Feeding wax worms

[JervusJean]

Hello, my four-month-old bearded dragon, Jervus, is an extremely spontaneous eater. Jervus weighs 54 grams and we have had him for 2.5 months. He will eat very little for a week then a ton the next week. We had fed Jervus wax worms as a treat his whole time with us on top of his normal diet of dubia roaches and BSFL. Then, one day, he decided he did not like anything but wax worms. During this time I was not willing to give in and feed him wax worms, resulting in him loosing 2 grams. He is back on track now eating his normal food and has gained back all the weight he lost. I was wondering if I could try giving him wax worms again. I would like to just because he is a slow grower (just about to have his first shed with us) and I would like to get a little fat in his diet. Is this a good idea? do you have any tips?

Tank Set up
he has a 2x2x4 tank with non-adhesive shelf liner as the substrate. He has basking temps of 99-102 and Reptisun 10.0 t5 HO UVB ranging from 10-20 inches from him depending where he is in the tank.

Supplements
He gets calcium 5 times a week in smoothie form, witch he highly enjoys, because he refuses to eat his bugs if they have calcium on them. He has multivitamin twice a month.

 

[KarrieRee]

I would not feed him anymore wax worms--- they are very fatty and if fed too often and too many he can develop liver issues --- super worms horn worms are a better choice - are you sure your tank is 24" long by 24" wide and 4" high -- I am not getting a tank conversion for gallons -- what kind of screen is on the tank? A fine mesh like a screen door or a wide hole type- distance and placement is crucial here

 

[JervusJean]

Oh, haha! The tank is 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet high. The tank has a screen lid with wide holes. The UVB is mounted inside the tank.

 

[KarrieRee]

Ok the UVB should be 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor--a good balanced diet will put weight on him - your feeding salads too? I would recommend giving multivitamin w/ beta carotene 2 x per week dusted on his insects and his calcium D 3 5 x per week once per feeding lightly dusted on his insects- same w/ the multi vitamin once per feeding

 

[JervusJean]

Thank you! Yes, I do give him salad daily, although he is not a fan.

 

[KarrieRee]

Use the worms as lures to the salad bowl add them to the salad in front of him to get his attention