will this kick ever stop??

[JuJuB]

Our beloved beardie is around 4 months and a proverbial pain the butt. She goes through periods of where she "starves" herself, at least for crickets. At first it concerned us, but everyone we talked to (even the vet) told us it was just a phase; kind of like what human toddlers do. We started feeding her large (more like a larger medium crickets) and she snapped them up, sometimes eating 15 in one sitting. Fast forward a few days and we had to settle for mediums (which are much smaller) and she could care less. Sufficed to say JuJu is lazy, she isn't a fan of chasing crickets if she doesn't have two. So we decided to by large yesterday. The large shipment it much larger than her last batch, so once again she doesn't give a crud. She ate some yesterday during her lunch feeding but hasn't eaten since then. We give her veggies which she'll pick at. We just want to know when this phase will be over! She's a pain in the butt, but we lover her. Shy of not actually feeding her since she doesn't want to eat, We're at a loss.
We also do bathe her 2-3 times a week to help with digestion, dehydration and shedding. Could the outside temps play a role? It was 4 here yesterday
*40 gal and wide. 150w deep dome + 100w is tank temp of 105-108, reptisun 10.0 18in uvb **

 

[Shrimpy12]

I assume you mean the basking side is 105-108 and there is a cooler side? I also have a 4 mo old and found for him he didn't eat when the basking temp was over 100. I keep it at 97 and he became an eating machine. I use a 75 w Repti Basking light and a 10.0 Reptisun UVB bulb and the cooler side is about 80. My guy doesn't like to chase crickets either. He too is lazy! It's also why we are making the switch to dubia roaches. You may want to try those. She may like them better.

 

[JuJuB]

I assume you mean the basking side is 105-108 and there is a cooler side? I also have a 4 mo old and found for him he didn't eat when the basking temp was over 100. I keep it at 97 and he became an eating machine. I use a 75 w Repti Basking light and a 10.0 Reptisun UVB bulb and the cooler side is about 80. My guy doesn't like to chase crickets either. He too is lazy! It's also why we are making the switch to dubia roaches. You may want to try those. She may like them better.

Glad we aren't the only ones . We recently found out JuJu is a male. His temps were definitely an issue the first time as they were too low. He eats at varying degrees because out tank 1.is a lot of tank heat and 2. Drops pretty quick when the screen is slid back. So we don't think that's a factor. The breeder we see says it's just JuJu, that he's testing the boundaries like a kid would and we keep reinforcing the behavior by sticking to his feeding schedule *shrugs*. We'll give the dubia roaches a try the only thing is I am worried that their exoskeletons are comprised of too much chitin like a meal worm (big No go). We also need a trusted/reptuable site to order from (in the states).

 

[Shrimpy12]

I tend to do a ton of research before diving into things! Everything I have read and everyone I have talked to said dubai roaches are by far the best for beardies. They are higher in protein then crickets while containing same amounts of chitin as crickets. They come in different sizes just like the crickets. There are a dozen different websites that sell them. Prices vary so it's just a matter of how much you want to spend. I am looking at buydubairoaches.com or dubideli.com I haven't decided yet which I will go with. The big pros are they don't stink, they don't jump or fly, they are easy keepers, and it takes fewer to fill them up because of the increases protein content. The last is huge since my little man eats about 100 crickets per day!

 

[JuJuB]

Thanks for the links: ), we found someone who sells dubis and we're going to try JuJu on those tonight! Fingers crossed that it makes a difference

 

[Shrimpy12]

Hope they work well for him!