (think of them like beardie candy) and will probably cause more eating issues if you feed too many, because some beardies will begin to refuse other food if they expect waxworms. Only use them sparingly as treats.

If the only available supers are the big ones, you don't want to feed those either, not until your beardie is at least 16" long, because they can cause impaction in young beardies.

Unfortunately, I don't have much advice beyond that as I am in the U.S. but if you're able to get calciworms (black soldier fly larve), I'd recommend those as an alternative staple.

 

[hazzaram]

If you've had her a month, it's not a bad idea to take her to the vet and get a fecal done, just to make sure everything is okay. It's generally recommended after they've had a month or so of settling in. Young beardies commonly have parasites and if she has them, it would affect her appetite.

The pulling off the crickets legs is a good tip, some baby beardies get stressed by the crickets jumping around everywhere. I wouldn't use waxworms as a staple, though, they are very fattening (think of them like beardie candy) and will probably cause more eating issues if you feed too many, because some beardies will begin to refuse other food if they expect waxworms. Only use them sparingly as treats.

If the only available supers are the big ones, you don't want to feed those either, not until your beardie is at least 16" long, because they can cause impaction in young beardies.

Unfortunately, I don't have much advice beyond that as I am in the U.S. but if you're able to get calciworms (black soldier fly larve), I'd recommend those as an alternative staple.

I'll look around and see if there's a reptile vet nearby. I live in a pretty small town and I don't think there's one here. I also don't drive, so it might take me a little bit to get her to a vet. I'll have to find a vet and then a ride etc. Yay.

Honestly? There's no way I can pull the legs off crickets. I can't even touch them. I can't even pick them up with feeding tongs because they wiggle and squirm and it freaks me out. I HATE crickets.

I'll contact my supplier and see if they have small supers. If they do, that's a good option?

I'll see if I can get the reptiworms. They're just so darn expensive. $90 for 300 of them is a lot!!

Thanks for the advice.

 

[onceblue]

I know reptile vets are hard to find. I don't live in a small town and I still had to drive an hour away to get to mine. But finding a good reptile vet is definitely worth it — that way you'll know where to go if you ever have an emergency.

I hate crickets too so I sympathize. It's really a shame you can't get dubia.

If you can get the micro supers, your beardie should be able to eat them from what I've read (I've never purchased them or fed them myself so I don't have personal experience) and they aren't a risk for impaction the way that full-sized supers are, but in my opinion, you'll still want to feed something else, whether you keep trying with the crickets or you buy some reptiworms and mix it up. The reason is because micro superworms don't have a high protein content as is recommended for growing beardies. Babies and juvies grow so fast that they need as much protein as they can get.

Plenty of people use regular superworms as a staple for their adult beardies, though, so once yours is older you could serve those as your main insect.

 

[RoKa]

Oh I totally feel you When we got our beardie he'd refuse to eat for 2 weeks straight!
I ended up force-feeding him or tricking him into it to get him to eat SOMETHING.
Even now he's not a big eater, but he's grown to about 20 inches by now so I'm less worried about it.

Waxworms aren't a staple, they're too high in fat, but getting some may be good to fatten up your guy. Plus, waxworms are like drugs for beardies, they go crazy for them (ours would actually repeatedly run 5 feet to get them but he wouldn't chase crickets at all!)
Waxworms have no danger of impaction cause they're soft, so that's something.

I don't suggest supers at all, especially the big ones. That'd be too dangerous for your little bugger.

Try to get babyfood (the less ingredients, the better!). I'd usually use Squash and mix a little calcium in it for ours at the beginning. Others have suggested Chicken baby food, so maybe that could work too?

Do you have a chance to get Hornworms in your area? the smaller ones should be fine for your beardie and may also enhance his appetite. Ours also loves Hornworms.

If feeders are super expensive maybe try to ask the sellers to give you a small quantity (tell them you aren't sure if your beardie would eat them and you don't wanna buy a massive amount of feeders just for them to go to waste, hopefully some sellers will have a heart) and try to breed them yourselves.

There's a post in this forum here that explains how to fatten up phoenix worms (Black Soldier Fly Larvae/BSFL) cause the bought ones are typically small. Maybe you can get a small amount, fatten them up and offer them to your beardie.

I'm sadly not too familiar with things available in Canada ...

Also, does your beardie seem stressed? Does it have stress marks most of the time? How do you feed it?
To make clean up easier we decided to use a 10 gallon Aquarium (with Repticarpet) as 'feeding tank', there was no decorations in it and we'd drop some dusted crickets in there along with the beardie (not too many to not freak him out) and then we'd leave him alone for 10-20 min and he'd hunt them by himself. If you try to hand-feed or watch him and get all frustrated your beardie might not feel too comfortable with it.

23$ for 250 waxies isn't too bad in my opinion, case given there's no shipping on top of that. Could be cheaper, but yeah. You could also look into breeding them, with a little heat and the right food it seems rather easy to breed them, may be worth a try for you to terminate the cost for them in the future.

 

[hazzaram]

Oh I totally feel you When we got our beardie he'd refuse to eat for 2 weeks straight!
I ended up force-feeding him or tricking him into it to get him to eat SOMETHING.
Even now he's not a big eater, but he's grown to about 20 inches by now so I'm less worried about it.

Waxworms aren't a staple, they're too high in fat, but getting some may be good to fatten up your guy. Plus, waxworms are like drugs for beardies, they go crazy for them (ours would actually repeatedly run 5 feet to get them but he wouldn't chase crickets at all!)
Waxworms have no danger of impaction cause they're soft, so that's something.

I don't suggest supers at all, especially the big ones. That'd be too dangerous for your little bugger.

Try to get babyfood (the less ingredients, the better!). I'd usually use Squash and mix a little calcium in it for ours at the beginning. Others have suggested Chicken baby food, so maybe that could work too?

Do you have a chance to get Hornworms in your area? the smaller ones should be fine for your beardie and may also enhance his appetite. Ours also loves Hornworms.

If feeders are super expensive maybe try to ask the sellers to give you a small quantity (tell them you aren't sure if your beardie would eat them and you don't wanna buy a massive amount of feeders just for them to go to waste, hopefully some sellers will have a heart) and try to breed them yourselves.

There's a post in this forum here that explains how to fatten up phoenix worms (Black Soldier Fly Larvae/BSFL) cause the bought ones are typically small. Maybe you can get a small amount, fatten them up and offer them to your beardie.

I'm sadly not too familiar with things available in Canada ...

Also, does your beardie seem stressed? Does it have stress marks most of the time? How do you feed it?
To make clean up easier we decided to use a 10 gallon Aquarium (with Repticarpet) as 'feeding tank', there was no decorations in it and we'd drop some dusted crickets in there along with the beardie (not too many to not freak him out) and then we'd leave him alone for 10-20 min and he'd hunt them by himself. If you try to hand-feed or watch him and get all frustrated your beardie might not feel too comfortable with it.

23$ for 250 waxies isn't too bad in my opinion, case given there's no shipping on top of that. Could be cheaper, but yeah. You could also look into breeding them, with a little heat and the right food it seems rather easy to breed them, may be worth a try for you to terminate the cost for them in the future.

I've tried feeding her squash baby food. She'll take a few licks but that's about it. There are hornworms at my local petstore but they're huge. I've never seen small ones there before.

I had to look up what stress marks are, but yes, she does have them. I'm not sure why or what I can do to help her relax? She seemed a little bothered because my cats were always watching her so I blocked off the sides of her tank with white paper so she can't see them and they can't see her anymore. I thought that would help her relax...

When I feed her the mealworms, I usually just drop some on her little plate in there. Crickets, I feed in a separate container but in her enclosure because I can't handle chasing them around and catching them. Maybe I'll try and get a 10 gallon tank to feed her in.

 

[RoKa]

Oh I totally feel you When we got our beardie he'd refuse to eat for 2 weeks straight!
I ended up force-feeding him or tricking him into it to get him to eat SOMETHING.
Even now he's not a big eater, but he's grown to about 20 inches by now so I'm less worried about it.

Waxworms aren't a staple, they're too high in fat, but getting some may be good to fatten up your guy. Plus, waxworms are like drugs for beardies, they go crazy for them (ours would actually repeatedly run 5 feet to get them but he wouldn't chase crickets at all!)
Waxworms have no danger of impaction cause they're soft, so that's something.

I don't suggest supers at all, especially the big ones. That'd be too dangerous for your little bugger.

Try to get babyfood (the less ingredients, the better!). I'd usually use Squash and mix a little calcium in it for ours at the beginning. Others have suggested Chicken baby food, so maybe that could work too?

Do you have a chance to get Hornworms in your area? the smaller ones should be fine for your beardie and may also enhance his appetite. Ours also loves Hornworms.

If feeders are super expensive maybe try to ask the sellers to give you a small quantity (tell them you aren't sure if your beardie would eat them and you don't wanna buy a massive amount of feeders just for them to go to waste, hopefully some sellers will have a heart) and try to breed them yourselves.

There's a post in this forum here that explains how to fatten up phoenix worms (Black Soldier Fly Larvae/BSFL) cause the bought ones are typically small. Maybe you can get a small amount, fatten them up and offer them to your beardie.

I'm sadly not too familiar with things available in Canada ...

Also, does your beardie seem stressed? Does it have stress marks most of the time? How do you feed it?
To make clean up easier we decided to use a 10 gallon Aquarium (with Repticarpet) as 'feeding tank', there was no decorations in it and we'd drop some dusted crickets in there along with the beardie (not too many to not freak him out) and then we'd leave him alone for 10-20 min and he'd hunt them by himself. If you try to hand-feed or watch him and get all frustrated your beardie might not feel too comfortable with it.

23$ for 250 waxies isn't too bad in my opinion, case given there's no shipping on top of that. Could be cheaper, but yeah. You could also look into breeding them, with a little heat and the right food it seems rather easy to breed them, may be worth a try for you to terminate the cost for them in the future.

I've tried feeding her squash baby food. She'll take a few licks but that's about it. There are hornworms at my local petstore but they're huge. I've never seen small ones there before.

I had to look up what stress marks are, but yes, she does have them. I'm not sure why or what I can do to help her relax? She seemed a little bothered because my cats were always watching her so I blocked off the sides of her tank with white paper so she can't see them and they can't see her anymore. I thought that would help her relax...

When I feed her the mealworms, I usually just drop some on her little plate in there. Crickets, I feed in a separate container but in her enclosure because I can't handle chasing them around and catching them. Maybe I'll try and get a 10 gallon tank to feed her in.

Hmm do you frequently change things in the enclosure? (take things out or add anything)
Beardies aren't fond of change. First they deal with relocation stress, but if their environment keeps changing they can get stressed from that too. Those stress marks will stay for a while longer most likely until it's fully comfortable in the enclosure and with you, baby beardies tend to display them more readily. Sometimes they also show them when they're cold (at least that's what mine did), that'll stop when they're older. Mine hardly shows stress marks at all anymore, will have to look reallllllll close even if he's cooled down a lot while hanging out outside of the enclosure.

Hornworms start at a few millimeters when they hatch, depending on their age they can range a lot in size. If you're up for it at all you could get the big hornworms and breed them (That's what I'm doing right now, though I currently have about 300 eggs already and no idea what to do with that many :? ), though that takes a while (1-2 weeks to get the guys from the store ready to pupate, a few days to pupate, 3-5 weeks to hatch, 2-3 days to lay eggs, 4-7 to hatch and probably around a week to grow to a reasonable size for your baby. so all in all 6-8 weeks or so until you may have the first ones to feed).
Can you ask the store selling them if they can get them smaller for you from their provider?

Keep in mind that a feeding tank will also be yet another change for your baby so it will take a while until it will eat in there. Once it's used to it it shouldn't be an issue anymore though.

Also possibly try to keep dripping the babyfood on its little snout, chances are it will keep licking in an attempt to clean it.
As long as it's not getting lethargic and eating SOME don't worry TOO much about it. I've went through the same thing with my baby but he grew up nicely eventually

 

[AHBD]

When feeding her crickets, get a jar to dump about 5-6 crix in it along with a small pinch of calcium powder. Shake the crix up until they're dizzy + slow moving, then dump them 2-3 at a time right near her. Most babies will go for the slow, dizzy crix because they aren't dashing around so it's worth a try.

Roka, most pet stores don't sell small hornworms because there aren't many buyers....and they ARE expensive ! Did you go through the moth stage and everything and end up with 300 eggs ? Do you have the chow for them ? That's a big project , kudos to you.

 

[hazzaram]

Hmm do you frequently change things in the enclosure? (take things out or add anything)
Beardies aren't fond of change. First they deal with relocation stress, but if their environment keeps changing they can get stressed from that too. Those stress marks will stay for a while longer most likely until it's fully comfortable in the enclosure and with you, baby beardies tend to display them more readily. Sometimes they also show them when they're cold (at least that's what mine did), that'll stop when they're older. Mine hardly shows stress marks at all anymore, will have to look reallllllll close even if he's cooled down a lot while hanging out outside of the enclosure.

Hornworms start at a few millimeters when they hatch, depending on their age they can range a lot in size. If you're up for it at all you could get the big hornworms and breed them (That's what I'm doing right now, though I currently have about 300 eggs already and no idea what to do with that many :? ), though that takes a while (1-2 weeks to get the guys from the store ready to pupate, a few days to pupate, 3-5 weeks to hatch, 2-3 days to lay eggs, 4-7 to hatch and probably around a week to grow to a reasonable size for your baby. so all in all 6-8 weeks or so until you may have the first ones to feed).
Can you ask the store selling them if they can get them smaller for you from their provider?

Keep in mind that a feeding tank will also be yet another change for your baby so it will take a while until it will eat in there. Once it's used to it it shouldn't be an issue anymore though.

Also possibly try to keep dripping the babyfood on its little snout, chances are it will keep licking in an attempt to clean it.
As long as it's not getting lethargic and eating SOME don't worry TOO much about it. I've went through the same thing with my baby but he grew up nicely eventually

Well, she started off in a 67 gallon tank. I posted on another forum with this problem and the only real suggestion I got was to move her into a smaller tank, so I moved her to the 20 gallon. But I set it up with exactly the same things, hoping to make the move a little easier on her.

I just looked up breeding hornworms and I honestly don't think I could do that! That's a lot of work! Kudos to you for doing it.

I've dried the dripping but it doesn't work. She's just so stubborn. If I drip it onto her snout, she'll just leave it there. I left her for 20 minutes hoping she would lick it off and she never did! The only way I can get her to eat baby food is if I cover the end of a straw in some and stick it in her face. She'll take a few licks of it and then run away.

 

[hazzaram]

When feeding her crickets, get a jar to dump about 5-6 crix in it along with a small pinch of calcium powder. Shake the crix up until they're dizzy + slow moving, then dump them 2-3 at a time right near her. Most babies will go for the slow, dizzy crix because they aren't dashing around so it's worth a try.

Roka, most pet stores don't sell small hornworms because there aren't many buyers....and they ARE expensive ! Did you go through the moth stage and everything and end up with 300 eggs ? Do you have the chow for them ? That's a big project , kudos to you.

I do the same thing, except I use a bag. Momo just sits in the middle of the container and waits for the crickets to crawl in front of her. She won't hunt and if they don't crawl in front of her face, she won't eat them. I've honestly only seen her actively hunt crickets once or twice.

 

[AHBD]

I never take any beardies out to feed them, but I never kept the baby's cages cluttered either. It's easy to feed in an uncluttered cage. Just one large basking stick + the hammock will be fine.

And shake the crix in a jar, not a bag.....in the jar they get semi - knocked out so when you dump them right near the beardie they don't need to be hunted down.