Bored?

[JessW]

I think my dragon is getting bored with his food. With only a few bugs in the mix (dubia and bsfl all the time with the occasional hornworm) I can see why. Do your beardies get bored of their food? How do you combat that? Feed a mix at every meal? Feed one thing and switch what you feed each meal? Add another feeder I'm not thinking of (I don't like to feed crickets, as I like things that can be contained in a bowl, they don't seem nutritious, and they die so quick). The only place I can find silkworms right now ONLY sells silkworms. And I like to order from places where I can get more than one thing-for shipping cost & sustainability reasons. Any recommendations?

 

[Taterbug]

The down side of crickets is convenience, they are otherwise just as nutritious as other bugs. There are other species of roaches, superworms, as you mentioned silkworms (and moths), hornworm moths, isopods and locusts (depending on country). Efficiency and sustainability wise breeding your own is often the way to go.

Novelty of offering can also be helpful. Bowl feeding is easy but lacks any enrichment (puzzle solving or hunting/foraging behavior). I keep things random as much as I can including what and when I offer.

Also older dragons don't need to eat as much. High value foods may always elicit a response (pepper will rarely turn down superworms pupae or freshly molted roaches) but other bugs may just not be worth the effort.

 

[JessW]

I should have mentioned my dragon is still really young (4 or so months), so supers are out. I did think of a colony, but I would only want one colony, and I was concerned that he would get bored of whatever I decided to raise. Would I be able then to avoid the boredom by varying things like what time I feed rather than trying to find other new foods? I live in the US and haven't seen live isopods, locusts, or grasshoppers for sale. I know they sell mealworm feeders for enrichment-would that work with other worms?

 

[CaptainCrawlie]

I have waxworms, Phoenix worms, roaches and crickets for Captain.

He generally eats crickets in the morning.

Veg with Phoenix worm croutons

And roaches for din dins

However if we accidently grab out the roach bin instead of his cricket bin in the morning he'll ignore his crickets and demand roaches. He prefers them over anything ?