Beardie scared of Crickets and won't eat them

[BeardedOscar]

My beardie, Oscar, seems to be scared of crickets. When they get close to him he gets this bewildered look on his face and scoots away from it. If a cricket gets on him he goes bazerks! He won't eat them. I'm worried because he's just a baby and he needs the protein and nutrition. At first i just thought he was full and didn't want any, but after watching more i figured out that he is just plain scared of them. It almost seems backwards because most people say that babies won't like salad and prefer crickets, but oscar loves salad and hates cricks. They are very small baby cricks about half the size of his head, so i don't think they would be too big for him... Any suggestions?

-Emzers & Oscar

 

[AtlasStrike]

Maybe try phoenix worms? Something that doesn't move as much? When crickets are little they don't hop very high, so pulling off their back legs probably wouldn't help...

Where/how are you offering?

 

[BeardedOscar]

I dump about 5 or so in his cage. I tried the whole seperate feeding cage thing and it didn't really work out. He was too stressed being moved to a seperate cage to eat. I'm not feeding him worms because my last beardie got impacted and a worm ate through his stomach... I just don't want to risk it.

-Emzers & Oscar

 

[BeardedOscar]

Hello? Please help

-Emzers & Oscar

 

[anolan13]

How old and when did you get your beardie? Also, what substrate are you using?

When I first got mine he only ate greens as well and refused crickets. I was worried about him too. Everyday, twice a day, I put crickets in there and he wouldn't eat, I took them out after a little awhile and would try again the next day or that night. Then on about the third day of having him I put some more crickets in and he ate just a couple. Ever since he's been emptying my wallet with all the crickets he eats. I think size does matter a lot, big crickets can be intimidating for a baby and they can also be dangerous if he does eat them. The general rule is no larger than the size of the space between its eyes. But I often feed mine smaller ones than that simply because the pet shop doesn't have anything between tiny and huge, so I go tiny.

Hope he starts eating soon, I know how worrisome it can be. Please keep us posted.

Also, I'd like to hear some responses from some of the senior members as well, there are some very knowledgeable folks on here!

 

[tattykassy]

I know how you feel, my beardie is terrified of Butterworms for some reason, I don't know why. I put one in there and he gets that look your talking about and runs to the opposite side of the cage. I've tried a few times since then, each time he gets pretty freaked out. He'll eat anything else but those.
You could maybe try Micro supers? They are pretty small, just a wee bit bigger then a mealworm, but they arn't really hard bodied like a mealworm. He might eat those?
Maybe its how fast the crickets are, you could try ripping some legs off so that it moves but not really fast?
Good luck!

 

[BeardedOscar]

Anolan13,

Oscar is almost two months old and i am using reptile carpet. He ate one cricket this morning and mostly all of his salad. This is the first cricket he's eaten for like 4 days. It seems like the crickets are biting him. A cricket will get on his tail and i will see it's little jaw thing move and then Oscar jumps and flies across the cage. I'm feeding Oscar crickets about roughly less than half an inch long. I'm thinking about getting mini dubia roaches for him. Should I? :?

Tattykassy,

I will think about getting some mini superworms. Thanks!

-Emzers & Oscar