Dragon will NOT eat in front of me?

[Robert0151]

So I just got a new dragon, and it's has been so much fun learning his/ her personality. I have a weird question though. My dragon will not eat in front of me. Is that usual? He/ she will look at me until I leave the room, and will not "dig in" until I'm gone. I just find that weird. And he/ she hasn't been eating that much. He eats just a tad bit more everyday ( wont touch veggies ) I understand the he's new, but is he going to be ok? I'm more worried about him being the correct weight, and eating veggies. Help?

 

[randommonks]

Would you like it if a giant face floated near you every time you were offered food? :lol:

Give him some space and eventually he'll get comfortable enough that you aren't there to eat him and you'll be able to watch him to your heart's content.

As far as the veggies, if he's not a year to 18 months old, I wouldn't be too worried that he doesn't eat veggies. If he is older, only feed feeders every other day or so. I normally will do 8 supers every other day or 5 every day along with a salad.

 

[Robert0151]

Yeah he's 6 in... I'm guessing two months....?

 

[Melody12]

LOL! Mine doesn't like me to watch her eat either. I'll show her dish of greens. She'll stare at it and then look at me until I leave. Then she digs in. She won't eat when I'm in the room either. And if I'm there, Melody crawls on her greens and guards it. Hmm. Makes me wonder if her previous owner let her ever eat.

Melody doesn't mind me feeding her crickets with me in the background. It's funny how she reacts to food too! One evening, I finished eating dinner and her Grandma was eating. I had Melody out with me and she saw cooked spinach. Out came this large tongue and if she could, she would've jumped out of my hands and ate that spinach. I gave her some greens of her own. She didn't go to bed that night until 10 P.M. Guess she was a little bit hungry. :lol:

 

[Robert0151]

Wow... My beardie will eat maybe one bite of greens. He'll probably eat 2 wax worms , 2 crickets, and a meal worm ( given sparingly ) in one sitting. Is that ok until he gets comfortable?

 

[randommonks]

Go easy on the waxworms (I fed no more than 2 a week when I had them) and the mealworms (again about 2 a week). Give as many crickets as the little guy will eat in 5-10 minutes and offer a small amount of salad finely chopped every morning. If you feed in the tank, don't leave crickets in overnight. They've been known to bite.

 

[daner923]

Actually, don't offer any mealworms. They are not good for beardies, and even one can cause an impaction in a baby.

 

[Robert0151]

Mealworms are now in the dumpster :lol: ! But I was only feeding wax worms to add weight.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Beardies go thru something called relocation stress when they move to a new home. It doesn't last a long time, sometimes a week or so, but during that time it's difficult for them to eat. So give him some time and if, after a few more days, he's still not eating, let us know the setup, as that can make a huge different. Type of UVB, if it's in the tank or on the mesh top (means you're losing 50% of the UVB rays); basking spot temperature; if you're giving your beardie calcium on bugs, how often; vit/min the same, how often. So once your little one is feeling more comfy (I've always though mine looked at me as a big lizard that might eat them, when I first got them :lol: especially when they're so little), then we can go over that with you.

Congrats on your new beardie, welcome to being a new beardie slave and now you have a dragon to worry about! I've had dragons for 6 years, my 5 males are all adults and I still worry about them :mrgreen: It goes with the territory

 

[Robert0151]

He started to eat a lot more today. 5 crickets and another wax worm! I'm going to bathe him in the morning and try feeding again. I think that he's/ she's getting used to me. He came down when I got home! I think he was just hungry :lol:

 

[drakedragon]

mine is a bit like that. ive had her 6 weeks and she has only recently started eating infront of me but usually she will only eat 3 roaches and wont eat the rest until i leave the room

 

[roxiemom]

My dragon Roxie will eat in front of me. Meal worms are good for a treat for ADULTS!!!!

 

[daner923]

Roxie - that's not really true. The are ACCEPTABLE as a treat for adults, but there are many other options that are much better.

 

[Robert0151]

UPDATE: I just had to give the new beardie some time... NOW she eats like a MONSTER! :lol: Starting next week, her staple will be phoenix worms. I'm still trying to convince her to eat veggies (any suggestions?) But shes doing fine

 

[daner923]

For veggies, you should try hand feeding them before the first live feeding of the day. You can also put a bit of calcium powder on them to entice her to eat them. Good luck with the phoenix worms! Max loved them. I had to stop when he started pooping them out alive though :shock:. Keep an eye out for that - they love them so much that they don't really chew them sometimes.