Too soon?

kingofnobbys · Feb 27, 2017

wingedangel":16xjc9f7 said:
AHBD":16xjc9f7 said:

Aw, sounds like you got an energetic little ball of scales. How big is he/she, and can you post pics when he's awake again ? When you feed him, be SURE the bugs are no longer than the space between his eyes, it's very important for babies in order to to avoid harmful impactions.

Click to expand...

We've got a box of really small crickets. We had some large ones from Vane but we gave those to a neighbour with a 2yo beardie so that someone gets to eat them!

He weighed 38g when we weighed him yesterday & was 10" long. <<< he's maybe 2.5 - 3 months old based on his weight and size, so min TWO feeds of live bugs per day for now and for the next couple of months , then 2 live bug feeds per day for a while . More important he gets lots of high quality insect proteins and dietary calcium than greens and veg (if he eats his greens and veg already it's a bonus).
1/3 size crickets and smaller 1/2 size crickets will be about the right size for him, he's a cutey BTW.
Another good feeder insect to use as a staple for his are (SMALL) mealworm-sized silkworms (about 1.5"long), he'll love them and probably polish off 6 - 8 in a sitting instead of crickets for one of his daily meals.

We gave Teach a bath & he drank loads of water (which Vane never did). He's spending time down at his cool end & sits on his skull staring out of the glass & watching us. He hasn't pooed yet though but I seem to remember that Vane didn't for a few days cuz of the stress.

Here's a couple of photos of the little baby

wingedangel · Feb 27, 2017

We're going to try him on 2 feeds a day starting today (thankfully my partner is working a different shift this week so we can actually do 2 feeds). Next week he's only going to be able to have 1 feed a day due to our shifts though :/

We've had such conflicting advise that it gets confusing. The place that we got him from alternate between salad & live food so they'd only do 1 live feed every other day then give them a bowl of salad on the other days. Most people we've spoken to have said to give him live food every day so that's what we did with Vane. We only gave him 1 live feed a day though & he seemed to do ok on that.

Teach seems to favour the cool side of the viv a lot which Vane didn't. Teach also loves the bath! We put him in on sunday & he started drinking without any encouragement straight away! Vane would only drink if you put water on his snout.

AHBD · Feb 27, 2017

Every reputable breeder will tell you to feed live insects every day to a growing dragon. He can get by with 1 insect feeding a day if need be, but leave a nice salad in the tank all day. BSFL [ Phoenix or Calci worms ] can be left in a shallow sturdy bowl to be eaten at will.

He was pretty thirsty to have drank right away, but it's good that you know he's not afraid of water and will drink if put in for a short soak which doesn't need to be any more than a few minutes ling in warm or lukewarm water.

Sounds like he's settling in quite well though.

kingofnobbys · Feb 27, 2017

AHBD":ydql7z6j said:
Every reputable breeder will tell you to feed live insects every day to a growing dragon. He can get by with 1 insect feeding a day if need be, but leave a nice salad in the tank all day. BSFL [ Phoenix or Calci worms ] can be left in a shallow sturdy bowl to be eaten at will.

He was pretty thirsty to have drank right away, but it's good that you know he's not afraid of water and will drink if put in for a short soak which doesn't need to be any more than a few minutes ling in warm or lukewarm water.

Sounds like he's settling in quite well though.

Silkworms are also good feeders who can be left on a bit of silkworm chow or a fresh mulberry leaf after he's had his first live insect meal of the day, for him to notice and eat later when gets hungry again.
With Peppa and Toothless we did a big feed of live crickets in the am then a smaller feed of crickets at about lunchtime (we're retired so could do that) and I'd then deposit a mulberry leaf with 8 small or 4 medium silkworms in each of their salad bowls with their buk choy greens and grated veg. Checked after their bed time and usually all the silkworms were gone.
Silkworms wont travel far and tended to stay in the bowl with the mulberry leaf (maybe hiding under it's remnants).
This made 3 live insect meals per day each.

You have access to commercially grown BSF maggots in the USA, not easy to find here in Australia (sold as lizard food) so as already suggested they make a good staple feeder insect who will stay put in the dish and will wriggle about and the wriggling will draw the hatchling's attention.

wingedangel · Feb 27, 2017

Went to the shop at lunch time & they said that they do 2 feeds a day (that's fine cuz I can work that around my lunch) & give them salad every other day with their calcium. I'm thinking of trying that & seeing how we get on. With Vane we left salad in his viv all day then did 1 live feed in the evening.

A lot of it is trial & error I guess but with Vane having an unexplained illness & a sudden death, we want to make sure that we're doing everything right.

LinusTheOrange · Feb 27, 2017

Dubia roaches are also an excellent staple feeder. They have more protein than crickets, but less calcium than bsf larvae, so they do need to be dusted with calcium powder. As an added bonus, they don't make all the noise that crickets do.

kingofnobbys · Feb 28, 2017

LinusTheOrange":3qxj6hxt said:
Dubia roaches are also an excellent staple feeder. They have more protein than crickets, but less calcium than bsf larvae, so they do need to be dusted with calcium powder. As an added bonus, they don't make all the noise that crickets do.

Only adult male crickets churp. personally .... I like the sound , reminds me of summer nights , we get wild crickets in the gardens and lawns here expecially in summer.

kingofnobbys · Feb 28, 2017

wingedangel":3f3o6ycs said:
Went to the shop at lunch time & they said that they do 2 feeds a day (that's fine cuz I can work that around my lunch) & give them salad every other day with their calcium. I'm thinking of trying that & seeing how we get on. With Vane we left salad in his viv all day then did 1 live feed in the evening.

A lot of it is trial & error I guess but with Vane having an unexplained illness & a sudden death, we want to make sure that we're doing everything right.

2 live feeds of bugs per day are OK , but not optimal for such a young beardie , but not everyone can manage to be home to give a second of three bug meals near lunch time.

I give all my crickets a light dusting of either calcium powder (or a mix of vitamin and calcium powder (on weekends only)).

wingedangel · Feb 28, 2017

Just fed him his live food & he is slowly eating (he won't eat if you're watching him). I'll give him another 10mins & then get the rest of the crickets out.
He's getting there but I'm still scared that the same thing will happen to Teach as Vane seemed to get ill overnight with no explanation

traildrifterphalanx · Mar 1, 2017

A little off topic but the reason I even got a bearded dragon (besides loving them) was because my cat is getting older (like 10yrs? so much life still in her!) and I wanted another loving pet that would live long for when the time comes that she passes (huge downer, she is in no shape to be going anytime soon, just the thought destroys me.)

There is no set time frame on when you should or should not get more loving pets into your life! I'm glad you found another companion to love and put into a good home.

As far as feeding, there are already many great suggestions, but I thought I'd throw in one more that seems to work with my guys.

Main staple is dubias and BSFL for the youngest with occasional crickets in a pinch. I actually dust the container that holds the feeders (a cricket cage, essentially) before adding the bugs so that they just dust themselves by kicking around, however I only add enough bugs to feed off in a day or two.

When I do feed crickets, I actually remove the food bowl and place the dragon I'm feeding onto the floor of the enclosure and grab a handful (like 3-4) crickets and toss them against the inside wall of the enclosure, making them bounce off and basically stunning them for a moment, giving time for him to eat them up before they flip around like popping popcorn.
The stunning holds them in place, and the movement of them falling onto the enclosure floor triggers the movement/prey detector with the dragon and he reacts immediately (until full)
Never tried chilling them in the fridge.

Dubias suck at climbing, so putting them into a flatter bowl in the enclosure while you're away works really well. They cant get out and them kicking around trying could entice your beardie. I do this for when I'm at work and come back to an empty bowl

Rankins · Mar 1, 2017

I have a cat that is 17 y/o and I'll miss her terribly when she's gone. But most of my reptiles will live to be 50+ years old...so I'll be dead before they will.

Too soon?

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