After browsing a bit in here, I can see that I have almost certainly not provided adequate nutrition for my beardie for about 9 months here. 
When my son and I got him, he was somewhere between 3 & 6 months old. Due to poverty issues, we weren't able to get crickets for him too often. We'd pick up small crickets, gutload them with calcium, dust them as well, and get them to him for maybe 4-7 days at a time, but only once every few weeks. This was the case with occasional mealworms, as well, up until I found out about the chitin issues, and switched to occasional superworms, instead. There were serious issues getting him to eat veggies, and I foolishly made the assumption that while not ideal, pellet food would be sufficient. He seemed to eat that without any problem, though he definitely had a preference for the red & tan colored ones, as opposed to the green. I started realizing that this may be a problem when I noted that both the juvenile and adult pellets have, as a main ingredient, wheat & corn.
I'm feeling pretty terrible about this now, and I'm wondering if I can expect any health problems from him due to a nutritionally deficient juvenile, and early adulthood, diet. I'm also really hoping that there is something that I can do to mitigate any issues that may have arisen due to this, but I know I can't turn back time, and there's usually no reversing juvenile nutritional deficiencies in most animals. For what it's worth, he's pretty active, friendly, poops regularly, and doesn't seem to have any overt health issues. I believe that he's grown to about the right size, and doesn't appear to be too thin.
Recently, I've been trying to get him to eat more veggies and fruit. Kale, cherries, strawberries, apples, pears, and I'm going to try butternut squash tonight (any serious issues with raw vs. lightly cooked?), along with some diced carrots. He goes crazy, and will happily take anything red by hand, less for orange, and I still have a terrible time getting him to eat greens. Also, especially when we're feeding him something live, he really seems to like going after my son's fingers. We're guessing it's due to color, as my son (biracial) has considerably darker skin than I.
For what it's worth, the pellet types were Rep-Cal Growth Formula/Juvenile Bearded Dragon Food, up until a few weeks ago, and Rep-Cal Maintenance Formula/Adult Bearded Dragon Food. Both claim to be 'with fruit'.
So any suggestions, or comments, on the whole scenario here? Also, I'm wondering if anybody has any suggestions for getting him to eat his kale/collards/other greens?
Thank you for anything you can suggest.
When my son and I got him, he was somewhere between 3 & 6 months old. Due to poverty issues, we weren't able to get crickets for him too often. We'd pick up small crickets, gutload them with calcium, dust them as well, and get them to him for maybe 4-7 days at a time, but only once every few weeks. This was the case with occasional mealworms, as well, up until I found out about the chitin issues, and switched to occasional superworms, instead. There were serious issues getting him to eat veggies, and I foolishly made the assumption that while not ideal, pellet food would be sufficient. He seemed to eat that without any problem, though he definitely had a preference for the red & tan colored ones, as opposed to the green. I started realizing that this may be a problem when I noted that both the juvenile and adult pellets have, as a main ingredient, wheat & corn.I'm feeling pretty terrible about this now, and I'm wondering if I can expect any health problems from him due to a nutritionally deficient juvenile, and early adulthood, diet. I'm also really hoping that there is something that I can do to mitigate any issues that may have arisen due to this, but I know I can't turn back time, and there's usually no reversing juvenile nutritional deficiencies in most animals. For what it's worth, he's pretty active, friendly, poops regularly, and doesn't seem to have any overt health issues. I believe that he's grown to about the right size, and doesn't appear to be too thin.
Recently, I've been trying to get him to eat more veggies and fruit. Kale, cherries, strawberries, apples, pears, and I'm going to try butternut squash tonight (any serious issues with raw vs. lightly cooked?), along with some diced carrots. He goes crazy, and will happily take anything red by hand, less for orange, and I still have a terrible time getting him to eat greens. Also, especially when we're feeding him something live, he really seems to like going after my son's fingers. We're guessing it's due to color, as my son (biracial) has considerably darker skin than I.
For what it's worth, the pellet types were Rep-Cal Growth Formula/Juvenile Bearded Dragon Food, up until a few weeks ago, and Rep-Cal Maintenance Formula/Adult Bearded Dragon Food. Both claim to be 'with fruit'.
So any suggestions, or comments, on the whole scenario here? Also, I'm wondering if anybody has any suggestions for getting him to eat his kale/collards/other greens?
Thank you for anything you can suggest.
