hand feeding dependant

[whopper]

when i first got my little guy he wouldnt eat much, unless i hand fed him so i proceeded too. over the time that ive had him, roughly 1 and a half months, hes been mostly hand fed crickets . PW's and veggies he'll eat out of a dish no problem, but he doesnt want to chase crickets or eat them unless i hand feed him while he basks. any tips or pointers on how i can reverse this? starting today every time i feed him ill be placing him on the floor of his enclosure and dropping the crickets infront of him. do you think after a while he'll catch on and start eating/ hunting them instead of waiting for me to hand feed him? i think he'll eventually get hungry enough and put the stubbornness aside. any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Embee]

Ah,

These beardies certainly have us trained, no? :wink:

Have you tried feeding crickets in a separate [smaller] enclosure? Sometimes it can be daunting in the viv as the crickets have room to get away, and hide. We use our girl's old starter tank to feed crickets, but a Sterilite container with something for gripping on the bottom (paper towel) can work well too. The feeding enclosure is empty save for the towel and the crickets and it's small enough that usually, she just sits and waits for them to pass her. It might take some persistence on your part... beardies can be stubborn! :?

Good luck!

Em

 

[whopper]

thanks, when i first got him i tried using a smaller tank to feed him but it looked like it just stressed him out. i will try again though. is a 20g tank to big? hes about 8 inches H-T.

 

[Embee]

thanks, when i first got him i tried using a smaller tank to feed him but it looked like it just stressed him out. i will try again though. is a 20g tank to big? hes about 8 inches H-T.

I think a 20 gallon would work well. At first, our girl was resistant, but I kept at it and within a few days, we had a pretty good routine going with it. Now, when she sees me getting out the feeder tank, she jumps off her log and starts running back and forth across the front of the viv. YAY! Feeding Time! :mrgreen:

 

[whopper]

thanks, when i first got him i tried using a smaller tank to feed him but it looked like it just stressed him out. i will try again though. is a 20g tank to big? hes about 8 inches H-T.

I think a 20 gallon would work well. At first, our girl was resistant, but I kept at it and within a few days, we had a pretty good routine going with it. Now, when she sees me getting out the feeder tank, she jumps off her log and starts running back and forth across the front of the viv. YAY! Feeding Time! :mrgreen:

haha thats so cute, i hope one day whopper will be that excited. i cleaned out the old tank and lined it with paper towel. i put him for about 5 mins with some crickets but he wasnt interested. im sure he'll catch on though. do you have any videos of your girl running back and forth b4 feeding?

 

[Neromom39]

Now, when she sees me getting out the feeder tank, she jumps off her log and starts running back and forth across the front of the viv. YAY! Feeding Time! :mrgreen:

Hee Hee!
Nero doesn't do this anymore, but when he used to we always said he was "doin' the cricky dance"

 

[SJM]

You shouldn't have too much trouble. After all, he is a natural predator, and instincts are strong in animals despite their domestication. n____n

Feeding your beardie in a separate tank is a good idea. Make sure that there is some sort of substrate (I recommend paper towel or reptile carpet) and just let your beardie go at it. If he glass dances or backs into the sides, he's probably frightened and I would take him out right away. This is how Thor is and I can't use a separate tank method to feed him.

Stop hand feeding him for some time. If he doesn't eat, he'll be okay for a little while, and hopefully hunger will push him to hunt. If too much time passes and he still doesn't eat, you'll have to go back to hand feeding, but try to avoid it as much as you can.

You could try pulling off the cricket's hind legs that they use to jump and run fast (when I do this, I put them in a plastic bag because pulling in out without the plastic between me and the bug bothers me) and plop it down in front of him. It wont be as mobile and could give him a better chance at hunting.

Hope this helps, good luck with your beardie!
- SJ

 

[whopper]

You shouldn't have too much trouble. After all, he is a natural predator, and instincts are strong in animals despite their domestication. n____n

Feeding your beardie in a separate tank is a good idea. Make sure that there is some sort of substrate (I recommend paper towel or reptile carpet) and just let your beardie go at it. If he glass dances or backs into the sides, he's probably frightened and I would take him out right away. This is how Thor is and I can't use a separate tank method to feed him.

Stop hand feeding him for some time. If he doesn't eat, he'll be okay for a little while, and hopefully hunger will push him to hunt. If too much time passes and he still doesn't eat, you'll have to go back to hand feeding, but try to avoid it as much as you can.

You could try pulling off the cricket's hind legs that they use to jump and run fast (when I do this, I put them in a plastic bag because pulling in out without the plastic between me and the bug bothers me) and plop it down in front of him. It wont be as mobile and could give him a better chance at hunting.

Hope this helps, good luck with your beardie!
- SJ

i tried using a separate tank to feed him in earlier today but he turned a little bit dark and glass dance/hopped alot, i left him in for about 15 mins and eventually he stopped but he ignored the crickets. im going to try a few more times and see if he gets used to it. i have already tried pulling the legs off and leaving them infront of him, he may eat one but then he jumps back to his basking spot and waits for them. since his enclosure is placed in a busy area at night i put him in a different tank, it was his starter tank and he now sleeps in there burrowed into a towel, this is the tank im trying to feed him in now as well. this morning he didnt eat but im going to try again now, thanks for your help.

 

[beachlizard]

I put my beardie in a shoe box ( he's 4-5 mths), and then drop in dusted crickets from plastic bag. anything he doesn't eat goes back into the cricket home. usually count while he laps them up, bl 8)

 

[Embee]

Hm, maybe it's just a matter of time and persistence?

I don't have video, but I SHOULD have. Perhaps I'll get some time later in the week...

Hope your dragon catches on soon!

Em

 

[whopper]

so its been 2 days that ive been taking him from his perch and placing him on the floor of his viv and dropping the crickets infront of him, he usually just jumps back up on his perch, once in a while he might eat 1 or 2. he eats a few pw's and nips at his greens but thats it. he'll still go for for the crickets if hes on his perch and i hold the infront of him though. he almost seems to be afraid of the crickets. when i pour a bunch in to see if it will excite him he just starts jumping around, glass dancing and desperately trying to get out. Im thinking about not offering crickets to him for a day or two but still giving him greens and pw's to see if that may help.

 

[Embee]

so its been 2 days that ive been taking him from his perch and placing him on the floor of his viv and dropping the crickets infront of him, he usually just jumps back up on his perch, once in a while he might eat 1 or 2. he eats a few pw's and nips at his greens but thats it. he'll still go for for the crickets if hes on his perch and i hold the infront of him though. he almost seems to be afraid of the crickets. when i pour a bunch in to see if it will excite him he just starts jumping around, glass dancing and desperately trying to get out. Im thinking about not offering crickets to him for a day or two but still giving him greens and pw's to see if that may help.

Yes, perhaps a short break is in order. I do believe it's fairly common for them to be stressed if there are a lot of little hoppers crawling about. When our dragon was a baby, I could see that more than a few was even a bit confusing for her. Maybe, wait a day or two and then try offering just one or two at a time? Being that he'll take them from your hand, you at least know he has a taste for them. He might just be a little intimidated by how quickly they get around.

Keep is posted!

Em

 

[SJM]

Thor didn't eat for a good three days when I got him. n____n When he did start eating, it was very small amounts. I think he was so frightened of his new environment, that new, moving beings in his new environment just overwhelmed him. He ate out of hunger but he stopped quickly. A month later he's started eating like crazy.

It's probably just a matter of letting him settle in and being patient with him. He's an animal and animals know that they want to stay alive. Take off their back legs and keep offering them to him. He knows they're food and he'll go after it eventually.

 

[whopper]

Thor didn't eat for a good three days when I got him. n____n When he did start eating, it was very small amounts. I think he was so frightened of his new environment, that new, moving beings in his new environment just overwhelmed him. He ate out of hunger but he stopped quickly. A month later he's started eating like crazy.

It's probably just a matter of letting him settle in and being patient with him. He's an animal and animals know that they want to stay alive. Take off their back legs and keep offering them to him. He knows they're food and he'll go after it eventually.

thanks, ive had whopper for about 2 months now though. so its not relocation stress. i think he just doesnt understand when i put him on the bottom of the viv and place the crickets infront of him because hes used to sitting on his perch being hand fed. im going to try and "starve" him for a day or two, still allowing him pw's and veggies and then see if hes hungry enough to forget about the hand feeding habbit.

 

[whopper]

success! today i went out and bought some crickets for whopper and its been 2 days since he's been offered them. so i place him on the floor of his viv and dropped a couple in and he chased them and ate them. in total he had about 20 (3/4 cickets) today and not once did i hand feed him, hes full and happy and not only is he eating his veggies and chasing his crickets, hes now trained to drink from a syringe.