Lost appetite at dinner

[KLB85]

My guy is 6 months old and in the past week or two he seems to have lost his appetite at dinner time. During breakfast he'll eat 15-20 large superworms, but come dinner he'll only eat maybe 3-5. He's started nibbling a bit at his salad during the afternoons too, which is new, so I'm wondering if he's just not hungry come dinner time? I know eventually his feeding schedule should get down to once a day but he seems to be regulating this himself. Since he's my first dragon, I'm not sure if the amount he's eating is normal at his age.

Besides this he seems super healthy and happy, bright colors, poops 1-2 times a day, good energy level, good weight etc. He has good temps and a 3 ft Acadia UV, but he only seems to be under it about half the day. I'm thinking of moving the tube to the side of the tank he's chosen as his fav to give him more exposure. He's also in a huge 5 foot long tank, so he has lots of space.

Would love to hear opinions if the quantity he's eating is normal, especially his small dinners. Thanks!

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, that's actually a huuuuuge number of superworms for him to be eating regularly so his appetite is just slowing down. Keep in mind that supers are a bit more fatty than crickets + dubias so it's better to feed far less superworms and include crickets , dubia roaches and silkworms as well as a good salad to his diet. Don't worry if he snubs these at first, let him get hungry enough to eat the better food items.

 

[KLB85]

Oh okay whew! Well that good in the sense that he's eating enough, but bad that they are not ideal feeders. I was feeding roaches for much of his life, but the person I get my roaches from had their colony die because they were left in the cold by accident, so I have to wait a few months for them to get going again. Also, I was feeding crickets up until about a month ago, but I HAAAATE crickets. I hate keeping them, I hate the smell, I hate the noise. Also, I have to transfer over my dragon to his old smaller tank to eat, which I have to warm up first because the bottom is slate tile and I don't want his belly getting too cold. Then I have to fish out any crickets he doesn't eat. It's just such a hassle and they are so gross LOL! I also read that most pinworm cases come from crickets, so I thought best to get away from them. Anyways, I switched to supers when a local breeder told be that's what he feeds all of his dragon as staples and that they are so easy to keep and feed. So far I like keeping them and feeding them way better, but I also want my dragon to be healthy! I also notice when I buy hornworms, I can never get them to stay alive for very long, so I only buy like 3, but the pet store is a half hour drive away, so I don't buy them often. Any advice on hornworms? I'm hoping to go back to roaches as soon as I can, but I definitely don't want to keep my own colony. lol

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Personally what ive noticed is the smell crickets have is due to a "cricket keeper" container and not being cleaned enough. The cricket keepers just dont provide enough room causing them to die faster and the smell doesnt get aired out much so it sort of stays in there with them.

I have my crickets in 60-90 quart tubs with screen on the top of the lids and egg crates inside. They get cleaned out regularly, usually once or so a week and fed collard greens for food and water.

Crickets can be definitely loud, though thats usually in warmer temperatures. Usually at 65-70 for mine they dont chirp, and then any higher than 75 or so they start chirping.

As for the hornworms what food do you give them? Usually they do pretty well on the formulated food or collard greens.

 

[KLB85]

Yea I had some crickets in a nice big Tupperware bin with screens on the top, but I let a friend borrow it. Or house is suuuuper cold in the winter so if I put them in the basement, I learned the hard way that they die. So we have to keep them upstairs and they drive me crazy when I try yo sleep lol. I agree though, if you clean them out and have ventilation they are ok. I just find it all such a hassle, even getting some crickets into a bag, I have to bring everything outside, in case of escapees, and I personally am not a fan of touching crickets or the cartons they are on, so just the whole experience of crickets doesn't do it for me. Weird thing is, is that the roaches don't bug me as much (as long as I don't touch them) and they smell wayyy less. I also find cleaning thhier bins easier. But relying on someone else to provide roaches is also a bit of a hassle because of factors you can't control, ei the whole colony dying off. But I'm hoping to get back to roaches as soon as I can. This is why I'm sort of stuck feeding supers for now With the horn worms, I've tried feeding them different greens and the only one that they seem to eat is the kale from my garden. But ofcourse I don't have that all year round. Unfortunately we don't get collards into the grocery store often here so I haven't tried that. Would you keep them in a tub with egg carton too? I'd like to try growing them from eggs too but haven't found anywhere in Canada to buy the eggs from.