No - we will NOT skip a day of feeding NOR limit his food :/

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WolfMama

Hatchling Member
I need to vent :( I've been researching information and talking with people. With the exception of when someone NEEDS to do this for a medical reason - I'm so saddened and upset at people saying to not feed them for a day, seeing youtube videos where people say they feed the 5x a week, or that you only need to feed them once a day (I realize when they are adults their feeding changes, and you can put out a salad once a day - but the 1x day comments were for baby dragons!).

I can't bear the thought! I really can't! We missed ONE afternoon feeding and I felt SO bad (now, I realize that not everyone can do that - so I'm not talking about that third feeding. He has just come to enjoy that immensely).

We did start out with 2x/day. We didn't know 3x a day was necessary,and honestly, he wasn't hungry for that third feeding when we first adopted him. I think he was just so use to petsmart, and I really think he needed time to understand he didn't have to sneak to eat :( One day, he went down to his food dish and waited, and that was when he wanted more during the day - from then on he gets fed 3x / day.

What is amazing is it REALLY DOES make a difference. His little tummy can only hold so much at a time. When we fed him 2x/day, he'd eat around 15 crickets (now around 25 each feeding). That number didn't lessen with the 2 feedings - he just at just as many during a THIRD FEEDING. And, the one day we missed a feeding, he didn't eat more to "make up for it."

I'm just so saddened that people would only feed baby and juvenile beardies 1x/day - and all beardies only 5x a week "or so." He's SO hungry when we feed him! I couldn't bear not to feed him!

His growth was definitely being stunted when we adopted him, because of the way he was fed in the pet store, and the way he couldn't eat because of the other bearded dragons :( It took 2 weeks for him to overcome that, and once he did, his appetite began to grow and he has been growing in leaps and bounds ever since!

Sure, it was SO cute when he was itty bitty - but you know, he's every bit as cute and lovable as he grows! And I love to see him become stronger! He can now climb the stairs :) He did that for the very first time the other day. It was SO cute!

Okay, rant over. I feel better now, because I'm sure others here will share how I feel (well, I hope, anyway).
 

snazzyglasses

Sub-Adult Member
WolfMama":8x7v2qu2 said:
I need to vent :( I've been researching information and talking with people. With the exception of when someone NEEDS to do this for a medical reason - I'm so saddened and upset at people saying to not feed them for a day, seeing youtube videos where people say they feed the 5x a week, or that you only need to feed them once a day
You tell 'em WolfMama!! :protest: :)
And I COMPLETELY agree. (with the whole post! But I didn't want to quote all of it ;)) It's so awful when "experts" and pet store employees give out horrible information and animals suffer because of it. Grrr. Breaks my heart :( :(
 

WolfMama

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Thank you, Snazzyglasses! I REALLY appreciate your reply and support! I agree, it is aweful :(

And, someone told us recently that we're "overfeeding" him on crickets, because 60-70 a day is too much. This person was feeding their beardie wax worms as a staple, and only a few a day - and averaged one cricket a day - and romain lettuce (not other fruits or veggies). I don't know whether to be annoyed at what she said, sad about her beardie, or mad about the whole situation. :roll: :( :angry5: :banghead:

Thanks, Snazzy! :D

P.S., LIKE the protest sign :)

snazzyglasses":2sc5r13a said:
WolfMama":2sc5r13a said:
I need to vent :( I've been researching information and talking with people. With the exception of when someone NEEDS to do this for a medical reason - I'm so saddened and upset at people saying to not feed them for a day, seeing youtube videos where people say they feed the 5x a week, or that you only need to feed them once a day
You tell 'em WolfMama!! :protest: :)
And I COMPLETELY agree. (with the whole post! But I didn't want to quote all of it ;)) It's so awful when "experts" and pet store employees give out horrible information and animals suffer because of it. Grrr. Breaks my heart :( :(
 

jwideman

Hatchling Member
I believe rescues that were underfed will need more feedings with less food, while normal healthy adults will gorge every few days.
 

WolfMama

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
jwideman":etbfdq9i said:
I believe rescues that were underfed will need more feedings with less food, while normal healthy adults will gorge every few days.

Wow, jwideman, I hadn’t heard that one before. That's very cruel! Every "few days?" :shock: That's even less then people who feed 5x/week. :( There is no reason, other then a medical one, to leave them starving for even a day. They don't reserve food in their bodies. They will just slow down and try to reserve energy until fed again. Their stomachs are only so large and they will eat until their stomachs are full. So, if they are fed daily, healthy food, they will not overeat. They can only be overfed on "junk food."

Feeding them daily they will eat better and healthier then feeding them every other day - or worse every "few days." :( It may look like "gorging" to people because they are so famished.

I just read where a pet shop tells people to feed them for 3 minutes and absolutely NO MORE! That's just wrong. Our beardie now enjoys that he try and eat and run and hide (as he did in the pet shop :( ) He most certainly takes more then 3 minutes to eat! We feed him until he is done (which is typically within 10 minutes. I have a cute video where he looks like he’s done, but then he goes and eats one or two more. So cute.) I imagine doing that would result in their trying to get as much in as they can in 3 minutes – which might result in choking. I know our beardie will pause for a moment at times and then resume eating. When he is done, he goes up on his log to bask.

What people confuse (and this angers me because it's the ignorant pet shops, and vets that really don’t know about them, that tell people they will overeat otherwise) - is... the time frame was not designed to LIMIT food but the opposite. The time frame was so that people did NOT limit their food. As they grow they will increase in the amount that they eat. And, even as adults, they know what they need and will not overeat. So rather then tell people they eat "x" amount, they tell people to feed them for "x" minutes.

It's so very cruel to withhold food from anyone (unless necessary.) They see the people eating and all they can do is sit and watch.

They can't get out and hunt to feed themselves when they are hungry (and in the deserts of Australia, there is no shortage of food - they are not the Sahara – which is the same misconception people make with the sand). They are totally reliant on us. To deny them that basic essential need - :( It is just so very sad.

Not to mention their calcium and other nutritional needs. And a daily salad is important for an adult bearded dragon’s hydration needs. Yes, bathing is important, too, but so is the food for hydration.

Just thinking about how so many go without food because of misinformation – and in some cases laziness (it’s an excuse with some people) is so very upsetting :(
 

jwideman

Hatchling Member
You're probably right, WolfMama. As ours is a rescue that just eats a little bit every day, I wouldn't know. It's only what I heard. In any case, I see no reason to not feed if the beardie will eat. I think whoever told me about the "every few days" was confusing them with snakes.
 

carlisv

Hatchling Member
My fellas skip days on their own. They're both two year old males in separate tanks, and some days they just don't feel like eating for whatever reason. Although they will always eat their worms whenever they're offered, there are days, usually one or two a week, when veggies just don't seem to have any appeal. Dubs, who is practically a sphere, usually doesn't go more than one day without eating, but Richard is much more sedate (translation = lazy) and will go one or two days with maybe a bite or two if that. The other days he pigs out. I always make sure he gets a couple of tablespoons of water via syringe on his fasting days, and since he weighs over 700 g it doesn't seem to have hurt him.
 

frazz

Member
Hi i own a beardie which is around 5 month old and hes tiny only 21.3grams. Wont eat anything withing 10-15 mins i have too leave food all day.

I was advised too maybve starve him for a day or 2 and see how he reacts if i feed him for only 10-15 mins, so you would seriously disagree with this??
 

jwideman

Hatchling Member
frazz":1ubn28uh said:
Hi i own a beardie which is around 5 month old and hes tiny only 21.3grams. Wont eat anything withing 10-15 mins i have too leave food all day.

I was advised too maybve starve him for a day or 2 and see how he reacts if i feed him for only 10-15 mins, so you would seriously disagree with this??

It might be the time of day you're trying to feed him. Is it possible to feed him later?
 

frazz

Member
Not really as both of us work most days i might try and get him up about 6am instead of 8am and maybe turn his lights off at 8, u think that would make any difference??
 

WolfMama

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
jwideman":2hvlrzlb said:
You're probably right, WolfMama. As ours is a rescue that just eats a little bit every day, I wouldn't know. It's only what I heard. In any case, I see no reason to not feed if the beardie will eat. I think whoever told me about the "every few days" was confusing them with snakes.
Yes, I definitely think it would confuse them. IMO, all critters (people include :p ) like consistency and their bodies naturally will respond to that. That’s just it. They may choose to eat a little bit, but it’s offered and they at least have the option. How old is your rescue :) How long have you had him/her? Hope he is doing well :)

carlisv":2hvlrzlb said:
My fellas skip days on their own. They're both two year old males in separate tanks, and some days they just don't feel like eating for whatever reason. Although they will always eat their worms whenever they're offered, there are days, usually one or two a week, when veggies just don't seem to have any appeal. Dubs, who is practically a sphere, usually doesn't go more than one day without eating, but Richard is much more sedate (translation = lazy) and will go one or two days with maybe a bite or two if that. The other days he pigs out. I always make sure he gets a couple of tablespoons of water via syringe on his fasting days, and since he weighs over 700 g it doesn't seem to have hurt him.
That’s their option. I’m glad you offer them food every day :) Then they choose to eat or not eat. We can’t know when they are hungry or not. Some days our beardie doesn’t eat as much in the 3rd meal of the day, some days he devours it. But, he always has the offer so he can eat when he is hungry. I can’t bear the thought of any critter sitting there hungry, not knowing when they will have food again. LOL. I wonder if on the days they don’t eat the salad they are telling you, “Um, ‘scuse me, I’d like my worms and I’m not eating this <hmph> “ :lol:

frazz":2hvlrzlb said:
Hi i own a beardie which is around 5 month old and hes tiny only 21.3grams. Wont eat anything withing 10-15 mins i have too leave food all day. I was advised too maybve starve him for a day or 2 and see how he reacts if i feed him for only 10-15 mins, so you would seriously disagree with this??
Well, as I said, unless there is a medical reason, I think it’s cruel. Whether or not that would constitute a medical reason, I can’t say. There are times when something may be necessary for their health. That is very different then just not feeding them or offering them food.

IMO, as long as the food isn’t going to hurt him, I don’t see a problem with leaving it out. I know many people do that. They won't overeat on staple food. Salads can be left out all day and from what I’ve seen, most people will put them at the cooler end and leave them in there. I don’t see a reason to limit their salad eating to 10 or 15 minutes. I leave the pellets out all day. I've only seen him eat one or two, but they are there if he wants them. Our beardie isn't eating salads, yet. Our beardie, at first, did not eat his crickets in 10 minutes. We just kept offering till he was done rather then 10 minutes. Now, I'd say he eats within those by 10 minutes on his own. When he goes up on his log, he was done. But, he came from an environment of overcrowding and submission. :( He needed that time of reassurance.

IMO he may just do better with 3 meals a day, so when you are not home he chooses to eat his larger meal mid-day. That seems fine to me. If he could get out and get his food when he wants, he would. I know I was told here by someone 3x a day when we first got our beardie. I didn't think it was necessary at first, because he wasn't hungry on that mid-day. But, the person was correct. He didn't want it at first, probably because he never had it before. But, after a short time, we had a rogue cricket and he ate it, so I went and got more, and he devoured them. So, since then he eats 3x a day. Some days he is more hungry then others. I've heard that correlates with shedding. I can't say for certain. I do know that he goes through definite growth spurts, and is famished during each one of them. His appetite will increase, and within a couple of days he's grown.

I actually will leave a few rogue crickets during the day for him to snack on, and I leave some greens and pellets (at the very least, the crickets will eat those and won't bother him. NEVER EVER at night do I do this! But, I'm looking forward to switching to dubia roaches. They don't bite.).

Do you give him 2 hours of basking BEFORE you feed him? If not, that would be the reason. They need basking time before they eat. There body needs to wake up and get going. Or, are they getting a full 10 hours of sleep (lights off)? Also, do you leave the basking light on 2 hours AFTER they eat at night?

Also, how much is he eating? What is he eating? What type of lamps do you have and what are his temps? Start a thread here on that as there are very knowledgeable people who may find something in his setup. I know when we first adopted our beardie, we had a coil bulb, and I didn't know that they were not safe :( I felt terrible when I found out - as well as annoyed with the petshop and manufacturere for selling them for bearded dragons. We, also, used the infra-red night light. We now have a CHE, thanks to the helpful people here :)

There are may be other reasons as to why he may not be growing.
 

VeggieLoven

Hatchling Member
my baby will only eat once a day ive tried getting him to eat more he just wont. im gana start force feeding baby food but i know how you feel it worries me that hes not eating
 

Jess

Extreme Poster
To be honest, I disagree a little.

Babies should be fed every day for sure, I won't argue that. But if an adult beardie isn't fed every single day, I don't think it's the end of the world. During the summer I give Dudley his veggies every day, and give him bugs every couple days. In the winter he goes into brumation-mode, and I've gone several weeks without waking him up or feeding him. Right now he is half-awake, so I'll see if he wants to eat once or twice a week.

And even if you give them healthy food, adult beardies can and will get fat if you let them eat to their heart's desire. Reptiles are made to eat anything and everything they can find and exercise fairly little, so that they can go long periods of time without food and be fine. They like to eat, but I don't think that necessarily means that they are always starving. For example, when Dudley wasn't eating his veggies (he was getting way too chunky), I gave him some "tough love" and didn't give him any bugs until he ate a salad. It literally took him over a week without any bugs before he was actually hungry enough to eat a single bite of salad, but if I gave him a roach he would have devoured it on the spot.

I also have 3 geckos and a frog that I typically feed 2 or 3 times a week. My geckos get fat is i feed them more often, and one of them doesnt even eat every feeding. Dudley gains a lot of weight if I give him bugs more than twice a week or so. I see no reason not to give adults a salad everyday, but I don't think that people who don't feed their adults every single day should necessarily be labeled a bad owners either. Different feeding schedules work for different pets.
 

Scrammy

Hatchling Member
When i had my first baby i was told by a petco employee (who had her own beardie) only to feed her like 5-10 crickets every other day. .. Cuz we wouldnt want her to get to big. We didn't know any better... So thats what we did. I still feel so terrible about that!!!
 

WolfMama

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
You are referring to brumation, and that is altogether another topic. You can't feed a sleeping beardie. :lol:

Baby beardies should be fed more then once a day.

I completely disagree that they can be overfed on staple food. Every reputable source I've read states otherwise. Only the pet shops and certain vet sources say otherwise - and a few people on youtube who also list a plethora of other misinformation. And, they should be receiving exercise. They can't go out and get their own food, and if they could, they'd eat as much as they wanted to. And while I do not subscribe to the "in the wild" premises, when it comes to food they can eat as they like. There is no shortage of bugs in the Austrailian desert, nor of plant matter.

If a bearded dragon is "overweight" it's not going to be from vegetables, and approximately 80% of an adult bearded dragon's diet is plant matter. They prefer that to crickets when they are older. So, as long as they are fed their veggies, they won't overeat. And, one should consider looking to whether or not they are receiving viable options to exercise.

As for geckos, I wasn't discussing them, but you brought them up as an example :) I have a few friends with geckos and they feed them daily. They will get fat if fed too many worms as worms are high in fat content. They are not considered a staple food, but more as a snack or side dish :)

He can't come and tell me he is hungry. He relies on me. He can't come out and get food for himself when he is hungry. He can only sit there and hope. I offer, and if he is hungry he eats.

I would never skip a day of feeding (other then for absolute necessary medical reasons). There is no reason to do that, other then medically. I wouldn't want my beardie to go a single day hungry, or watch me eat :( - and be denied food. :( The very idea is just heart wrenching and cruel.



Jess":7lmoz0c5 said:
To be honest, I disagree a little.

Babies should be fed every day for sure, I won't argue that. But if an adult beardie isn't fed every single day, I don't think it's the end of the world. During the summer I give Dudley his veggies every day, and give him bugs every couple days. In the winter he goes into brumation-mode, and I've gone several weeks without waking him up or feeding him. Right now he is half-awake, so I'll see if he wants to eat once or twice a week.

And even if you give them healthy food, adult beardies can and will get fat if you let them eat to their heart's desire. Reptiles are made to eat anything and everything they can find and exercise fairly little, so that they can go long periods of time without food and be fine. They like to eat, but I don't think that necessarily means that they are always starving. For example, when Dudley wasn't eating his veggies (he was getting way too chunky), I gave him some "tough love" and didn't give him any bugs until he ate a salad. It literally took him over a week without any bugs before he was actually hungry enough to eat a single bite of salad, but if I gave him a roach he would have devoured it on the spot.

I also have 3 geckos and a frog that I typically feed 2 or 3 times a week. My geckos get fat is i feed them more often, and one of them doesnt even eat every feeding. Dudley gains a lot of weight if I give him bugs more than twice a week or so. I see no reason not to give adults a salad everyday, but I don't think that people who don't feed their adults every single day should necessarily be labeled a bad owners either. Different feeding schedules work for different pets.
 
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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

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