Do you guys really feed three times a day?

[RelentlessChaos]

Since day one, I've never had successful feeding sessions w/ my Juvenile. (not that he is sick or anything) he's actually really healthy. At least it would seem from his activity, curiosity & awareness every day, as I said.. it would seem that he doesn't eat enough but yet he's fine. It'll be really hard to explain this but since day one, I dropped crickets in the cage & he did his own thing when he wanted, although some point when he started shedding he started to not eat at all, didn't even show interest in the crickets & his no eating streak was getting bad, (was scaring me) so I had no choice but to get mealworms to show him something new (since other feeders are online purchases) he loved em, sometimes I feel I have to give him baby food tho since I feel he doesn't eat enough. For example today, he had one calcium dosed cricket, & one tiny mealworm, & the day before, probably just one mealworm. Out of the 3 times that I tried feeding (once at lunch time, once at snack time & once at dinner time). I do this every day & fail every day. Are all dragons just different w/ appetite? I can tell you right now that he is not sick, I was worried a week or two back but as I said day in & out he does his own thing in his cage, he shows no problems or signs of stress, he lets me handle him daily without freaking out. He'l actually perch up on my finger but I just don't know what to do anymore besides just letting him bask with the little food he's eatin. I probably have tons of crickets go to waste since I have a keeper for them.

Other notes since I'll know you'll ask, 75w bulb, 100-105 temps (zoo med w/ probe), 10-20% humidity, 80-85 cool side, repti10 UVB, 40 gal tank w/ simplicity, I usually place him down, stun the crickets in calcium & drop them right in front of his face, now a days he'll def go after the mealworms over the crickets, I don't want him spoiled. (I have phoenix worms coming so I'll stop the mealworm feeding but for now, no choice.. he has to eat something right). non adhesive shelf linear. & misted veggies every morning. I've owned my Juvenile since the 5th of Sept.

I do not know if he is still shedding but he does itch his nose sometimes against the log but if that is the case then it has been 2 & a half weeks of this shedding.. despite my frequent warm baths I provide him.

In the end, what I am saying is that my dragon has never had 30-40 a day like most claim.

 

[joea]

Kirby never ate 30 let alone 40! :shock: but then again I never gave him pinhead crix. :mrgreen: 2 days ago I started buying LARGE crix for him. :headbang: The mediums had small mixed in and even some chirpers. Now they're all chirpers.
Try Probiotic acidophilus. I crushed a pill and added to the dusting mix on the crix a few times. Big improvement! or get this... http://www.dynamichealth.com/pa/aliz.asp

You stated your light is a "repti10 UVB" is it a screw in compact coil? It should be a florescent tube either a "Reptisun 10.0 UVB" http://zoomed.com/db/products/EntryDetail.php?EntryID=105&DatabaseID=2&SearchID=31&SearchContext=YTo2OntzOjg6IlNlYXJjaElEIjtzOjI6IjMxIjtzOjEwOiJEYXRhYmFzZUlEIjtzOjE6IjIiO3M6MTE6IkFuaW1hbFR5cGVzIjthOjE6e2k6MDtzOjE0OiJEZXNlcnQgTGl6YXJkcyI7fXM6MTU6IlRpZXIxQ2F0ZWdvcmllcyI7YToxOntpOjA7czo3OiJfX0FMTF9fIjt9czo4OiJTZWFyY2hfeCI7czoyOiI1MCI7czo4OiJTZWFyY2hfeSI7czoyOiIxMCI7fQ==
or Arcadia 12.0 http://arcadia-uk.info/product.php?pid=97&mid=12&lan=en&sub=&id= Repti glo 10.0 is a no no. Good luck!

 

[earthmarktwo]

How old is he, and how long have you had him? It's a good sign that he still appears healthy, but keep in mind they are tough animals and can survive a lot of hardship, getting sicker even though they still seem perfectly fine. How large is he? Are your crickets smaller than the space between his eyes? If they are too large, even by a little bit, I've found my beardie won't touch them. As soon as I go to the smaller size, he gobbles them up. Also, depending on his age, I would definitely ditch the mealworms. They have an exoskeleton called chitin that is impossible for dragons to digest. If he is fully grown, a few a week won't hurt him, but if he is young do not give him any more. All your temps look good, though I would check the UVB as suggested above, because ReptiGlo really isn't good for them.

It can take them a while to fully shed. My beardie does a few body parts at a time, a whole shed can take almost half a month.

Sorry for all the questions!

Also, if you are feeding him crickets in his cage, make sure none remain in his cage overnight as they can terrorise the beardie and stress him out.

 

[RelentlessChaos]

Yes, I have the Repti sun 10.0, come on you know what I meant. :wink: I don't know how old he is, but from my guess 3 months, assuming the pet stores assumption of 2 months when I got him. I've had him for a month, there is no stress within him. Relocation stress is done with. As for the mealworms, as I said I had no choice. Although the phoenix worms are finally here. I will consider the size of the crickets but they are usually pinhead crickets anyways. It could be the whole shedding thing I guess, I just can't see anymore. Maybe I will try to make a video for you guys to personally see. I'm telling you guys, for sure he is healthy. There is no slow sickness, he would have been done for by now if that was the case. I handle him once daily & have learnt his personality, when he doesn't want to be held, if anything is wrong with him etc.

 

[vampy]

There is no slow sickness, he would have been done for by now if that was the case.

Not necessarily, there are plenty of people on here who've rescued beardies who've somehow managed to get to a year old or more without proper lighting or enough food. They are normally sick by the time they are rescued, and very very small for their age, but miraculously still alive. Unless you've taken him to a vet there's no guarantee that he's completely healthy.

For your original question, I don't actively feed 3 times a day. I put in a bowl of greens, squash, and phoenix worms in the morning, then feed crickets. Their appetites vary day to day, i imagine cos they are in the stage of very fast growth, so someone is always shedding and a bit under the weather, but they eat at least 10 crickets each, sometimes easily double that. The bowl of greens and worms stays in all day for them to snack on, and I've almost managed to judge the amount right so it's pretty much finished by a couple of hours before bed, when I give another feeding of crickets, again they eat at least 10 each, and normally the ones who ate less in the morning eat more at night. Today they've all been extra hungry for some reason, and I reckon they had 20 crickets each at each meal, the crickets range from half the space between their eyes to a couple of mm smaller than the space between their eyes, not pinheads or anything.

 

[RelentlessChaos]

Alright fine, who knows if he is healthy or not if that's the case, so be it, you can only do so much it seems. Today, he was perfect running around on my bed & jumping around his logs. As for what he ate, no crickets, 2 mealworms, one for lunch, one for dinner & btw, he is given water daily by me. The phoenix worms got here late in the day so I'll start him on that ASAP tomorrow.

 

[Tonja]

my Geico at 4-5 months old eats 3 times a day, with a snack between each meal of a few silkworms or butterworms. Emily being about a 1 1/2 months, eats 6 small meals a day since I dont stuff her all at one time..she will get 6-8 small dubia nymphs each feeding and a tiny silkworm or two in between. Shes tiny still so dont force a lot on her at one time.

 

[RelentlessChaos]

Well today, I only did the phoenix worms... he had 4. I offered 3+ times & left them in his enclosure.