How To Train Your Dragon (to hunt)

[Romicron]

So since I got Pascal (at ~2 mos.) he's been feeding in a large cricket keeper container, which worked really well when he was 6"-7" but is not working as well at his current 14.5" at 5.5 mos. considering that he's longer than the keeper now.

We recently purchased a larger 15G bin for feeding. He has plenty of room to roam around in it, but noticed that if I leave him in the container the same amount of time, he eats maybe 20-30% less because the crickets gather around the outside of the cricket container and he doesn't always want to chase after them. Is this normal behaviour or has he just gotten so used to the crickets being close by that he doesn't want to run after them?

I either end up moving him around the container to where the crickets gather or leave him in longer so that he has more opportunity to eat, so no risk of malnutrition, but I don't want to enable laziness! :mrgreen:

 

[kingofnobbys]

You can't, if he's decided he prefers the bugs to come to him (accidentially or by your hand) he'll do that and save his energy.

 

[Mysty]

Its a personality thing. One of beardies be damned if a single hopper escapes. The other prefers a delivery service.

 

[Taterbug]

As they get older and growth slows it can be easier to sit and wait for prey than chase it down.

For my guy it is very much also about how hungry he is. He will be happy to eat supers delivered to his face any time, but has to be motivated to chase things.

 

[smackey2]

My little one hasn't hunted her food since she lost interest in crickets. If the roaches run past her, she turns her nose up. However, she knows when it is feeding time and loves to be sitting on her rock with her mouth wide open so I can just pop a roach in. When she is ready for another, again, she sits with her mouth wide open, staring intently at me. But as for hunting them, forget it. She is quite spoiled, I just hand feed her: it is more like how the dragon trains it's human.

 

[Romicron]

I've developed this thing with him where when he stops chasing, I slide him along the slick plastic floor of the bin and he'll pick them off as he slides by them. Maybe I'll post a video or picture sometime.

 

[premammalian]

Bearded dragons are ambush foragers like all dragons. Don't expect it to run as soon as he sees food. Observing my own I have come to the conclusion it is an animal that tries to save as much energy as it can during the hunt. It lunges to insects only when they are going away, otherwise he waits for them to come near him and picks them.