fluffpuffgerbil
Juvie Member
Soo. Scout. That pesky 28 month old male bearded dragon just won't eat his greens!!
He gave up brumating a month ago and has been romping about outside or inside his cage sportin' a blackbeard. I swear my male gecko woke up Scout and told him it was time for Spring just as a sick joke. xD
Anyway, I've had problems getting Scout to eat greens since he was little. =/ He's been a bit better since he's gotten older, but it's still be an uphill battle that he's winning.
I feed him mainly mustard greens and acorn squash(which he'll eat, but only a little bit of) and that's always dusted with repashy bearded dragon vit/calcium powder. I've been using that for at least a year now and no problems, no health issues, both he and Riza, my sister's female dragon, are healthy.
I've just ordered a start-up kit of Dubia Roaches and will probably get more at the reptile expo in 27 days(I'll see about getting more female since what I bought only comes with 4-5, plus a bit extra for insurance they don't all die on the way over here), and hopefully I'll be able to get them to breed and produce enough to where we might just be able to sustain a new baby beardie in August/September!
Anyway, my biggest problem right now is I have absolutely no live feeders. I'm in the process of euthenizing my superworms and beetles due to 1) A grain mite infestation, 2) I had these beetles for a long time, they died quickly and I wasn't getting babies as fast as I usually do(I've bred them before, using worms from GreatLakesHornworm(AWESOME PLACE! Never 1 issue with my worms or beetles), but this new place I bought them from due to it being a bit cheaper.....
They died so fast, the beetles looked awful, and they sort of... freaked me out. :shudder:
3) I have a less than great memory..... So remembering to put carrots in with the worms was a bit of a challenge this time around, especially since my dragons had been brumating(only one is now) and I wasn't constantly seeing them.
Back to 1) I didn't want to deal with the trouble of figuring out how to keep superworms and beetles alive for a month without grains, plus, they freaked me out, were gross, and roaches are a lot cuter and they don't bite!
So. I'm out of feeders and I don't know when I'll get more. I just realised this could be a good time to get Scout relying on eating greens more than bugs, since they(adult dragons) are supposed to be eating roughly 75-90% greens, the rest being protein of some sort. My dragon's completely healthy and got good fat stores on him, I figure if I cut out bugs for a few weeks until I can scrape together more money, let this mite infestation die out(I was told to wait a month before getting more greens), and figure out if I want to save for more roaches or buy supers for Scout to eat, I can also work on getting him to be more dependent on greens and veggies rather than just superworms and the occasional bite of squash. Obviously his salads will be properly dusted so he's getting enough calcium and vitamins, but I know lizards can go quite awhile without food(adults that it) probably longer than anyone feels comfortable to try, and he'll still have his veggies, so until sometime in January, will just feeding him salad be fine? He won't like it, but in the long run, if he eats more salad and breaks his superworm addiction, he'll probably be healthier in his later life. =3 Opinions?
He gave up brumating a month ago and has been romping about outside or inside his cage sportin' a blackbeard. I swear my male gecko woke up Scout and told him it was time for Spring just as a sick joke. xD
Anyway, I've had problems getting Scout to eat greens since he was little. =/ He's been a bit better since he's gotten older, but it's still be an uphill battle that he's winning.
I feed him mainly mustard greens and acorn squash(which he'll eat, but only a little bit of) and that's always dusted with repashy bearded dragon vit/calcium powder. I've been using that for at least a year now and no problems, no health issues, both he and Riza, my sister's female dragon, are healthy.
I've just ordered a start-up kit of Dubia Roaches and will probably get more at the reptile expo in 27 days(I'll see about getting more female since what I bought only comes with 4-5, plus a bit extra for insurance they don't all die on the way over here), and hopefully I'll be able to get them to breed and produce enough to where we might just be able to sustain a new baby beardie in August/September!
Anyway, my biggest problem right now is I have absolutely no live feeders. I'm in the process of euthenizing my superworms and beetles due to 1) A grain mite infestation, 2) I had these beetles for a long time, they died quickly and I wasn't getting babies as fast as I usually do(I've bred them before, using worms from GreatLakesHornworm(AWESOME PLACE! Never 1 issue with my worms or beetles), but this new place I bought them from due to it being a bit cheaper.....
They died so fast, the beetles looked awful, and they sort of... freaked me out. :shudder:3) I have a less than great memory..... So remembering to put carrots in with the worms was a bit of a challenge this time around, especially since my dragons had been brumating(only one is now) and I wasn't constantly seeing them.
Back to 1) I didn't want to deal with the trouble of figuring out how to keep superworms and beetles alive for a month without grains, plus, they freaked me out, were gross, and roaches are a lot cuter and they don't bite!
So. I'm out of feeders and I don't know when I'll get more. I just realised this could be a good time to get Scout relying on eating greens more than bugs, since they(adult dragons) are supposed to be eating roughly 75-90% greens, the rest being protein of some sort. My dragon's completely healthy and got good fat stores on him, I figure if I cut out bugs for a few weeks until I can scrape together more money, let this mite infestation die out(I was told to wait a month before getting more greens), and figure out if I want to save for more roaches or buy supers for Scout to eat, I can also work on getting him to be more dependent on greens and veggies rather than just superworms and the occasional bite of squash. Obviously his salads will be properly dusted so he's getting enough calcium and vitamins, but I know lizards can go quite awhile without food(adults that it) probably longer than anyone feels comfortable to try, and he'll still have his veggies, so until sometime in January, will just feeding him salad be fine? He won't like it, but in the long run, if he eats more salad and breaks his superworm addiction, he'll probably be healthier in his later life. =3 Opinions?
