Feeding Questions

How much does a 5-8 week old Beardie eat? I gave him a bath earlier... there was one wax worm in his dish. I picked it up and put it in front of him, he just did not want anything to do with it.. He jumps down into the bowl and starts feeding himself. I figured he was hungry so I dusted a couple more wax worms and mealworms, and added a cricket. He ate a little bit more... but not all of it. So i'm not sure how much I should be feeding him, and what about veggies, when can I introduce that? I want to make sure he eats until he full and content lol. But seriously i'm unsure how much he 'should' be eating.

Sorry! I posted this in the wrong forum.

You want to feed your baby as much as he/she can eat in about a 10 to 15 minute period 2 to 4 times a day. At that size they can eat as many as 100+ appropriate sized bugs per day. When I say appropriate that means no larger than the space between eyes. Wax worms are okay as a treat/addition, but not to many as they are very high in fat. Meal worms are not one of the best feeders either, sorry, as they have a hard outer shell called the chitins that can sometimes cause impaction especially if large feedings of them are given.

But the idea of variety is a good idea! :wink:

You want to start your baby on veggies asap. They need to have about 20ish% vegetation in their diets at that age. As they get older they need more like 80% vegetation. Adults that have not been trained to eat their veggies early on could develop health issues later because of to much protein in their diets.

Here's a link to some beardie food items that is color coded as to if and how often items should be fed. Also gives other nutritional values...
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Sounds like you have a real cutie! Feeding salads can be fun and frustrating. :lol:
Watching them when they find something they really like is so cute.

Btw...Welcome to the site! :wave:

fresnowitte":1zies74i said:

You want to feed your baby as much as he/she can eat in about a 10 to 15 minute period 2 to 4 times a day. At that size they can eat as many as 100+ appropriate sized bugs per day. When I say appropriate that means no larger than the space between eyes. Wax worms are okay as a treat/addition, but not to many as they are very high in fat. Meal worms are not one of the best feeders either, sorry, as they have a hard outer shell called the chitins that can sometimes cause impaction especially if large feedings of them are given.

But the idea of variety is a good idea! :wink:

You want to start your baby on veggies asap. They need to have about 20ish% vegetation in their diets at that age. As they get older they need more like 80% vegetation. Adults that have not been trained to eat their veggies early on could develop health issues later because of to much protein in their diets.

Here's a link to some beardie food items that is color coded as to if and how often items should be fed. Also gives other nutritional values...
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Sounds like you have a real cutie! Feeding salads can be fun and frustrating. :lol:
Watching them when they find something they really like is so cute.

Btw...Welcome to the site! :wave:

Click to expand...

I will cross meal worms off my list then, so should I put 15-20 crickets in at a time, and if he eats them put more in? what types of salads are good? I know that iceberg and romaine will give them the runs... so I won't opt to try that... i'm just confused, I looked at that site before beautiful dragons, and it was slightly confusing. I also have questions regarding other types of supplements other then calicum? This is so much more confusing than a leo gecko. lol...

It is confusing until you get it then it's really not that hard. :wink:

Maybe I can help to explain that food chart so it's not quite so confusing.
You want to feed items that are high in calcium but low in phosphorus. This is the Ca portion of the chart...high Phosphorus blocks the calcium absorption. Then you also want to feed items that are low to moderate in oxalates and goitrogens. Oxalic acid (oxalates) is just as dangerous as phosphorus because it binds calcium. Goitrogens are foods which suppress thyroid function. You don't want to use foods often that are high in fat or vitamin A.

The items on that chart that are in green can be given every day.
Personally I stick to the items that are listed in green, black, and blue on occasion....like with fruit treats.

This is the way I interpret/use the list:
Green everyday items
Black can be a couple of days a week
Blue no more than once a week

I'm going to list a few of my beardies' favorites or ideas of items I add. I feel that it's important to give them a variety in order for them to actually have a balanced diet. Plus I love to make their salads look appetizing and pretty. I find the more colorful they are the more tempting they are. :wink:

I start my salads with a combinations of 3 or more of these type greens as a base.
Mustard Greens
Turnip Greens
Collard Greens
Dandelion Greens
Kale*** Note this is in black***
Swiss Chard on occassion only
Clovers *** Note this is in black*** Mine find these a treat...beware of pesticides.

Squash of all kinds with the exception of zucchini are great nutritionally and can be added to every salad
My clans favorite is butternut and the yellow crook neck their least favorite is acorn squash.

A few other items I might add that make a big hit here are...
Stringless peas
Green beans
Bell pepper can use green, red, or yellow
Red cabbage
Pumpkin (fresh when possible... canned is okay to use too)

The favorite fruits by my clan ... which should only be given in moderation....As you will note they are all listed in Black or Blue.
Mango's
Strawberries
Bananas
Cactus fruit
Raspberries
Peaches
Plums
Blackberries
Blueberries
Mine love melons of all kinds

Supplementation should be something like this...
5 days a week dust one feeding a day with calcium~as your beardie matures into an adult calcium dose with go down to about 3 days a week
2 to 3 days a week dust one feeding with a multi-vitamin (Herptivite).

I personally and highly recommend the RepCal brand supplements.
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-food-supplements/11442-105551/rep-cal-ultrafine-powder-calcium-with-vitamin-d3.html
http://www.petmountain.com/show_product/11442-105550


Note: If you use a Mercury Vapor bulb then the green label without D3 would be the right calcium.
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-food-supplements/11442-105556/rep-cal-ultrafine-calcium-without-vitamin-d3.html


Hopefully this is more helpful than confusing. :wink:

I use Repcal for our Geckos... the pink label, which I have been using on my beardie... would that be right? I don't think I will be using clovers, I don't trust the grass outside much lol, but everything else on the list looked good. Thank you so much for all the information, i'm going to try to go to shnucks tomorrow.. they have an awesome fresh veggies and fruits selection.

Your welcome...anytime!

Yep that's the right Calcium! :wink: