Beardie not eating fruits

[ksl0588]

Hey guys, Im having trouble with my beardie when it comes to feeding him with fruits. I gave him some apples and bananas awhile ago but it seems like he is not interested with eating them. But when I put in the crickets, he runs after them and eats everything I gave him. What can I do to make him eat fruits? Its because I know that fruits give a lot of vitamins that is why I want to add it to his diet. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Also, when it comes to greens, we do not have most of them in our country or it is really hard to find them, or too expensive. Greens such as dandelions, collard greens, mustard greens etc. Are there any other more common greens/vegetables that I can feed my beardie? I live in the Philippines btw

Lastly, when it comes to my crickets, I haven't really decided what to feed them. I just got them yesterday and I gave them some iceberg lettuce for the moment (I know that iceberg lettuce does not have any nutrients that is why I gave them as a temporary meal). What are the common inexpensive fruits/vegetables that I can give them prior to feeding them to my beardie?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Slave2Scarlett]

How old is your beardie? If he/she is young they usually don't jump right on the veggie and fruit train.. They tend to like the live food more and at such a young age those are better for them.. Althought u want to offer them a salad daily.. You can actually buy a multivitamin power much like the calcium powder to dust the crickets in once a week.. Here is a great link to help you figure out what foods are best to feed your beardie.. www.beautifuldragons.com hope this helps!

 

[ziggy23]

I wouldn't worry too much about fruit, they are mostly a treat. Maybe he just doesn't like those 2. My dragons won't go near apples, and only occasionally with eat bananas.

 

[ksl0588]

thanks for the info guys! about dusting the crickets with calcium, what I usually do is to dust around 10 crickets with calcium, then feed them right away to my beardie. is that ok?

 

[Slave2Scarlett]

thanks for the info guys! about dusting the crickets with calcium, what I usually do is to dust around 10 crickets with calcium, then feed them right away to my beardie. is that ok?

Yeah u only need to dust one feeding per day..

 

[ksl0588]

Yeah u only need to dust one feeding per day..

Oh you mean I dust them only once for the entire day? For example if I feed my beardie twice a day, I can dust the first batch of crickets during the first session of feeding around 8am, then the second batch of feeding around 6pm need not require dusting of calcium any more?

 

[Slave2Scarlett]

Yeah u only need to dust one feeding per day..

Oh you mean I dust them only once for the entire day? For example if I feed my beardie twice a day, I can dust the first batch of crickets during the first session of feeding around 8am, then the second batch of feeding around 6pm need not require dusting of calcium any more?

Exactly

 

[ksl0588]

Alright! Thanks alot!

 

[Slave2Scarlett]

No problem

 

[ksl0588]

Oh btw, can i feed my Pinhead crix some dogfood? I think its easier if I feed them dogfood rather than vegetables because I have alot of dogfood at home. What are the good and bad sides of feeding pinheads dogfood?

 

[runningguy]

I have never given crickets dog food since I don't own a dog, but it should be OK I would think. Dogfood is designed to be a complete meal for dogs afterall.

 

[BeardieGrandma]

feed your crickets fishfood, dry oatmeal, pre-mix cricket gutload, vegetables - thinking that whatever the crickets eat the beardie will be eating - go for high protein and nutrition...

Fruits only couple times a week.
Try butternut squash as a staple (everyday veggie) - if you can't get it fresh see if you can get it frozen, dethaw it and cut it into small peices. Look for dark green leafy vegetables, stay away from spinach.

check this site for guidance as well:

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutritionframeset.html

 

[AHBD]

I agree that fruits are not important...it's the green leafy veggies that are full of nutrients. Another tip on feeding the crickets, buy the pellet bearded dragon food and you can feed that to the crickets and the dragon. My dragons don't care much for the beardie pellet food, but if you put a little of it in with the crickets in a shallow lid off a bottle or other container and add water, the crix have food and drink in the same place. Just change it every day so it doesn't spoil. Only a small amount is needed.

 

[ksl0588]

Update:
A while ago, I chopped some broccoli, squash, and cabbage into pieces and mixed them then gave it to my beardie. However, he just looked at it and did not even want to come close to it. But when I threw in some crickets, he went after them right away. It seems like my beardie does not want vegetables as well. He's 3-4 months old and is around 7-8inches long. Is there any way for me to force him to eat the vegetables I give him? Seems like those 3 vegetables (broccoli, squash and cabbage) are the stapples I can give him because those are the ones on the list (http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutritionframeset.html) that I can give him every day.

About the other supplies such as the bearded dragon food (pellets?), cricket quencher and all those reptile related supplies, it is really really hard to find those here in my country. Its either you can't find any, or the ones you can find are quite expensive and are hard to find. That is why the types of vegetables I offer my beardie are limited, because a lot of vegetables in the nutrition list are hard to find or its just too expensive. Though I give my beardie a lot of crickets since its the most important part of his diet.

Regarding my crickets, I noticed that a lot of them die around 2 days after they arrive at my place. When I got the crickets, they had different sizes ranging from 1-3 cm. I gave my beardie the small ones (1-1.5 cm) because he is still young and I follow the "space between the eyes" saying. I put the crickets in their own plastic cage and feed them some vegetables that were sprinkled with water. However, I noticed that after a day, a few crickets died. Then the following day, more crickets were not moving so I guess they're dead also because I keep on moving them all over but they still don't move. Does anyone have any idea why this happens? I am quite because I ordered around 600 pcs. of crickets yesterday which will arrive in a few hours and their sizes range from 1.5-2cm only. I'm worried that they might day in a few days before I could feed them all to my dragon. And another thing I am worried about is that they grow too fast and if this happens, I can't feed them to my beardie anymore and it would be a big waste (Note: I have no plans of breeding crickets because I have no extra time for it, I know its a good option but I can't ).

Hoping for answers to these questions from the experts here, and more good advice. Thank you very much and I wish you all a Happy New Year! Cheers!

 

[AHBD]

Well, let's see what I can think of...do you have turnip, mustard or collard greens in your country ? Some of these might easily be grown in a warm country like yours, maybe see if you can order seeds or if there is by chance a greenhouse that sells the small plants. Dandelions are also good, both the leaves and flowers. Hibiscus flower....some green leaf clover. Do you have mulberry trees ? Beardies will eat the leaves, not the berries. As for getting them to eat greens [ by the way, cabbage is not really good] mix some crippled, struggling crickets in with the greens...sometimes the movement of the insect in the greens will attract them. Another thing you can try is dropping SMALL pieces of greens in the cage like pieces of confetti....mine will run up and eat because they think it's a cricket dropping in, and after a while you can just set it in on a flat plate. Now, to keep your crickets alive, they HAVE to be in a dry container. You put them in a large plastic bin with no lid [ you can only keep the lid on if you cut a large hole in the top and glue screen on, the crix need air ] They MUST have something to climb on, like cardboard egg crating, which is what they usually arrive in when you get a shipment of them. You can put oat meal or bran in with the crix for food, but it must stay dry. For moisure, you can put carrot, potato, sweet potato or use a lid with a balled up paper towel to hold the water but you have to change it every day. No rotten food in with them, it can kill the crix. Don't get the crickets wet !