beardie has seemed to lose interest in crickets

[angeldore]

Hi, I am new here, but I was reading alot of your suggestions, and found them helpful, so i thought I'd join in. 1...My son's beardie is about 5 months old, loves her veggies, and was eating crickets like crazy, like 20-30 at on sitting, (baby crickets), I have now gone to adult crickets, and she would eat about 8-12 at each time (2x a day), plus she gets her salad everyday, which she loves, thank god! My concern is this. for the last 2 days, she has only eaten like 3-4 crickets at a time, only 3 this morning. Should I be concerned? My son doesn't want to do any other thing but crickets, but I keep seeing that people are feeding them roaches and meal worms too, but he doesn't want to for fear of impaction. She live with carpet in her terrarium, so no impaction could be the issue. 2..she doesn't do much but sit on her pearch under her heat lamp, is she just lazy? Or should that be a cause of concern? 3rd.....she doesn't poop everyday. I read about putting olive oil in their salad, so i will try that. Gave her a bath yesterday, and she pooped in there, for the second time that day, so that was good, except for the fact that the first poop was REALLY runny and smelly. It's never been that way. Should i change her salad mixture from time to time? And convince my son that protein other than crickets are safe and important for her to eat? HELP! I'm worried, cuz I'm a worry wart. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

[CooperDragon]

Do you see signs of a shed? That can cause their appetite to decrease temporarily. They can also get bored with a single feeder. It's good to offer a variety of both salad and bugs from a nutritional standpoint. Crickets are fine as a staple. Roaches are also a good staple. I like to offer silk worms and black solider fly larvae as well. They are a healthy treat and are soft/easy to digest so pose little impaction risk. I would also rotate salad items. Just go with what looks fresh at the store each week and reference this list for some general guidance. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

 

[BeardedDragon27]

You should always try to mix up what they eat. Just like humans, they can't keep eating the same thing over and over for 2 reasons. 1, they'll get bored, and 2, it can make them sick. As for the crickets, she could just be full. Is it close to winter or fall where you are? The seasons affect their appetites. They usually go through a period where they start to slow down eating, it's called brumination. It's similar to hibernation. It usually happens when they weather gets colder.

 

[LittleBeardies]

This happened to me once. I completely PANICKED, thinking Big Boy was sick, when he got bored of his salad/mealworm diet. A few days later I gave him crickets and he gobbled em up. So I figured, "hey, maybe beardies get bored of the same food over and over again, too,"
I was very much correct, as I would get bored if I had to eat something over and over again. Its like eating pizza and lettuce every day. Not fun.

 

[kingofnobbys]

This happened to me once. I completely PANICKED, thinking Big Boy was sick, when he got bored of his salad/mealworm diet. A few days later I gave him crickets and he gobbled em up. So I figured, "hey, maybe beardies get bored of the same food over and over again, too,"
I was very much correct, as I would get bored if I had to eat something over and over again. Its like eating pizza and lettuce every day. Not fun.

he was doing the right thing - turning his nose up at mealworms - they are a terrible choice for your young beardie's staple feeder insect .... who ever told you they were a good feeder insect for a beardie (of any age) told you BS.