do beardies like to eat at a certain time of day?

[sheri85]

i have a baby beardie (his name is Archer), and i offer him crickets about 2 hours after his lights kick on, and he doesn't seem interested. so i try again about 5 o'clock, and he goes right for them, and then only eats one or two. i've also been offering him greens and he doesn't seem interested in those at all. so is there a time of day beardies like to eat, or is this just a habit of mine? and is there a way i can get him to eat his greens? i tear them into teeny pieces for him, but he acts like they're not there lol.

this is my first beardie, so i'm really anxious about his care. i've had my turtle for about 15 years and know what to expect from her, but clearly not all reptiles are the same.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hello and Welcome!

Congrats on your new beardie! The babies should be eating 2-3 x a day. How long have you had your beardie? He could still be settling in and this is why you are not seeing a verocious appetite yet.
Baby beardies should be fed 2-3 x a day. Give him as many live feeders as he can eat in a 10-15 minute period of time. The babies need lots of protein early on and can eat as many as 50-100 crickets a day.
Are the crickets you are feeding smaller than the space between your beardie's eyes?
As for the greens... some beardies don't take to them right away, but still offer them fresh daily. Soon he will start eating them.
Here is a great list of foods that are color coded as to what to feed your beardie and how often http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

If you have any other questions... feel free to ask.

 

[DNADragons]

I agree with gulfbrzdawn, but to elaborate on practice that will establish a better feeding response is not only putting your lights on a timer, but feeding your dragon at specific times (9am, 1pm, 5pm, if your lights come on at 7am and off at 7-9pm). Developing a routine will establish "feeding time" behavior. My collection of animals anticipate being fed at the times I have established a long time ago.

This is a long shot and I have not read any proof but from what I have heard bearded dragons gain the enzymes necessary to digest plant matter from the insects digestive track. It would not hurt to give your insect leafy-greens as a gut load to establish a large quantity of the particular enzymes that the dragon will need. This will induce a hunger-responce the dragon would not have otherwise (overtime it develops as insects are fed).

 

[jon21388]

My beardies like to eat about 30 minutes after they wake up and then I feed them again about 2 hours before the lights turn off.

 

[sheri85]

i've only had him about a week. he's 7.5 inches long, but he was smaller than the others in the store.

i've got one cricket in there now, but he doesn't seem to be interested in it. i noticed i can get him interested in the crickets before i put them in the tank when i put their container next to his tank and he can see them moving around. then he starts clawing at the tank to get to them, but he didn't do that this morning. i've read some sites that say put only one cricket in at a time, and others that say just keep offering. and i have noticed that he tends to go for a cricket if there's a bunch of them he can choose from, and i always remove the others right after. i've been counting the number of crickets he eats, and in the week i've had him he's only eaten 1-2 per day despite me offering them several times per day.

 

[FBradshaw]

You can try feeding in a separate tank, some don't like eating in their home. You can also try small pieces of fruit, apple sauce, or even baby food with the greens to try to spark an interest. Try giving him/her a small taste of the "treat" mixed in with the salad while letting him/her see where it came from. I had to use apple sauce to get my youngest interested in greens and now at 4 months old he eats as big of a salad as I do :shock:

 

[Jamiedog]

Have you tried anything besides crickets? I got a much better response to dubia roaches, reptiworms, and micro superworms than I got from crickets.

 

[DNADragons]

How is the animals color? Dark or light and how much time does it spend basking directly below the basking lamp?

If crickets are crawling on the animal and it's NOT eating, remove them. Always remove crickets at night. It can take over a week for an animal to become adjusted, 7.5" it should be well started well started.

Also consider butting a barrier around the outside of the cage to obstruct it's view as large open spaces/moving things (you, other pets and insects) will cause stress to some animals.

 

[JenFid]

Have you tried anything besides crickets? I got a much better response to dubia roaches, reptiworms, and micro superworms than I got from crickets.

This. When mine was a baby he would only eat maybe about 10 crickets a day. After reading some good things about reptiworms I switched to them and it went from 10 crickets to about 30 worms, then as he got bigger it was almost 100 worms a day. I have dubia roaches now and he loves those too. Feel free to experiment with these to see what he likes (also the micro superworms and silk worms)! The upside to not using crickets is they won't give your beardie pinworms either, as crickets are known to do

 

[sheri85]

wow thanks everyone. i am going to go to the store today to try out the different worms (this might be better anyway because while i don't mind crickets chirping my boyfriend finds it annoying lol).

aside from his issues with eating, Archer is just wonderful. he looooooves being held, and often indicates wanting out of his tanks only to curl up on my chest for a nap. he spends most of the day basking on his log under his day light. he's so bright and active, which was what stood out when i picked him out at the store. i've fallen in love with my beardie already