feeding a baby

[wyattroa]

Well i have my new guy and have a couple questions. I have read on here now to not use small mealworms. I have used them for the past week so far with no issues. But, would like a change. My little guy will gobble these up with no problem. But when i drop in crickets he really does not eat too many. Usually around 5-10 if that. He does not eat any greens yet. I know it might still be relocation stress. I have paper towel on the bottom of my enclosure right now and when i put the crickets in they tend to just hide. I have tried to feed him in a feeding bin, but he wants none of that. So my question is that. Do i just keep trying to feed him in the bin until he get hungry enough to eat in there like i did with my tegu?

Also this guy is great! we got him on wed and each night before his light goes out we take him out of his cage and hold him.. He falls asleep right on me or my wife. last night about a half hour before the lights were to go off, he started going crazy at the glass. I was sitting right next to the tank. I took him out and within 2 minutes he was sleeping..lol..By far one of the tamest little guys i have ever come across.
robert

 

[Embee]

Hi :wave:

Welcome and congrats on your new beardie. :mrgreen:

Meals worms along with having a problematic shell, are also nutrition poor (some might say, "beardie junkfood" :wink: ). Given this, they can have a similar affect on beardies as junk food does on us, spoiling beardie's appetite for more nutritious fare. Just keep offering, and usually beardie will come around. As to the separate feeding bin, yes, it can be a hard sell in the beginning especially as young/small beardies tend to lose heat fast when our of their enclosures. I found that holding beardie's heat lamp above while she was eating was very helpful for heat and extra light for seeing those little critters! Also, make sure there is something on the bottom of the container for beardie to grip and move about easily. It took our beardie about 4-5 days, feeding twice a day (as many as beardie will eat! ) before she warmed to the separate feeding tank. All in all, it was great though. She got a fast meal; no hiding crickets to annoy beardie (or me for that matter!). It's also much easier to monitor how well beardie is eating which can be very important when they are young and should be eating a ton, and growing rapidly.

Best of luck!

Em