Feeding Pak-man

Paki/Pak-man/Pakman is about 6 or 7 months old. I've had him for 6 weeks. Ever since I got him, I've been taking him back to PetSense to visit Kayla. It's because of her, I believe, that he is so tame and does not mind being held. Chances are, maybe, he would have gotten that way anyway just be living with us; but, PetSense hasd him since he was about 4 weeks old and he stayed at the shop for a long time before I bought him.

I've been feeding him canned crickets, dubia roaches, and soldier fly larva. Not all at the same time; but, I would mix the offerings up every day. Paki will eat the canned crickets if I cut them to make them smaller, especially those big ones. He seems to prefer living food that he can see moving around.

The soldier fly larva are auto-delivered every 4 weeks. I get the small ones which are about 1/4" long. This was a good size for Paki when I got my first shipment. Even though he is bigger, I think they are still a good size and up until 2 days ago, if I dumped some of these squirmy little things into his bowl, he would eat them up like they were candy.

I decided to take the 1/4" larva off of auto-delivery and switched to the 1/2" larva which I should get in the next delivery. I think this will be a good size as well.

This is the first time that I've seen him not eat any of the larva. However, he will still eat roaches and the canned crickets. The crickets smell bad; but, according to customer service at Flukers, the odor is normal.

I have discovered that black soldier fly larva work great in the compost bin and can produce kitchen scraps rather quickly. So, I'm not throwing anything away.

Paki does have some shed skin patches that are in the process of falling off. I've been told that shedding could be the reason why he's not eating as much. Other than this change in his wanting to eat the larva, everything else seems normal.

Should I just hold off giving him larva or just keep offering them to him?

I would ditch anything canned and give strictly salads and live insects http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder
and feed live insects - dubia roaches are a great staple - www.dubiaroaches.com
BSFL are great staple feeder for babies -- add them to the tops of his salads first thing in the morning- they will lure him to the bowl - DO NOT dust them ---

It's been just over a year since I asked about feeding Pak-man. He is over a year old now. I've cut back on his insects to just two or three days a week. I grow kale and collards in my community garden bed and have been able to offer him fresh greens every single day. Sometimes, he will let the greens dry out overnight before he eats them.

Ever since he's gotten to be longer than 12 inches (including tail), I've thought he looked fat. Kayla who used to work at the pet store always told me that he looked fine. She's not there anymore and I'm not sure if the other employees would have the same sense about Bearded Dragons.

Pak-man has never been very active in all the time we've had him living here. My son takes him out and I take him out. He will sit on my son's shoulder or he will sit on my chest. I hardly ever see him get very active unless there are bugs in his cage. When that happens, his weight isn't an issue. Or, it doesn't seem to be.

The last time we measured Pac-man, he was almost 18 inches. I do not know how much he weighs and couldn't even guess. My son thinks he weighs around a pound.

Should I get a set of scales? If so, what kind?

DonnaG said:

It's been just over a year since I asked about feeding Pak-man. He is over a year old now. I've cut back on his insects to just two or three days a week. I grow kale and collards in my community garden bed and have been able to offer him fresh greens every single day. Sometimes, he will let the greens dry out overnight before he eats them.

Ever since he's gotten to be longer than 12 inches (including tail), I've thought he looked fat. Kayla who used to work at the pet store always told me that he looked fine. She's not there anymore and I'm not sure if the other employees would have the same sense about Bearded Dragons.

Pak-man has never been very active in all the time we've had him living here. My son takes him out and I take him out. He will sit on my son's shoulder or he will sit on my chest. I hardly ever see him get very active unless there are bugs in his cage. When that happens, his weight isn't an issue. Or, it doesn't seem to be.

The last time we measured Pac-man, he was almost 18 inches. I do not know how much he weighs and couldn't even guess. My son thinks he weighs around a pound.

Should I get a set of scales? If so, what kind?

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You can get a kitchen food scale from Walmart etc weigh him in grams-

KarrieRee said:

You can get a kitchen food scale from Walmart etc weigh him in grams-

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KarrieRee, our town does not have a WalMart. I checked at Fred Meyer and the least expensive food scale was over $30. I did find one on Amazon for about $13. That's the one that I got. It can weigh up to 22 pounds and also has other settings for grams and other measurments.

My son and I just weighed Pac-man and he weighed 497 grams which is about 1.5 pounds. Does that seem like a good weight for a Bearded Dragon that is around 18 inches long? If I need to cut back on his bugs, I can do it; but, are there other ways to help a bearded dragon who is overweight trim down?

DonnaG said:

KarrieRee, our town does not have a WalMart. I checked at Fred Meyer and the least expensive food scale was over $30. I did find one on Amazon for about $13. That's the one that I got. It can weigh up to 22 pounds and also has other settings for grams and other measurments.

My son and I just weighed Pac-man and he weighed 497 grams which is about 1.5 pounds. Does that seem like a good weight for a Bearded Dragon that is around 18 inches long? If I need to cut back on his bugs, I can do it; but, are there other ways to help a bearded dragon who is overweight trim down?

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Oh my goodness you got a hefty boy there -- and yes get him out of his tank and let him run your LR floor - make sure there are no other animals around and block off places he can get under that you cant get him out of --- If hes eating his salads good offer more of those and feed only the insects 2 times a week -