Bath times & a few random questions

Benji loves his bath times , he’s always so tired after . Such a precious boy, I think once he gets used to everything he’ll fit into our family beautifully. ?

What are ways your dragon can get exercise even when he’s not completely used to you handling him yet?
Are there any toys that bearded dragons like to play with/interact with?
How many times a week should I feed super worms to him? Do they gave too much fat to feed them to him daily?
Approximately how much salad should he be getting and how often ?
Can I feed him mangos? Or do they do him harm?

We don't usually recommend alot of baths but if he likes them then a few times a week-- he can eat mangos there is a nutrition website on the feeding board look under the topic nutrition website- dragons do not play per say - they are more explorers and they love to look outside- some like to.go outside - mine really do not like it--- stresses them out to much - they are scared to death of birds- so mine are happiest sitting on the back of a chair looking out the living room window- they also run around the living room floor- salads should be offered everyday- look on the website it will tell you what to feed how often and what not to feed- superworms can be fed 3 times a week or so - and you can feed like 3-5 - you don't want him hooked on them so he eats nothing else- waxworms are real fatty so if you feed them feed sparingly- he can have meal worms butter worms and horn worms and silk worms- silks are another staple feeder-- all those worms and salads and staple feeder will provide a good diet
Karrie

Hi!

So all of this is just mine own experience and thoughts as a beardie owner ...

As far my personal experience with exercise and my dragon .... I think she tends to get hers by a little swimming during baths - but mostly just the time she spends out of her viv - walking around whatever room I am in around the house. Other then that ... she seems to like to just chilling - lounging around in her viv or on a pillow on my couch - or lounging around on me!

So not a ton - but for her the walking around and an occasional swim seems to do the trick. My girl is not an exercise queen by any means ?? .... so I can’t really help you out with that particular question in lots of detail.

I feel like those two things (walking around/exploring and some swimming) are probably the “average” dragon activity levels? My girl is 9.5 years old and she’s never interacted with a toy - but she’s a healthy sweetheart just by doing her own thing. In the summer, sometimes I will sit with her in the grass so she can get natural sunlight - SO, when she gets too hot, her bolting towards me when she needs shade ASAP is about the fastest she ever goes! ?

I think feeding come with a lot of factors .... how old is your dragon? He appears to be an adult? I

think that eating patterns have constant ebb and flow ... as babies and juvies they tend to tear UP food all day / every day - which is great of course - b/c they need to be doing that as the are growing. I swear, my girl Blue didn’t really willingly eat many greens at all until she was about 2 years old! ?‍?

So, the younger the dragon, the more protein is crucial for sure. If your beardie is a juvenile, then he will probably still be readily eating a ton on feeders - and the greens intake honestly may just depend on his willingness and interest. At 9 and a half years old, my girl very happily takes her collard greens just as easily as he takes her Dubia roaches and her Superworms. It’s all a strange little learning game as they go through different stages of life

Supers do have a higher fat content, but - and this is just my opinion - they maybe get a tad worse reputation then they might deserve. Blue has eaten them in combo with Dubia for most all of her life - and again, this is just me - but I think those two feeders compliment each other nicely as far as the nutritional value. I feel the key for supers is moderation and also an awareness of being able to take a consistent breaks from them to use a leaner feeder, in conjunction.

Dubia are much leaner than supers - Supers hold about 17% fat versus Dubia at about 7% fat.
Both are high in moisture, as well as high in protein.
Dubia have a high 800mg of calcium, whereas Supers ring in at about 177mg of calcium.

SO, they both have their high points. When feeding supers, I switch it up between them and a different, leaner feeder of Dubia. There are of course lots of other excellent feeders out there too! I just REALLY like a mix of Dubia and Supers - they are both, in my mind, quite easy to keep and pretty low maintenance ... not to mention both very popular for beardies taste buds!

As far as how often to feed - again I feel like you can look to your dragons stats for that. The adult dragons will not be chowing down endlessly, day in and day out, 24/7 like the babies and juveniles do ??!

Offer the food - my girl is very good at body language indicating “I’m done” ... or set your own number limits as long as it’s not over or under feeding. I’ve seen some people just feed like twice a week at adult ages and I've seen some people feed a tad more often at adult ages. They will
communicate their hunger and fullness levels, and you will know your best judgment as well You’ll find a happy medium between over feeding and under feeding!

An adult - which I think your dragon is - should also be offered their favorite leafy greens often and consistently - there are lists out there of greens that are amazing sources of vitamins, minerals, water/moisture content - and an adult chowing down on greens more so than protein is totally normal. Blue is a sucker for Collards - that’s her fav. Second runner up would be Mustard Greens!

I hope this maybe gave a little insight to things for you! I can’t claim to be totally correct or spot on about it all, o love to share my thoughts from the experience I have with my own dragon

Any other questions or thoughts, go for it!

Oh! And as far as eating Mango - dragon food websites seem to say Mango is a good treat for Beardies. Looks like they have some good Vitamin A content in them, but also some properties that can bind calcium. That’s something we find in other greens and fruits as well - that calcium binding potential - which pretty much means - don’t make it staple of that being the only thing your beardie eats - it eats too much off ....

Thank you so much and yeah, he’s 18 months old. I got him exactly a week ago, so I can’t do much with him yet. He’s still getting used to me, but he’s such a precious thing. It’s my first reptile and I’m very happy with my decision to get a dragon )