Diet please help

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Gtxollie1

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I have a year old dragon and I'm not sure if the diet I give her is correct.
Everyday
1 large adult locust (calcium / vitamin covered 3 times a week)
A bowl of various greens (spring greens, and other stuff like sprouts when I have them)
1 calcium covered raisin (loves them as treats)
And a super worm

I'm about to get measurements.
I just want to make sure everything is ok
She doesn't eat the greens which is why I might try to find something else that she would like. Thanks
 

VenusAndSaturn

Sub-Adult Member
Your only giving her 1 locust and 1 superworm a day along with veggies? I'd be worried about underfeeding her then, i usually feed my two one year old beardies 10 crickets each and 3-5 adult dubia roaches with collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens available all the time. I occasionally give them red runners now as well.
 

CooperDragon

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I would try adding different veges to the greens. I've had good luck with different kinds of squash as well as bell pepper and green beans chopped up and mixed in. Offer that every day but also offer bugs a few times per week. Give her as many bugs as she wants in a 10 min or so window. As she gets a little older, you can start to withhold bugs a bit until she gets into the habit of eating the veges every day.
 

Gtxollie1

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VenusAndSaturn":19yexcwo said:
Your only giving her 1 locust and 1 superworm a day along with veggies? I'd be worried about underfeeding her then, i usually feed my two one year old beardies 10 crickets each and 3-5 adult dubia roaches with collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens available all the time. I occasionally give them red runners now as well.

The locusts are very big and I often have to cut them in two for her to eat. I have just measured her and she is 18 inches and I'm about to weigh her. Also, the bowl of greens is large so when she eats them that will be good. She will only eat them when I hand feed her and it takes a while but she does. She will eat anything I put in front of her if it's a bright colour. I always thought that 8f she was hungry she would the giant pile of fresh greens I give her each day. I guess not ? She poops twice a week and has done since I've had her. For some reason she will only poop when in the bath and its wierd cus as soon as i enter the bathroom she starts to poop so its a race to get her in so I guess she has gotten herself into an odd routine. I was told on here to lower her amount of bugs and at that point I was giving her two so I give her 1.
 

CooperDragon

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At 18'' she's pretty much full grown then. Perhaps try some different salad variations and see what she'll dig into before offering more bugs. I'd still give her a bug meal at least once or twice per week though. She won't need nearly as much protein as when she was growing, but will still need it to be part of her diet.

It sounds like she has a bathroom routine down. They certainly can learn by routine and it can be quite helpful. My guys are trained to go on linoleum flooring which is easy to clean up after and sanitize vs the tank.
 

Gtxollie1

Member
Original Poster
CooperDragon":1659t6ox said:
At 18'' she's pretty much full grown then. Perhaps try some different salad variations and see what she'll dig into before offering more bugs. I'd still give her a bug meal at least once or twice per week though. She won't need nearly as much protein as when she was growing, but will still need it to be part of her diet.

It sounds like she has a bathroom routine down. They certainly can learn by routine and it can be quite helpful. My guys are trained to go on linoleum flooring which is easy to clean up after and sanitize vs the tank.
Yh I love and hate the bathroom routine. I love the fact that it's in the bath do I literally just have to take out the plug and swill it away but I hate it because if I can't bath her for whatever reason I'm worried she won't ... Go.

I have just grated a mix of carrot, parsnip, sprouts and pepper and I'll try her on that. There's only a small amount of each but I think she'll like that cus of the colours. My plan is too sprinkle it over the salad and or mix it in.
 

CooperDragon

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That's a good plan, I hope she likes it. They each have their favorites so it may take some testing to find what she prefers.
 

Gtxollie1

Member
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CooperDragon":31e6fipb said:
That's a good plan, I hope she likes it. They each have their favorites so it may take some testing to find what she prefers.
So once she starts eating the salad do I lower the bugs or keep it the same. Thanks for the advice
 

CooperDragon

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I'd keep it the same for a while. By about 18 months old or so she should probably be on mostly salads but it varies. General rule is about 80% veges 20% protein but that's just a really vague guideline. I offer my adult dragon a bug meal once or twice per week and he eats his salad every day.
 

Gtxollie1

Member
Original Poster
CooperDragon":70f0i0kq said:
I'd keep it the same for a while. By about 18 months old or so she should probably be on mostly salads but it varies. General rule is about 80% veges 20% protein but that's just a really vague guideline. I offer my adult dragon a bug meal once or twice per week and he eats his salad every day.

By a bug meal do you mean the "eat as many as they can in 15 mins" thing. I came home today from school and after I posted this, I decided to sit her down and hand feed her the greens. She ate a whole cabbage leaf which was pretty big and so I will continue doing that for a while but I don't want her to solely rely on me for greens because she used to eat them as soon as i put them in and she would be waiting by the bowl if I was late but it suddenly stopped and that was it. Now she has a tiny amount on her own. I now know that lettuce is bad but when I used to give her mixed lettuce, she would eat the whole bowl but when I switched to spring greens (English collard greens)she stopped.
 

CooperDragon

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Yeah. It's usually more like 5-10 min but depends on how fast they eat I guess. The amount of bugs they're interested in will vary. It's great she ate a whole leaf. Hopefully if you keep offering variety you can get her into a routine of digging into the veges a little bit each day and finding some favorites. My guy goes nuts for yellow squash and zucchini. I cut it into worm shapes and put it on his salad or offer the pieces by hand.
 

PodunkKhaleesi

Hatchling Member
I’ve found that when it comes to veggies, each of my bearded dragons has an affinity for some variety of squash. One will lose her tiny lizard mind if she sees zucchini in her salad, while another will wolf down butternut squash as if she’s feeding a family of tapeworms. I’d add some butternut squash to your beardie’s menu, as it’s a great staple (and great for hydration as well). I think one user already suggested cutting it into small worm shapes, which can sometimes be the defining factor that convinces a picky youngster to give it a try. Endive, dandelion greens, and turnip greens are other good daily salad components. I had one baby beardie that would attempt to ferret out only the collard greens from her salad until I discovered her love of butternut squash. I would cut the squash into thin strips and put it toward the middle of her salad pile, so that she’d see her beloved orange veggie peeking out beneath the pile of mixed greens. She’d get so excited that she’d start Hungry Hungry hippoing the whole salad to get to the squash (hoovering down the endive, dandelion greens, and turnip greens in the process). Eventually I didn’t need to make her “earn” the squash, as she began to eat her greens with enthusiasm when she hit the juvenile stage. As for protein, dubia roaches are a favorite among my lizards, silkworms are great when available, and a bearded dragon will terrify you with its near maniacal enthusiasm for hornworms when you present these juicy bugs as a treat. Phoenix worms (BSFL) are calcium powerhouses and also make a good staple feeder. I tend to avoid super worms and mealworms, as they’re low in nutrition and can be rough on a beardie’s digestive system. As they enter adulthood and the protein amount decreases, the quality of the protein they do receive becomes increasingly important. I like the Fluker’s website for BSFL, Rainbow Mealworms for hornworms and crickets (yes, ironically I order everything except mealworms from this place), dubiaroaches.com and West Coast Roaches for dubias. For more safe staple veggies to throw into the mix check out the beardie holy grail food chart here:
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutritionframeset.html
 
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