Hand feeding Juvi's?

[Steven Simon]

Guys,
Ive had my dragon for a week now. He appox 2.5 to 3 months old. He has been eating arugala, and kale, and loose crickets in his tank. He's not going for the crickets with gusto..... So I hand fed him a few times with tweezers... He eats approx. 15 Crickets when I hand feed... Is hand feeding no good? He also hunts around during the day for loose crickets...

Thoughts???

 

[PatsyB]

The nice thing about hand feeding is you know how many crickets he's actually eating. Try not to leave loose crickets in the tank for the whole day because they will bite your bearded dragon if they are looking for food. Hand feeding isn't going to be a bad thing but letting him hunt is going to keep him active.

 

[Steven Simon]

I unfortunately probably dropped to many crickets in tank with the hopes he would hunt and eat. I will no longer do that until I see none... Then maybe add 5 max.... He eats exactly 15 crickets and then stops and stairs at me lol... Also eating greens... Which I have heard is awesome at a young age??

 

[Steven Simon]

"The nice thing about hand feeding is you know how many crickets he's actually eating. Try not to leave loose crickets in the tank for the whole day because they will bite your bearded dragon if they are looking for food. Hand feeding isn't going to be a bad thing but letting him hunt is going to keep him active."

Someone told me that hand feeding gets them into bad habbits and lazy? What do you guys find with this?

 

[PatsyB]

I've heard that too but honestly. Whether I hand fed mine or not they still got lazy when they were older! My boy is the only one that will still go after his food on occasion but the girls are completely lazy and one girl was hand fed and one was not.

 

[RaeAnn]

I can see how it could if done every single feeding. The dragon may grow accustom to it and expect delivery every time.
However on the opposing side to that, hand feeding can allow you to bond more with your dragon. And there are ways to make hand feeding more active like getting the dragon out of his/her enclosure and allowing them to come to your hand.
I am personally for hand feeding I think it's a good way to interact with your dragon during his favorite time of the day. But that is just my view on it


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[Steven Simon]

So it seems my Beerdie is now on cricket strike, he eats greens during day, but won't take crickets, he ate crickets first few days, last 2 days he won't even accept them on tweezers, I put live crickets right on front of his face, and he stairs at them, any thoughts?

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[Trycten7]

So it seems my Beerdie is now on cricket strike, he eats greens during day, but won't take crickets, he ate crickets first few days, last 2 days he won't even accept them on tweezers, I put live crickets right on front of his face, and he stairs at them, any thoughts?

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Mine has been doing the same thing. He will take 1 or 2 crickets, hand fed, before giving me a blank stare... but I can drop superworms in front of him, and he'll eat like 20 of them. It's very strange, considering he used to love chasing them down. I'm wondering if, after starting with superworms, he's developed a strong taste for them and knows he can wait for the crickets to go away.

 

[Hdrydr31]

As some of you are finding out they can go thru periods of being picky eaters..Your options are: try as many different live foods that are available to you..or do some tough love and just keep feeding them what you want to feed them and eventually they will eat they won't starve themselves..Keep having their salads available all day.. What I have been doing is they get their salads first and once they eat some of that later they get their bugs.

 

[Trycten7]

As some of you are finding out they can go thru periods of being picky eaters..Your options are: try as many different live foods that are available to you..or do some tough love and just keep feeding them what you want to feed them and eventually they will eat they won't starve themselves..Keep having their salads available all day.. What I have been doing is they get their salads first and once they eat some of that later they get their bugs.

We've stopped with the crickets entirely (which, I have to be honest here, is a blessing. Crickets are a pain, especially if they don't get eaten and have to be fished out), and are just going with superworms (and giant worms for treats) for Tigger and roaches for the baby (baby is like 4-5 months old now, and seems happy eating the little roaches instead of the crickets).

That said, both Tigger and the baby have been eating their morning salads regularly... so at least we don't have any issues on that front!

 

[Steven Simon]

We can get our new guy to eat about 5-8 Dubias a day, does this sound right?

 

[RaeAnn]

We can get our new guy to eat about 5-8 Dubias a day, does this sound right?

What size roaches are you feeding?

They usually know when they are full and will not eat more than they want. I would offer him more than this but if he doesn't want them and doesn't appear to be loosing weight he's probably getting all he needs.
Does he eat salad through out the day?


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[Steven Simon]

We have had him for 2 weeks, he is about 3.5 to 4 months old. He ate some greens first few days, but hasn't touched any since, He also ate crickets first few days, and now only eats Dubias. Usually he eats 2, and then cant move for a few minutes, He sits and closes his eyes.... The Dubi's are small /medium size. 3/8 to 1/2 Inch... Some are bigger than others....

 

[RaeAnn]

Okay it sounds like you are feeding good sized Dubias to him for his size/age. That amount a day sounds like a good number for that size. And he may still be going through a little relocation stress as well which is perfectly normal. I'd just continue offering 2 insect meals a day.

When you say he cant move and closes his eyes after eating, does he appear to be having trouble swallowing? How well does he chew the roaches?


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[Steven Simon]

He eats them very well, gobles them up, and he chops down a few times... He just won't accept more after 2 or 3. He puts his head up and looks full, it's pretty funny actually....

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[RaeAnn]

He's getting his little belly full [emoji4]
He will probably begin eating more once he's a little more settled in. Until than as long as there is no loss of weight and he's pooping regularly and acting healthy he should be just fine.


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[Hdrydr31]

Ditto the comments above.. likely still adjusting, and it will just take time. Just make sure the rest of the husbandry is spot on.. lighting temps those type of things.

 

[Steven Simon]

How do you guys feel about Temps of bottom of tank? In the basking zone side of tank? Here is my current setup with Temps.... LIGHTING is T5 10.0 UVB and Basking bulb is Reptisun 150w...

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[Hdrydr31]

How do you guys feel about Temps of bottom of tank? In the basking zone side of tank? Here is my current setup with Temps.... LIGHTING is T5 10.0 UVB and Basking bulb is Reptisun 150w...

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what are your temps in those zones?? Baby Dragons: Basking 100-107F warm 85-95F cool 70-75F
Juv Dragons: Basking anywhere from 95-107F Remember they need it to digest warm 85-95F cool 70F
Adults Basking 90-95F can also be low 100'sF warm 80-90F cool 70F

 

[Steven Simon]

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