How to Get a Baby Bearded Dragon to Eat Rep-Cal
Rep-Cal pellets should be part of a baby bearded dragon's balanced and varied diet. Unfortunately, some bearded dragons will refuse to eat Rep-Cal. Bearded dragon owners can use a variety of tricks to encourage their pets to eat pellets in addition to crickets, greens and other food items. If a bearded dragon still refuses to eat Rep-Cal pellets despite these efforts, crickets dusted with Rep-Cal multivitamin powder may be offered as a healthful replacement.
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Instructions
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Fill a shallow dish with Rep-Cal pellets and a small amount of water. Baby bearded dragons should eat Rep-Cal Juvenile Bearded Dragon Food, rather than an adult formula.
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Allow the pellets to soak until they have absorbed the water completely and are soft and mushy.
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Offer the moistened pellets to your baby bearded dragon. Leave the room so that your pet can eat in privacy. If you return after several minutes and find that your bearded dragon has shown no interest in the Rep-Cal dish, proceed to the next step.
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Add a few waxworms to your bearded dragon's food dish, along with the mushy pellets. If possible, tuck the waxworms under some of the pellets so that it appears as if the pellets are moving. Bearded dragons are attracted to movement and are more likely to eat an item that seems to be alive.
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Offer the dish to your bearded dragon again. At this point, most baby bearded dragons will eat the waxworms and consume some of the pellet mush along with them. If this process is repeated daily, you should soon be able to wean your dragon off the waxworms except as an occasional treat.
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Tips & Warnings
Offer your bearded dragon a dish of moistened pellets first thing in the morning before giving him any crickets, greens or other prey items. A hungry baby bearded dragon may choose to consume food that it would otherwise ignore.
Provide a variety of food items to your bearded dragon. Rep-Cal alone isn't enough to keep a beardie healthy.
If your bearded dragon refuses not just Rep-Cal but all of her food, take her to a vet.
Don't deprive your pet of other food in order to encourage him to eat Rep-Cal. If your bearded dragon refuses his pellets for a few hours, offer something else instead.
Throw out any uneaten moist pellets after 12 hours. Never allow spoiled food to remain in your pet's cage.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit young bearded dragon image by Robert Percival from Fotolia.com
