Why does my Bearded Dragon befriend his food?

Question

I have a lot of reptiles as pets, but my beardie is really confusing me. He's still small, so he is eating lots of crickets.

Strangely enough though, he favors a few of them and simply will not eat them. They aren't of abnormal size or color; to me they look the same as the rest. But, anytime I put new crickets in, he'll devour them. If one of his friends walks along, he'll watch it but not eat it.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

What is in the beardie's tank for the cricket 'pets' to eat, besides the beardie?

Never leave uneaten crickets in the habitat.  They not only can aggravate and chew on your BD, but after a couple of hours they are no longer gut loaded.  They will feed on the BD's f***s, and do you want you lizard eating them then?!!

You didn't mention occasional fruits or veggies.  Does this beardie get a daily salad?  Are you dusting with reptile vitamins and calcium with D3?  What size tank is he in?  What is the temperature?  There are many reasons your beardie might not be growing as he should.

http://www.dachiu.com/care/abeard.html

http://hubpages.com/hub/Metabolic_Bone_D...

I'll post some links below which you can check out on diet and care when you find time.

Enjoy your pet, and I hope this has been helpful.

Answer 2

As a reptile, he doesn't really "care" about the cricket, but for some reason (only he knows why) he doesn't like the looks of it.  Maybe he senses something is wrong with it.  Don't leave uneaten crickets in the tank with him as they will actually chew on the beardie!  

Answer 3

are you overfeeding? put plenty of greens in as he could be thirsty, also probably bored!!