Lazy Beardie

[Elisa245]

Does anyone else have a lazy Beardie? Whenever I feed mine, he goes for one or two crickets, then sits and waits for them to pass by his face. And if they don’t pass by, he eats one or two pieces of mustard greens, and then goes back up to his basking spot. He is 6 months. So maybe hes slowly transitioning to greens? I dont know lol Just curious If anyone elses beardie is lazy like mine lol

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Thats really not normal. He should be eating way more and be fed 2x a day. Can you give a run down of his set up?

 

[Elisa245]

He ate about 13 crickets today and some greens. The guy we bought him from feeds him greens in the morning and crickets in the afternoon, so we’ve been following that schedule. Hes resposive, alert, never sluggish. Head always up. Very active. Im not really worried. His temp is always at 100.

 

[destiny1998]

He still needs to be fed 2x a day protein for as much as he'll eat in 15 mins once a day salad. Do you dust his food with calcium with d3 5x a week one feeding a day and 2x a week vitamins? Also the uvb need to be hung 6 to 8 inches from where he basks. What is the brand? Are the temps 100 on his basking spot? And just a suggestion lose subtrate is not recommended for beardies as they lick every thing and can become impacted also it harbors bacteria.

 

[Elisa245]

Everything you said I already do. I was just following what the breeder said. The substrate is what the breeder used as well. He says it breaks down and doesn’t cause impaction. The only thing that you said that Ill try is feeding him twice a day. The basking light and the uvb are about 4 inches away from him. Uvb is reptisun.

 

[Elisa245]

Yea everything you said I do. I dust his crickets every other day. And thats when he gets lazy. Hes mostly a picky eater I think. He eats a ton of crickets when they arent dusted. I dust his salad every other day. It looks like you have a ton of experience with beardies, that being said, what else is a good way he gets his proper calcium and vitamins?

 

[destiny1998]

Ok well hope her appetite improves. Mine use to eat 300 dubia nymphs a week when they were 6 months.Thank goodness they are adults and have slowed down. I fogot to ask how long have you had her? If you just got her a week or two ago it might be relocation stress so that can also affect appetite and behavior.

 

[Elisa245]

I got him about 2 months ago.

 

[timisimaginary]

may want to try some other feeders. dubia roaches, phoenix worms, butterworms, silkworms could all be other options. when the dragon gets older/larger, also superworms. they get picky and may tire of the same food over and over again, some variety is always preferable.

 

[Elisa245]

Yea i was thinking of trying dubias and Pheonix worms. Especially the worms because I heard it’s a good source of calcium and theres no need to dust them. Have you heard of that? Is that true?