Jonathan_Gangl
Bearded Dragon Egg
- Messages
- 4
How picky, is too picky?
Hey guys, I haven’t posted on any forums of this issue here lately but I think now is the time to open up on an issue that has been stressing me and my loved one out. On early February, 2020 our bearded dragon, Castiel started to become noticeably picky with his selection of food. At that time he was at his wee age of 9 months. He did not eat our order of crickets and did not eat much of his greens for that few days. I thought it was completely normal because of his biological clock telling him it was ‘Brumation’ season, so the obvious laziness and casual judging stare of his food was normal. Later that month we moved and found him not eating even more! He touched his greens a bit and we introduced hornworms as a treat selection which he loves, KEEP THE HORNWORMS IN MIND AS YOU READ. But even then over the months his appetite would sizzle off to a few worms a week and barely any greens and a pellet or two. This was scary to us. We brought him to a vet who specialized in reptiles, he simply said “he needs more water and better uvb!” We executed that change instantly, with a new T5 UVB bulb in his 40 Gal tank and bathing him almost every day; we knew this would surely work. It didn’t, in fact at one point we would resort to force feeding because of his intense uninterested desire for food. But over time we realized he loved hornworms, the only worm that is virtually the most pointless worm in nutrients and many can say are like candy. Fast forward to today, as of May 21, 2020 Castiel has turned one year old (May 20,202) and was gifted an upgraded 75Gal tank with an updated UVB bulb to reach the length it needs with the proper amount needed, and tile flooring for his nails to be taken care of, and all his temp readings are digitalized. His obsession of hornworms is still present, I have tried to play mental games against him by teasing a hornworm and then hot-swapping a roach or some greens in front of him before he takes his bite, it works- but I believe he has become aware of this tactic and currently is protesting THAT.
So I reach out to you guys and ask what can be done to stomp out this unhealthy habit of being hungry for hornworms only. He needs his proper diet of greens, and other ACTUALLY nutritional worms and roaches. Would any of his tank items be of a problem (IE: improper lighting, heat, clutter, stressful environment, etc). Or is there a routine we can adapt to get our little bean to eat again, I worry that if this stays present. He will develop some nasty health problems. If you want photos of his setup, of him, of his food. PLEASE let me know and if I’m not the only one dealing with this- chime in!
Thank you and hope to hear from you guys soon
Stay toasty- Jonathan G.