Hand feeding issue..help!

[Haku3]

I've had my bearded dragon Haku (Ha-koo) for about three years now. Ever since he was a baby I have been handfeeding him most of the time, from crickets, greens, and veggies. It is something I love to do and it makes me feel closer to my baby boy <3. However, I have started college now and I do not have the time to hand feed him anymore..and he isn't really eating from his bowl. I have put bowls of food in his tank in the mornings and he doesn't touch them until I come home to (you guessed it) hand feed him..So any tips or advice to break him of this habit would be extremely appreciated I'm just worried that he won't be eating enough! It would also be comforting to know that he is eating while I'm sitting in class lol.

 

[kingofnobbys]

I handfeed too , exactly same reason. My 2 beardies are 3 yr olds now.

Only takes about 5 - 10 minutes to give a dozen or so medium or large crickets + a couple of superworms + a leaf of puk choi (greens) each.

I leave chopped greens + veg + softened pellets in a bowl in their enclosures at brekky , and they don't usually get their insects / handfeeding session until we've had our evening meal. They are ready for it then.

5 lizards (2 beardies + 2 bluetongues + 1 water skink) are all handfed usually in under 30mins . (unless I want to take my time and have cuddles and quality time while feeding them).

Surely you can find 10 -15 per day to give your beardie a live insect feeding about supper time , you aren't going to be that overwhelmed by your studies at college.

 

[premammalian]

You can start to wean him from that by leaving fast moving insects in the terrarium. I believe he will catch them. As for the greens, I dont know, but finally I belive he will eat them. Hand-feeding is good, but letting them hunt normally is important as well. They will fine-tune their reactions and exercise their coordination abilities. After all they don't have so many chances to be so active. You will also observe how they hunt for food. Make it half hand-feeding and half normal feeding at first, then you can hand-feed only for treats.

 

[Haku3]

Premammalian:

I will start doing that Currently thinking of changing his live feed from crickets to dubia roaches, do you know if they will nibble on beardies like crickets would if left in the tank? Maybe something new will spark his interest.

As for his exercise I bathe him at minimum two times a week so he swims a lot. When I am home he is out of his tank most of the time..if it is not too chilly of a day he is outside for a good amount of time as well. So, I don't think exercise is a problem

 

[Haku3]

Kingofnobbys:

I know I can make the time for feeding in the afternoons but I would like him to eat on his own because I'm going to be working soon as well.

On a side note, I just moved him into a bigger tank a week ago. I was thinking he is not eating from his bowl because he is still not used to the new tank. I have just figured out the layout I liked a couple days ago, so I have been moving the decor in his tank around a lot and adding/removing things. Do you think he will eventually get around to eating on his own when he is more comfortable?

Also, it usually takes me quite a while to feed him all his food because he is a really slow eater. It takes me about 30 minutes, which in your case, is equivalent to you feeding 5 reptiles haha.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Slow moving non-bitey insects that are unlikely to try to hide might be a good weening insect - something like silkworms would be fantastic on the leaf in the tank , if he spots them and takes a chunk of mulberry leaf too he's getting great insect protein and some great greens too.

I know people who put superworms , roaches even crickets into deep but heavy dishes (that the beardie can't tip over when snacking on the insects in it) and they make the sides of the dish insect proof (to crawling out) by coating them with Fluon (makes the dish surface very slippery and the insects can't get a grip to climb/crawl out.

My water skink likes me to drop newly hatched mealworm beetles or a newly formed mealworm pupae and disabled crickets (I give their heads a squeeze) and she'll often wake up late at night hungry likes the midnight snack and the fun of looking for them.

My beardies and bluetongues are way too lazy for that.

 

[premammalian]

When I was telling about exercise, I meant more of exercise of coordination and fast movements rather than general exercise.
No, cockroaches are gentle creatures and will not harm your dragon. The worst they can do is to eat the feces of the dragon if they cannot find anything else. The other worst they can do is to hide somewhere, die, and never be found. They have the habit to hide in tight erevices and remain immobile for a long time. So better to put them in a bowl, rather than living them to roam, especially if you have many decorations. Crickets would be better, because most probably the dragon will eat them, and if they are few it is very unlikely they wil inflict any damage. Or even better are red runners, a type of roach that runs quickly, has all the good characteristics of the cricket minus the jumping and the possibility to harm a dragon.
I believe though that best above all are locusts or grasshoppers. They are large, diurna, herbivorous, and so no way will harm your dragon. You can also leave a piece of leaf for them to eat, before they get eaten themselves. They will congregate on the food, and the dragon will find them easily.

If you manage to make a dragon eat leaves by putting insects on them, good luck. I did it countless ocasions to entise my dragon to eat more greens and leaves, but with no result. Just they have a great ability to extract an insect from any surface with extreme precision.

 

[Haku3]

When I was telling about exercise, I meant more of exercise of coordination and fast movements rather than general exercise.
No, cockroaches are gentle creatures and will not harm your dragon. The worst they can do is to eat the feces of the dragon if they cannot find anything else. The other worst they can do is to hide somewhere, die, and never be found. They have the habit to hide in tight erevices and remain immobile for a long time. So better to put them in a bowl, rather than living them to roam, especially if you have many decorations. Crickets would be better, because most probably the dragon will eat them, and if they are few it is very unlikely they wil inflict any damage. Or even better are red runners, a type of roach that runs quickly, has all the good characteristics of the cricket minus the jumping and the possibility to harm a dragon.
I believe though that best above all are locusts or grasshoppers. They are large, diurna, herbivorous, and so no way will harm your dragon. You can also leave a piece of leaf for them to eat, before they get eaten themselves. They will congregate on the food, and the dragon will find them easily.

If you manage to make a dragon eat leaves by putting insects on them, good luck. I did it countless ocasions to entise my dragon to eat more greens and leaves, but with no result. Just they have a great ability to extract an insect from any surface with extreme precision.

Thanks you for the info! I will definitely look into the locusts and grasshoppers!
Also, I tried to put superworms underneath his greens countless times so he sees the greens moving but he just waits until they crawl on top of the greens and eats them then, so I have had no such luck with that either haha

 

[premammalian]

Bearded dragons can distinguish between plants and insects, even if they are moving. At least those which have been raised to eat immobile plant items. For example I have never succeeded as of now to make mine eat greens I artificially move myself, but I have made her eat dead insects by that way. Dragons which have been trained by their owners to eat moving plants from a young age, might mistake moving leaves with insects and attack them.