Quit Eating Crickets

[Chryss]

Well Alvin is 3 months old tomorrow and I have had him for 1.5 months. He gradually went from eating 6-7 crickets a day to 60 a day. Now in the last couple of days he doesn't want anything to do with them but he is eating some vegies (not a whole lot) and he will eat a worm if I give him one. Right now I only have Wax worms so haven't been giving him any but I have Phoenix and Butter on the way. He is pooping normal and everything else is right on. His temps are good and I use the T-Rex MVB bulb.

Should I be concerned or do they go through stages where they don't want crickets? I put him in his feeding box and he acts excited about it and runs after some and eats 2 or 3 at once and then doesn't want anyting to do with any others.

I do have some of the Reptaid that you get online in case I need it. Should I give him that or just relax and not worry about it?

 

[TheRedDragonAkaRed]

how long ago did he eat 60 crickets??thats crazy for one day.....start he on a diet 10 a day plus all the salad he can eat.......theres no need to ever change this diet

 

[Chryss]

Really? He is still a baby. I thought they were supposed to eat all the crickets they can in a 15 min period 2x/day? He quit eating crickets 2 days ago.

So you are saying give him 10/day and his vegies?

 

[TheRedDragonAkaRed]

i give 5 a day each sometimes more or less....and all the salad they ca handle.....they need more salad in the day then meat once there older.....if he continues to poop they he is probly just filled up once he is empty he'll start to eat....

i am dealing with one who has barley ate anything since i got her and today stoped completely.....i filled her dish with no leg crickets and meal worms to see if she will eat when iam not around so fare nothing.....

your seems like a pig so 10 should be good

 

[Neromom39]

At that age, beardies need the protein to grow. With only 10 crickets a day, his growth will be stunted. Babies up to 6 months will consume upwards of about 60-100 crickets a day broken up into 2 feedings. Once they hit the 6 month stage, you can cut them back to 1 feeding of protein a day. Only when they hit adulthood will their diet need to be more veggies than protein, but now the protein is more crucial.

Keep offering them, as many as he will eat in a 15 minute period. There will be some days that he will not want them, but keep offering them. If he refuses them all together, then find another source of protein.. phoenix worms, silkworms. Maybe he is bored with crickets. Sometimes a little variety helps.

Good luck!

 

[honpup]

Maybe he is ready to shed mine goes off his food before he sheds! and also he wont eat crickets so he now just eats locust and morio worms and salad! I agree he needs more then 10 crickets! What size crickets do you feed him?

 

[TheRedDragonAkaRed]

i didnt notice the age....if i put mine in my cricket tank iam sure he would eat alot.....mines 1 year eats like a pig...the female i have wont eat anything right now

 

[TheRedDragonAkaRed]

large full grown are what i feed

 

[honpup]

3months old!

 

[Chryss]

Yes he is just 3 months Thanks so much for the replies. I guess I won't worry too much at this point. He ate about 5 crickets but I had to feed hand feed them to him. He finished shedding about 2 wks ago but he could be going through another shed huh since he is so young huh?

I will have butter and phoenix worms on fri for him.

 

[Fallencomrade2008]

He will be fine, don't really worry if he wont eat much every once an a wile as long as it dosn't last more than like 2 days. if he's pulling a nice long gandi then you might start to fret but my dragons will both go on hunger strike every once an a wile. once you start him on the phoenix worms he might decide that crix taste gross...which i would assume is true. I personally hate crix and i just use dubia instead. they are expensive though unless you can get them set up to breed. which isnt too hard if you get a good start and clean the cage very 2-3 weeks or more if you have a TON of dubia.

 

[Chryss]

Well the thought of roaches being in the house pretty much grosses me out and my hubby already said no way. We live in the north and there are no roaches here but we hear horror stories about them from those that live in the south.

He is just going to have to like the crickets and worms - :lol:

 

[Fallencomrade2008]

horror stories usually come from the unprepaired and of course the people who don't have 5 cats to defend their homes lol. I have them in a locking topped tub but they are still kind of gross. personally crix are grosser because they jump climb excape and worst of all there cage STINKS. roaches don't stink at all in comparason and they cant climb. there also fairly ez to breed so some day you might just change your mind. hehehe. good luck!

 

[dreysmommy]

My beardie did the same thing he use to eat close to 20 to 25 crickets a night.
just a few days ago he just stop eating both crickets and his veggies. so i tried to put him in the tank with the crickets a couple times and he has no interest.
also i have been noticing that hes been drinkin an awful lot to.
how do you get them to eat again?
does anyone have any suggestions to helping me i am really starting to get worried that he is going to starve hisself.

if ANY one has anything please help us

 

[Neromom39]

Depending on the age, it could just be shedding. It's ver uncomfortable to them and it makes them not really want to do anything. Mine don't really even like to be petted during their sheds.

If your beardie is not shedding, then you need to pay closer attention to things like temperature. Is he/she dehydrated? Have you changed anything around lately. They don't adapt to change very well, so if made a changes to the environment, then it will go through sort of "relocations stress' and therefore will not eat for a bit.

Of course still offer the food. More than likely it will eat when it's hungry. However if it goes on for more than 2-3 days I would get some baby food - chicken/turkey and squash and feed it to your beardie so it is at least getting some nutrition.