Flailing At Life
New member
- Beardie name(s)
- Annie
Hello!!
My daughter (age 5) has been saving up for a pet for over a year. We finally got her a beardie on Saturday. But while I’ve done a ton of research, I’m finding a lot of it to be conflicting and am just worried about how much Annie (the dragon) is eating.
On Saturday when we brought her home, the guy at the pet store told us to fast her overnight and then to feed her 5 crickets in the morning and 5 at night and to offer greens as well, and to dust everything with calcium. So Sunday she received (and very eagerly ate) 10 crickets. She also ate through most of the salad we provided.
I read a bearded dragon care manual, which said we should be feeding as much as she’ll eat in 30 minutes, and that if they won’t eat in front of you (which she won’t) to drop them in and collect them at the end of 30 minutes, and bump up if she eats them all. So Monday we offered 8 crickets in the morning and 8 at night, which she ALSO devoured, as well as a few fly larvae midday that she did eat.
After THAT, I read in a DIFFERENT source that we should be feeding her 3-5 times a day, not just twice, and that she should be eating anywhere from 20-100 bugs per day.
Tuesday morning I gave her a salad with the fly larvae on top in the morning. She ignored it completely.
Tuesday afternoon, we removed the larvae that were there and replaced them with new ones that were definitely wiggly/active. She ignored those as well.
Tuesday night my husband came home and offered her about 8 crickets, and she devoured them QUICK. So I figured she just didn’t like the fly larvae.
Yesterday, I dropped in 8 crickets in the morning (with a salad), and she ignored them completely. At lunch we offered some more fly larvae and cucumber and strawberries just to try to entice her. She ate a bite of cucumber and ignored the rest. At dinner, my husband gave her 6 crickets; she ate those.
This morning we gave her 6 crickets; she only ate 3 of them. We went back to the store and picked up more crickets and also mealworms and wax worms… and then I read that she’s too young for the mealworms, so I guess those are useless.
We put two wax worms in her bowl hoping that they’d entice her to eat and that the high fat content might help her if she’s fasting; she is ignoring them.
Other than the lack of hunger, she SEEMS (from the POV of someone who has never had a pet before) relatively healthy. She moves throughout the enclosure, spending most of her time in her basking spot without seeming, like, reluctant to go to the other side of the tank. She doesn’t super hide from us when we come near, but is alert. She has good energy. She has pooped about every other day, which is on the low side of normal from what I can tell. Poops aren’t super dry or completely liquid, so I’m not concerned about those.
We’ve been putting calcium on her food once a day and have a multivitamin that we added to her food on Tuesday and plan to do Tuesday/Saturday with. And we have roaches being shipped in this weekend.
I don’t think she’s super stressed out or anything. I mean, probably some from the new tank, but we’ve been giving her space, and we don’t have any other pets or tiny children around. Our daughter has been VERY good with her—no loud noises or sudden movements or anything—and she spends most of her day at school anyway.
Tank is 115 at its hottest point at 75 at its coldest point; vast majority of the tank is 80s-90s. We have been spraying her with hot water in the morning and warm water at night to make sure she hydrates. Tank is not falling below 70 at night.
Am I missing something? I read some beardies don’t eat much the first couple of days because they’re stressed, but she WAS eating the first couple days. She also IS eating SOME; she just doesn’t seem to have MUCH of an appetite.
I think we have a 10W UV light… I’ll be honest that we got a starter kit to… start… her tank with, and I didn’t keep the box from the UV bulb, so I might be off about that. But it’s not like we didn’t give UV.
Just not sure what I’m doing wrong and/or how concerned I should be about the amount she’s choosing to eat.
Do I just need to give her more time? Are some beardies just not as hungry as others? Am I offering the wrong variety of foods?
Please advise.
My daughter (age 5) has been saving up for a pet for over a year. We finally got her a beardie on Saturday. But while I’ve done a ton of research, I’m finding a lot of it to be conflicting and am just worried about how much Annie (the dragon) is eating.
On Saturday when we brought her home, the guy at the pet store told us to fast her overnight and then to feed her 5 crickets in the morning and 5 at night and to offer greens as well, and to dust everything with calcium. So Sunday she received (and very eagerly ate) 10 crickets. She also ate through most of the salad we provided.
I read a bearded dragon care manual, which said we should be feeding as much as she’ll eat in 30 minutes, and that if they won’t eat in front of you (which she won’t) to drop them in and collect them at the end of 30 minutes, and bump up if she eats them all. So Monday we offered 8 crickets in the morning and 8 at night, which she ALSO devoured, as well as a few fly larvae midday that she did eat.
After THAT, I read in a DIFFERENT source that we should be feeding her 3-5 times a day, not just twice, and that she should be eating anywhere from 20-100 bugs per day.
Tuesday morning I gave her a salad with the fly larvae on top in the morning. She ignored it completely.
Tuesday afternoon, we removed the larvae that were there and replaced them with new ones that were definitely wiggly/active. She ignored those as well.
Tuesday night my husband came home and offered her about 8 crickets, and she devoured them QUICK. So I figured she just didn’t like the fly larvae.
Yesterday, I dropped in 8 crickets in the morning (with a salad), and she ignored them completely. At lunch we offered some more fly larvae and cucumber and strawberries just to try to entice her. She ate a bite of cucumber and ignored the rest. At dinner, my husband gave her 6 crickets; she ate those.
This morning we gave her 6 crickets; she only ate 3 of them. We went back to the store and picked up more crickets and also mealworms and wax worms… and then I read that she’s too young for the mealworms, so I guess those are useless.
We put two wax worms in her bowl hoping that they’d entice her to eat and that the high fat content might help her if she’s fasting; she is ignoring them.
Other than the lack of hunger, she SEEMS (from the POV of someone who has never had a pet before) relatively healthy. She moves throughout the enclosure, spending most of her time in her basking spot without seeming, like, reluctant to go to the other side of the tank. She doesn’t super hide from us when we come near, but is alert. She has good energy. She has pooped about every other day, which is on the low side of normal from what I can tell. Poops aren’t super dry or completely liquid, so I’m not concerned about those.
We’ve been putting calcium on her food once a day and have a multivitamin that we added to her food on Tuesday and plan to do Tuesday/Saturday with. And we have roaches being shipped in this weekend.
I don’t think she’s super stressed out or anything. I mean, probably some from the new tank, but we’ve been giving her space, and we don’t have any other pets or tiny children around. Our daughter has been VERY good with her—no loud noises or sudden movements or anything—and she spends most of her day at school anyway.
Tank is 115 at its hottest point at 75 at its coldest point; vast majority of the tank is 80s-90s. We have been spraying her with hot water in the morning and warm water at night to make sure she hydrates. Tank is not falling below 70 at night.
Am I missing something? I read some beardies don’t eat much the first couple of days because they’re stressed, but she WAS eating the first couple days. She also IS eating SOME; she just doesn’t seem to have MUCH of an appetite.
I think we have a 10W UV light… I’ll be honest that we got a starter kit to… start… her tank with, and I didn’t keep the box from the UV bulb, so I might be off about that. But it’s not like we didn’t give UV.
Just not sure what I’m doing wrong and/or how concerned I should be about the amount she’s choosing to eat.
Do I just need to give her more time? Are some beardies just not as hungry as others? Am I offering the wrong variety of foods?
Please advise.
It’s “her” pet in that she had to do some work to prove she was mature enough for a pet (and that she wouldn’t get bored a week after getting one), but my husband and I are dedicated to keeping Annie safe and healthy as well. 
Hi there, welcome to the community!
