Mushu's Gone Black and He's Never Going Back

Mushu the Bearded Dragon | Photograph by Talita Bateman

The never ending battle of trying to get your bearded dragon to eat his greens. For some silly reason, I never thought about the fact that they too seem to get bored with their food. That they too like variety. However, when your dragon stops eating his greens/insects, you know it’s time for a change in menu.

After a long trial and error period, today I am pretty clear on Mushu’s favourites and least favourites. Let me begin by saying that to Mushu, size definitely matters. With the exception of waxworms (his favourite type of junkfood), he prefers big insects. He tends to eat the bigger ones and completely ignore the smaller ones. 

However, one of the oddest things about Mushu’s dietary’s favourites has to be his colouration preferences. Let’s just say that when it comes to his crickets, he has given a whole new meaning to the saying ‘once you go black, you never go back’. It seems that brown crickets are just not worth his time nor the effort that it would take to digest them. 

Since I’ve introduced roaches to his diet, he seems to have taken a liking to them. Even ignoring his much loved black crickets in favour of the roaches. He does have an odd habit when it comes to eating his roaches though - he will not touch them unless they are up and running. This means that if the roaches have fallen on their backs and are wiggling their little legs in the air trying to get back on their feet, they will be ignored. No matter how much they move. However, once they are up and running (literally), then the game is back on.

If you own a dragon, then you too will have noticed their little dietary quirks. Although it is tempting to just give your bearded dragon what it wants, obesity in captive bred herptiles is unfortunately all too common. If you are having issues with your dragon’s diet, pay a specialist vet a visit and they will be able to help you put a ‘diet plan’ together.