Beardie only eating Waxworms

[Bronzemist]

I bought a bearded dragon from a local pet store about 2 months ago. She would only eat maybe 2 or 3 crickets every other day and no greens. Then we tired superworms and she ate maybe 3 or 4 of those a day. again. no greens. Then i tried Wax worms and she eats maybe 15-20 a day and some of her greens. Is this okay? i try feeding her superworms every fey days just to see if she takes but she never does. She's about 3 or 4 years old and she seems to have some minor vision problems. Otherwise she seems completely healthy. Any thoughts?

 

[RaeAnn]

I bought a bearded dragon from a local pet store about 2 months ago. She would only eat maybe 2 or 3 crickets every other day and no greens. Then we tired superworms and she ate maybe 3 or 4 of those a day. again. no greens. Then i tried Wax worms and she eats maybe 15-20 a day and some of her greens. Is this okay? i try feeding her superworms every fey days just to see if she takes but she never does. She's about 3 or 4 years old and she seems to have some minor vision problems. Otherwise she seems completely healthy. Any thoughts?

It sounds like your baby has a sweet tooth. Wax worms are sort of like bearded dragon ice cream and not a very healthy staple to feed often. At her age her diet should consist of approximately 80% greens and 20% protein. I would recommend offering one insect meal every other day and a salad every day.

Since she is a picky eater it may take some time for her to finally try out her salad. You can try encouraging her to take a few bites by adding color to it, butternut squash is great for this. And placing her insects in it to spark an interest. In the mean time I would cut out the wax worms they are not very good nutritionally speaking and loaded with fat. You could try black solider fly larvae, they resemble wax worms and are much healthier.


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[Bronzemist]

It sounds like your baby has a sweet tooth. Wax worms are sort of like bearded dragon ice cream and not a very healthy staple to feed often. At her age her diet should consist of approximately 80% greens and 20% protein. I would recommend offering one insect meal every other day and a salad every day.

Since she is a picky eater it may take some time for her to finally try out her salad. You can try encouraging her to take a few bites by adding color to it, butternut squash is great for this. And placing her insects in it to spark an interest. In the mean time I would cut out the wax worms they are not very good nutritionally speaking and loaded with fat. You could try black solider fly larvae, they resemble wax worms and are much healthier.


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So how would i go about getting her to eat her greens? We give her all sorts of vegetables. Mainly kale but she gets squash and all sorts of other things but she only eats a few pieces a day. The only reason i started the wax worms was because she started losing weight and i got scared. The only time she eats a lot of veggies is when she opens her mouth to cool down when she is on her cool side, i put a piece of kale right in the very tip of her mouth and she then eats a little bit. But she doesn't seem to like it much.

 

[RaeAnn]

I wish I could could give you an answer the truth is many beardies just do not like greens. Mine is the exact same way, I am lucky if she takes a few nibbles. I do the exact same thing that you do, stick a few pieces in her mouth and sometimes this will get her going other times it's like I have to force her.

Just continue to offer it every day and sneaking pieces in her mouth when you can. Aside from this gut load her insects. If you believe she is on the skinny side you can offer her super worms which can be gut loaded. That way she gets nutrition from the veggies they eat as well. If she likes the super worms try putting them in her salad to see if she gets a mouth full when she eats the worm.

I would recommend switching to collard, mustard, turnip, or dandelion greens over kale. Kale is okay once in awhile or if mixed with other greens but it does have a higher level of vitamin A. Aside from this make sure your giving her a weekly dose of multivitamins just to add nutrition


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[Bronzemist]

I wish I could could give you an answer the truth is many beardies just do not like greens. Mine is the exact same way, I am lucky if she takes a few nibbles. I do the exact same thing that you do, stick a few pieces in her mouth and sometimes this will get her going other times it's like I have to force her.

Just continue to offer it every day and sneaking pieces in her mouth when you can. Aside from this gut load her insects. If you believe she is on the skinny side you can offer her super worms which can be gut loaded. That way she gets nutrition from the veggies they eat as well. If she likes the super worms try putting them in her salad to see if she gets a mouth full when she eats the worm.

I would recommend switching to collard, mustard, turnip, or dandelion greens over kale. Kale is okay once in awhile or if mixed with other greens but it does have a higher level of vitamin A. Aside from this make sure your giving her a weekly dose of multivitamins just to add nutrition


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We tried a mix of other greens but neither of my dragons would eat that. They seem to only enjoy kale. and i assumed that in only kale vs. nothing at all, kale is the preferred option. Also, quick update, today i went and bought some black soldier fly larvae and she ate about 4 along with like one little bit of kale. My concern is just that she will start to loose weight. I also don't want her to become obese through only eating waxworms.

 

[RaeAnn]

Kale is better than nothing yes but it would be best if you could try mixing it with other greens. Maybe if you don't remove the kale and just add to it that would trick them into eating other types?

It's good that she at least ate some. It sounds like she may have thought they were wax worms and suddenly realized something wasn't quite right. Depending on how thin she is I would hold off until she is hungry enough to eat the BSFL or Dubias. Just continue offering them everyday until she is eating healthy. She will eat once she is hungry enough.

Can you post a picture of her?


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[Bronzemist]

Shes the one on the top. she isnt skinny now but before she started eating the waxworms, she was losing weight from not eating. I tried offering her some just now and the only time she ate any was when i slipped one in her mouth when she licked her tongue out.

 

[RaeAnn]

She appears to be a very healthy girl. I wouldn't worry too much sometimes they have little hunger strikes, I just went through one with my girl as well. I know how worrisome it can be.

I really believe she has her mind made up and is protesting to get her wax worms. If you can hold out and continue offering healthier insects daily she will eventually cave in and eat.


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