Help with feeding please!

[Sue E.]

Mr Stubborn (Kai) still wont touch greens! I give him a variety, all the good greens for dragons, but no! Bee pollen powder is hard to find around here, and Ive tried spicing things up with a little fruit now and again (not regularly). Nope. He gets worms every other day. He wont touch crickets anymore. Today will be a bug day but I always do the greens first to see if he will eat them. Heat and uvb are perfect and I use the right kinds in the right places, digital probe, etc. No enclosure issues. He will devour the worms. He had 3 superworms day before yesterday so he SHOULD be hungry. Help!

 

[KarrieRee]

Mr Stubborn (Kai) still wont touch greens! I give him a variety, all the good greens for dragons, but no! Bee pollen powder is hard to find around here, and Ive tried spicing things up with a little fruit now and again (not regularly). Nope. He gets worms every other day. He wont touch crickets anymore. Today will be a bug day but I always do the greens first to see if he will eat them. Heat and uvb are perfect and I use the right kinds in the right places, digital probe, etc. No enclosure issues. He will devour the worms. He had 3 superworms day before yesterday so he SHOULD be hungry. Help!

Hes holding out for the worms- just keep offering the salads - have you tried enticing w/ the BSFL? Those are a small larvae that would attract him to the bowl- you can drop them on top of his salads in front of him see if that will get him to the salad bowl - what other staple insect have you tried? Since he likes worms you could go w/ silk worms - they are a staple feeder

 

[Sue E.]

Hes holding out for the worms- just keep offering the salads - have you tried enticing w/ the BSFL? Those are a small larvae that would attract him to the bowl- you can drop them on top of his salads in front of him see if that will get him to the salad bowl - what other staple insect have you tried? Since he likes worms you could go w/ silk worms - they are a staple feeder

No live silkworms available here and I prefer not to feed can o silkworms except as a last resort. I am heading out to the pet store today for the phoenix worms (bsfl). I prefer not to order online if possible because shipping costs are outrageous (to upstate ny) and I am not really an online shopper all like that. I mean, I will if I have to, but theyd have to hold them at the post office for me anyhow because its winter here and very cold. Can I keep him on every other day worm feedings (hopefully the bsfl)? How many bsfl to feed at a time? He only eats feeder insects once every other day, if you think I should feed him insects daily let me know.He is a year and 2 months old, 20-21 inches long. He had 3 or 4 superworms day before yesterday (calcium dusted) and hasnt pooped since the day before the worms. His poops and urate have always been fine. Im still a little confused on the insect feeding times and amounts. Thanks! He used to do crickets but wont touch them anymore and Im glad!

 

[xp29]

Mr Stubborn (Kai) still wont touch greens! I give him a variety, all the good greens for dragons, but no! Bee pollen powder is hard to find around here, and Ive tried spicing things up with a little fruit now and again (not regularly). Nope. He gets worms every other day. He wont touch crickets anymore. Today will be a bug day but I always do the greens first to see if he will eat them. Heat and uvb are perfect and I use the right kinds in the right places, digital probe, etc. No enclosure issues. He will devour the worms. He had 3 superworms day before yesterday so he SHOULD be hungry. Help!

Unfortunately theres no tried and true way to make them eat greens. Especially if they don't starts as babies. I've had beardies that will just eat them well own there own, I've had others that barely ever ate them at all.
I know it's frustrating but all we can do is keep offering them.

 

[Sue E.]

No live silkworms available here and I prefer not to feed can o silkworms except as a last resort. I am heading out to the pet store today for the phoenix worms (bsfl). I prefer not to order online if possible because shipping costs are outrageous (to upstate ny) and I am not really an online shopper all like that. I mean, I will if I have to, but theyd have to hold them at the post office for me anyhow because its winter here and very cold. Can I keep him on every other day worm feedings (hopefully the bsfl)? How many bsfl to feed at a time? He only eats feeder insects once every other day, if you think I should feed him insects daily let me know.He is a year and 2 months old, 20-21 inches long. He had 3 or 4 superworms day before yesterday (calcium dusted) and hasnt pooped since the day before the worms. His poops and urate have always been fine. Im still a little confused on the insect feeding times and amounts. Thanks! He used to do crickets but wont touch them anymore and Im glad!

Unfortunately theres no tried and true way to make them eat greens. Especially if they don't starts as babies. I've had beardies that will just eat them well own there own, I've had others that barely ever ate them at all.
I know it's frustrating but all we can do is keep offering them.

Hes had salad offered fresh daily since he was a baby..here is an example pic. I also put in various squashes, bell pepper slices etc...only the approved ones. Should I just give in and feed him the worms? Every other day or every day? How many bsfl per feeding?

 

[Sue E.]

Hes had salad offered fresh daily since he was a baby..here is an example pic. I also put in various squashes, bell pepper slices etc...only the approved ones. Should I just give in and feed him the worms? Every other day or every day? How many bsfl per feeding?

I mean I will of course keep giving him fresh greens daily in addition to the insects. But Ive even tried hiding the worms under all the greens...he picks them out very carefully lol.

 

[KarrieRee]

I mean I will of course keep giving him fresh greens daily in addition to the insects. But Ive even tried hiding the worms under all the greens...he picks them out very carefully lol.

Silk worms stick to everything so if you put those in the salad bowl hes going to get greens too- the BSFL are small and he would need quite a few as a staple feeder - I usually fed 20-25 w/ Blaze first feeding in the morning then about a hr or so after the salad/ BSFL I would feed dubia roaches - he ate the BSFL up till he was about 7 months then he lost interest in them - so if you get BSFL start w/ a low count in case he doesnt like them - I also fed silk worms then too but only fed like 3 - the more other insects he ate the less dubias - horn worms are another great treat/ hydrating worm and they stick to everything too - you can use those in the salads as well - they go grow very fast so you would need to feed them off every day so they dont out grow him

 

[Sue E.]

Silk worms stick to everything so if you put those in the salad bowl hes going to get greens too- the BSFL are small and he would need quite a few as a staple feeder - I usually fed 20-25 w/ Blaze first feeding in the morning then about a hr or so after the salad/ BSFL I would feed dubia roaches - he ate the BSFL up till he was about 7 months then he lost interest in them - so if you get BSFL start w/ a low count in case he doesnt like them - I also fed silk worms then too but only fed like 3 - the more other insects he ate the less dubias - horn worms are another great treat/ hydrating worm and they stick to everything too - you can use those in the salads as well - they go grow very fast so you would need to feed them off every day so they dont out grow him

 

[Sue E.]

Thank you!

 

[xp29]

I agree with @KarrieRee
The silkworm and hornworms grab tightly to everything.
If you can get him to eat some greens that way, maybe he'll decide he likes them.

 

[Sue E.]

Update: i buried the worms in his veggue dish but let him see them. He pounced like a crocodile! I guess he couldnt get one out so he ate a BiG piece of collard green...chewed it right up! Thank you all again from a nervous beardie mom.