I am a BRAND NEW bearded dragon owner. Thing is, I can't get my girl to eat anything green or leafy. She only eats crickets. Google says her diet should be 20% live feeders and 80% greens, so I know it's not healthy for her to only be eating crickets. Any ideas on what I can do??? Also, she does this really weird thing where she opens her mouth partially for no apparent reason. WTH is she doing?? Thanks everyone!
How old is the beardie? What is in the salad you are trying to feed? and what are the temperatures in the cage? What sort of bedding do you use?
Dragons that have just been moved may be stressed and refuse to eat, so that may be part of it.
As for her mouth, is she doing it under her basking lamp or in a particularly warm part of the cage? Bearded dragons vent when they bask.
Answer my questions and I'll try to answer yours. Or you could always go to a vet, who could diagnose her if she had something like mouthrot or an impaction.
I have absolutely no idea how old she is. She's an adult, but as far as her years go, I'm clueless. I bought her at an expo and other than telling me that she was a female, they had no info on her. I use sand as her bedding....I've tried giving her a variety of leafy greens, collard greens, mustard greens, spinach, brocolli, you name it. I have her under a 150 watt day bulb for about 12 hours a day. And YES, she does open her mouth when she's under the lamp. I'm brand new to this, so I have NO idea what I'm doing.
Alright. (Just a tip, never buy from a seller that can't tell you the basics of the animal. It's not really promising if they can't even tell you an age on her.)
If she's only opening her mouth under the lamp, she's probably just venting. It's not a big deal at all. Completely normal and healthy. It's mainly a response to the heat that she's taking in from the heat lamp - think of it like the reptile-equivalent to sweating.
With adult beardies, you should feed a cricket for ever inch of her body, from head to vent (not including the tail.) So, if she's about 10 inches from head-to-vent, then you should feed her between 8-14 crickets a day. Offer a salad daily, never leaving it in the cage longer than 4 hours. She won't eat it every time at first, especially after just being moved, but continue offering and she will eventually start eating. It's not detrimental for them to not eat greens in the beginning, but it can have some nasty effects in the long run.
I would highly recommend you read this care sheet to acquaint yourself with the basics of bearded dragon care and keep this spreadsheet with you when you are buying ingredients for her staple vegetable/fruit diet.
Now let me comment on your cage setup some. You should really just avoid sand altogether. Some care sheets say it's okay, but the fact is sand is quite a lot like clay, as it will cake at first contact with moisture. It is sharp and can cause quite a bit of harm to your dragon's intestinal tract and cloaca if ingested or if it is picked up through the vent. A safer, equally aesthetically pleasing substrate would be crushed walnut shells. It can cake just the same, but it is at least digestible by lizards, so there will be less risk of impaction and tissue damage.
Secondly, you probably don't need that sort of heat. Adult dragons thrive at 95 degrees F at the basking spot, and around 85 degrees F for the ambient temp on the hot side and 75 on the cool side. Creating this heat gradient allows for your pet to properly thermoregulate its body temperature, while maintaining relative health day-to-day. Make sure the cage doesn't drop below 70 at night, as it will cause complications, including triggering a brumation cycle (which usually leads to eggs - if that ever happens, look up info on how to care for a gravid female).
And just as a side note - be sure you try to reduce her stress as much as possible until she starts eating her greens.
-Limit foot traffic near her cage.
-Don't handle her much until she is comfortable in her cage.
-Keep day cycles an equal time every day, turning on and off at the same times daily.
-Offer as many hide spaces as the enclosure will support.
-Keep the cage clean of soiled bedding, uneaten food (including dead/live crickets), and wet bedding.
-Offer clean, fresh water daily. If you have a method of dripping water into the bowl throughout the day, this will encourage proper hydration - just keep an eye on humidity levels.
-Place a cage thermometer on both sides of the cage with a hygrometer, so you can quickly check the environment for proper conditions.
You might also want to take a fecal sample to a veterinarian experienced with reptiles once she's settled in, as the stress of a new home often leads to an increased parasite count. She'll undoubtedly have pinworms, so make sure you ask if the density of said pinworms is unsafe for her. Deworming bearded dragons isn't particularly difficult and costs are usually under 100 bucks for all expenses associated with getting a new patient exam and treatment.
The only reason I went ahead and bought her was because I felt sorry for her. Poor girl. The other dragons were nipping at her and she has a broken tail. I just hate to see animals suffer, ya know? The expo's don't exactly have the greatest animal care, I've noticed. I actually have a unused thermometer strip upstairs that I will put on her tank immediately. I've read good thing and bad things about sand....but the more individuals I talk to, the more they tell me to get it out of there asap. So would you recommend just using the green carpet stuff then? Also I read where they need frequent baths, so I've been bathing her once every other day to keep her hydrated. Is that frequent enough?
Yeah, never go back to that expo again, then. Most reptile expos I've been to have not been bad at all, personally speaking.
I'd say that's more than necessary. Once a week, unless she's sick, is enough.
Thermometer strips are well and good, but the ideal thermometer would be a digital one, since you will get more accurate and quicker results.
And I think reptile carpet is perfect for bearded dragons, although it isn't the prettiest thing. Make sure it's appropriately sized and you get at least two that fit her cage, because they're washable, but they take forever to dry.
They are washable, no kidding? I never knew that! Wow. Yeah I always end up with critters from that expo bc I feel sorry for them. They come to town once a month and every single time I go there, I never walk out empty handed bc I feel so sorry for the animals there. They had one female beardie that was reallllllllly fat so I asked what the deal was. They said she was a retired breeder and had been bred so many times, her uterus never returned to normal size!!! If I would've had the money, i would've bought both beardies. I chose Emily in the end though bc the other dragons were all snapping at her and the retired breeder didn't seem to have that problem. If she's still available next month, I'm going to buy her too. Poor girl.
Do what you will, but I always warn against buying animals when its outwardly apparent they are ill. It's not your responsibility to save them all, and it's unrealistic to expect that you can.
Beardies are actually very picky creatures, regardless of what you hear. Im the reptile manager at the pet store I work at. I've honestly never met a beardie that likes to eat their veggies! If you're worried about him/her not getting enough nutrition, you can also feed them:
Superworms, blueberries (with care, too much can cause bowel problems), squash, small bits of apple (or applesauce, preferably just a crushed apple as most store bought applesauces have cinnamon/sugar in them which can be dangerous to them.) waxworms, cockroaches (live or frozen/thawed) you can even give them wet kitten food mixed with all natural flavorless yogurt. Don't worry about her earth unless she stops eating the crickets, or starts loosing weight/ becoming lethargic. And make sure that your beardie has UV on them at least 12 hours a day, it helps tremendously.
I have a blue tongue skink and they eat pretty much the same things as bearded dragons. I give him greens and some fruit and bugs. He hardly ever heats his greens. Ive seen him eat or taste them maybe once or twice. Hes been to the vet and all and the vet said he will eat them if he needs them. So i wouldn't fret try other types of greens care sheets say to feed them or get some of the food pre done at the pet store to try. feed bugs calcium and such will help give dragon vitamins they need. heat is a must with them they love it.
