Picky Eaters!

We have come into a problem. Two of our dragons absolutely REFUSE to eat crickets. We understand that you have to be tough and not give in and make them eat what you tell them to . . . But they won't touch crickets and it's been a week. When we put in superworms, they gobble them down without hesitation. We know that a superworm based diet is not good for them. But they won't touch crickets and roaches are illegal in Florida. What else can we give them??

You gotta get tough. You have two worm addicts. I have had to reform two of my dragons that I bought from a breeder that fed superworms as a staple. The dragons basically did not recognize crickets as a food source, and they actually seemed quite distressed by them. I started by not feeding them worms EVER again. This helps remove the temptation, lol. I waited a few days for them to give in and eat - which they did not - so then I started basically force-feeding them crickets. Force-feeding works best if you have one person hold the dragon while you GENTLY slide your fingernail in the corner of their mouth. This will usually cause them to open their mouth briefly - at which point you pop in a cricket. After a few days of force-feeding, my dragons would just eat the crickets from my hand. Eventually they would catch and eat their own crickets. The whole worm-detox program took about a month. Good luck!!!

Jamie

You can also offer mixed greens and the dragon pellets, try and place one or two worms under it to get the lettuce or pellets to move and see if they can get a mouth full of the other two food items and see if they will then take it from there on out? I don't know know just an idea, mine never had that problem. Good luck Shanell.

These are not hatchlings, they are 6 months old. We bought them as babies and they loved their crickets. We fed superworms as a treat once a week and crickets and greens everyday. They eventually refused eating the crickets and would only eat the superworms. So for a week, we offered crickets and of course greens, everyday. They ate greens, but not a single cricket. What are some other suggestions of feeder insects that we can use as a staple?

Silkworms are a good feeder insect if you do not want to go throught he trouble of re-acclimating your dragons to crickets. They can be expensive, however.

Jamie

You could try roaches.....I just recently tried them, and my dragons went absolutely crazy over them. I took me a long time to get past the whole "EWWWW" factor of the roaches, but they really aren't that bad, lol.

I don't know that I would try force feeding anything, that seems pretty extreme, IMO.

She said that roaches are illegal where she is at in Florida. So that's a problem. Force-feeding is completely harmless if done properly - and if you have ever had to deal with a worm-addicted beardie, then you will probably find that you don't have many other options. It is better than waiting for your beardie to starve itself to death, or continuing to feed it an unhealthy diet just because that is all it will eat.

Jamie

Oops, I missed the part where she said roaches were illegal.

I still think, however, that since they used to eat crickets, that getting them back to eating them shouldn't require any kind of force feeding. She only tried cutting out the supers for a week, they aren't going to starve to death in a short time, especially at 6 months old and still eating their greens well. I would try continuing the greens, perhaps adding some pellets for balance, and keep on trying the crix for awhile longer. What works for some may not work for others, and I've always thought of force-feeding anything as a very "last resort" option.

Are the crix you are feeding the right size? I've got a couple of dragons that won't even bother chasing them if they are too small.

I don't have that problem I have the reverse. They were eating greens and crickets then I got a new enclosure and now all they seem to is want crickets and not there greens. So what I am trying to do is have the greens out for a while and then later in the day offer crickets. It seems to me that dragons can be a little stubborn. I like the silkies better than crickets even though they are expensive. It's less smell and hassle.