Inconsistant feeding habits

[Trajega]

I have a 3 and a half month old beardie who I am not certain why she has days when she wont eat, and cant get her to eat veggies all the time.


Normally I give her dusted crickets 1 or two times a day. I know I should try to do more, but I'm limited by work and want to make sure I give her 2 hours to digest during daylight. During a feeder I would give them to her one at a time, and chase them toward her if need be (I hear a 60 gallon cage is too big). Some days she will eat 15+ others she will only eat about 5 of the same sized ones. BMs have been constant and she is currently about 8.5 inches long (dont have a gram scale).

She wont eat anything veggy wise or meal mix from the store that I put in her cage. I have gotten her to eat a little bit of carrot or collared greens a few times a week. I have only been able to do this by getting the first piece in her mouth when she opened it defensively. After the first piece she would normally open up on her own a few times to eat additional pieces I put in front of her. Now that she has warmed up to me, I cant get her to open her mouth defensively. Fortunately on the contrary she doesnt want to go back to her cage when Im holder her, she will grip my hands to stay out.

I think she has eaten well enough and has a good healthy thickness to her body and width proportional to adults. I know the dusting ( 1/4 vitamin 3/4 calcium) should supplement some of the meatetarianism, but I would really like to see her eat veggies on her own for a first.

Caging specifics - within a foot of a reptisun 10.0, a second bulb to get a 90-105 heat range with a upper 70s hiding spot. bottom is 18 inch by 36 inch.

Am I hoping for too much too soon? Is she having her diet days due to overfeeding? As I do feed her until she stops (usually takes 2-3 minutes).

Help, what am I doing wrong or not doing?

Pics of Orangello (jelly)

 

[Jess]

At this age, don't even worry about veggies, she won't have much interest in them until she is closer to a year old. Heck, my 3 yr old still give me issues when it comes to veggies! :roll:

She sounds normal to me. If she eats a lot of crickets one day, she will probably eat less the next day. Dudley will usually go a day or so without eating when he has a big meal of bugs. Their metabolisms are a lot slower than ours'. As long as she is still growing and healthy, don't worry about it. :wink:

 

[Jamiedog]

If work is making it difficult to get feedings in, you could try something like Reptiworms/Phoenix Worms - they can be left in a glass bowl in the viv, so she can eat as she wants to during the day. (Also, no dusting with calcium necessary!) And if the veggies are available, and she takes the occasional snack from them, then she's okay. Like any baby, she doesn't want to eat her veggies!

She's very cute, by the way!

I worried about the stopping after just a few minutes, too, since everyone said "10-15 minutes" - well, Wave still stops after usually around 5 minutes, but she's growing at a rate of about an inch/10 days, so clearly, she's getting enough!