Help! Screwed up & fed Pancake superworms a few months ago!

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Giving her superworms was a HUGE mistake on my part. At the time, she was still young enough to need bugs every day. The local pet shop was all out of crickets because some guy came in that morning and snatched them all up; they said they wouldn't have another shipment in for about 4 days. I ran out of Dubias and my incoming shipment somehow got delayed by over a week. Yes, I did attempt to grow my own colony for, idk, at least 6 months. Failed miserably despite keeping it heated and all that. I read up dubia colonies over and over from numerous sources but it still didn't work out for me. Might have something to do with keeping my apartment at 66° year round. The temp gun was showing accurate temps in their container & I had it set up like the majority of sources said to; idk, maybe I'm just an ***** lol. So, anyway, please don't suggest starting a dubia colony.

She's refused every single insect I've tried that isn't a superworm ever since that fateful day ?. Little Miss Stubborn Ass just turns her nose up at everything else. She's also not wanting to eat her salads. Sometimes we'll catch a glimpse of her taking a bite or two out of her bowl but if she knows we're looking at her, the brat literally closes her eyes and pretends they're not there. She's not being fed the same salad every day so I doubt it's boredom; I've spent a few years researching staple foods and, in the process, learned they get burned out on foods just like humans do. Too bad she hasn't burned out on the supers. Instead, she's gotten more demanding and tries to pull that thing cats do--acting like she hasn't been fed in months every time someone walks into the room lol. She knows they're kept on a shelf to the immediate right of her enclosure even though she can't see them (Zen Habitat). She'll haul her butt over to that wall, stare at it, cock her head and stare at whoever's attention she catches, back to the wall, back to the human, and so forth. Weirdo. I had to stick a Post-It note on her door saying it's all a con and she doesn't need more worms.

How do I fix this? She needs to be eating a healthier staple insect like dubias or phoenix worms and she needs to be eating a lot more veggies but how do I make that happen? Since her first birthday a couple months ago, I've tried taking the supers away for a couple days and only offering dubias, phoenix worms, and even crickets, protein-wise. They've always remained untouched. Her salad intake didn't increase on those days, either. How long can beardies go without food? Should I try starving her out until she cracks and accepts an alternate insect and more veggies or is there a better option? I'm seriously at a loss here; my kids weren't even this picky as toddlers!! Help!!! I wouldn't necessarily mind the superworms but I don't want her getting fat and I'm worried about digestion; she hasn't been pooping nearly as much since the superworm screwup despite her lighting and heating being up to par.

**Almost forgot. She does get excited about hornworms but they're fairly expensive everywhere I've seen them and I'm not sure how ok they are as a staple food. Are they considered healthy as a staple or no? If so, does anyone have a source for buying them at a reasonable price? Not cricket or superworm reasonable because I don't see that happening; more in the dubia range or less.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Try her on silk worms --- www.reptilianarts.com make sure you order food if your ordering bulk - you will need to feed them and keep containers clean they are another staple feeder --- www.dubiaroaches.com for horn worms and meal worms and super worms --- I would feed her salads first thing in the morning w/ some silk worms on top make sure you add them to the salad so she sees them and put them under the greens so she has to actually get some leaves of salad in her mouth - dubias can be added to the bowl as well after she eats from her salad bowl for like an hr -- add 1-2 super worms they will be crawling around in the bowl as well just make sure your using a bowl that is glass so none of these worms and insects can get out of -- how about BSFL also known as nutri grubs and calci worms -- you can add those to the salads as well and the movement will get her attention--- no staple for horn worms but they are a good hydrating worm -- they grow real fast so limit on how many you order - I will order 12 and feed two dragons 1-2 each a day as they grow so fast -- www.reptilesplus.com they are affiliated w/ dubiaroaches.com
here is some other websites for silk worms
www.coastilsilkworms.com
www.mulberryfarms.com
another good worm is butter worms but everyone seems to be out at this time
Karrie
 

Draven88

Hatchling Member
There is not perfect answer on how long a beardie can go without food. Variety of new things that Karrie posted may help, but along the way to breaking the habit you will want to monitor for weight changes. Due to their natural process of brumation hey are equipped to store up fat pads that act as reserves when brumating and will also be useful if food is more scarce at times. What this means is you can at least reduce the superworms so she will be hungry and hopefully go for what is there, but monitor her weight to ensure there is not a large loss The silk worms will hopefully have some of the same movement as superworms to attract her to eat them.
 
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I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
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i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

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