How many insects?

[lilyofsalen]

Hi,
I have a bearded dragon named Torrin. I am her third owner and I have a feeling that her prior owners might not have given her as many insect feeders (they fed mostly greens) as she needed as a younger dragon (they only fed crickets and didn't do so every day to a juvenile, growing dragon). They fed her a handful of crickets "at least once a week." When I first brought her home, I quickly went out and bought some super worms which she went CRAZY for. Suddenly this shy dragon was trying to climb the cage walls with her eyes dead set on the container of worms completely oblivious to all the strangers in her new room.
Anyways, I don't truly know her age but I think that she is at least a year old and she is 15 inches long. It has been about three weeks since I got her, and I started out feeding mealworms, super worms, calciworms, and crickets. But recently I've finally gotten my hands on some dubia roaches and have started feeding them almost exclusively. I have also started to count how much she eats in about 15 minutes and the numbers have me baffled.
Also, she does eat her salads (which contain the staples: mustard greens, collards, and dandelion and the other stuff :kale and romaine (in small amounts), shredded carrots, shredded sweet peppers, the occasional tomato/ blueberry). By the end of the day, there are usually just shredded vegetables (which she picks out) and a couple of leaves left in her bowl.

I only have two days worth numbers since I just started counting but here they are:

Day one
6 super worms
13 medium (3/4 inch) dubia
5 phoenix worms

Day two (she seemed especially hungry)
5 super worms
17 dubia (including 2 large)
8 phoenix worms

Are these numbers healthy? How much should I be feeding?

[claudiusx]

Those numbers look about right. They all have different appetites so just play it by ear and see how things are going.

-Brandon

[KarrieRee]

Feed her as much as she will eat w/ the dubias -- the super worms I am not sure -- the phoenix worms are good -- supers are a little more harsher on stomachs but she should be ok- make sure she is still getting her salads tho --- I see Brandon weighed in on this so you should be ok
Karrie

[claudiusx]

Yeah I wad going to weigh in on the supers but it looks like you're already limiting them so that's good
They are fine to add for variety sake just don't let her fill up on them

-Brandon

[lilyofsalen]

Thank you,
I'm glad that she's not eating too much. When you say play it by ear, you mean watch to make sure she does not become overweight, correct? How do you tell if a bearded dragon is overweight? Torrin has actually filled out a bit since I got her, to the point that my mom (who knows nothing about bearded dragons) insists that she is getting fat.

[lilyofsalen]

Also, will there be a day where I have to cut back on the insects? I've read a lot of different conflicting stuff but some say to cut back on the number of insects offered depending on the stage in life. Would this be the right thing to do or is it still all she can eat but less often (something like every other day) when she becomes an adult. Also, since I don't know her exact age how do I tell she's an adult?

[claudiusx]

Once they start getting to their adult sizes is when it's good to start cutting back a bit. But hopefully by then they are already very familiar with salads

Yeah that's what I mean. If she's starting to look too fat you can cut back on the supers since they are pretty fatty. And also pay attention to if she's eating just to eat or if she's actually still hungry. It sounds weird but if you pay attention, after awhile you'll pick up on your dragons subtle cues.



-Brandon

[kingofnobbys]

Can you take a photo of her from above and the side .
--will help us see her rough age and development and general condition.

Can you put her in a oblong food tub ( 2L or 4L ) that's long enough to fit all of her in it, and weigh her .
You will need to use the kitchen scales (most kitchens have modern low profile glass topped scales with a tare function .

The tare function sets zero grams.

The previous owners didn't indicate how old they think she is ?
This is important as it will government the dietary needs and feeding schedule.

[lilyofsalen]

She weighs 327.4 grams, is 15 inches long, and she is at least a year and some months old. Her story is that she was bought from a pet shop by her first owner who tried housing her together with another dragon. For whatever reason, that didn't work out and he wound up giving her to his friend and second owner who had her for a year.
Here are some pictures of her. If you need/want more, I have many more pictures.
[Click image to enlarge]

[Click image to enlarge]

And I know the sand is a bad substrate and will be changing it out with slate and excavator when I build her new cage and stand in about a week.

[KarrieRee]

I would feed her insects 2 times a week - I would recommend dubais - dusted w/ calcium D3 and a vitamin as well alternate between the 2 but I would feed those out of the tank w/ no sand other wise shes gonna ingest the sand - feed her salads mustard collard turnip greens green beans squash butternut shredded raw zucchini or yellow - fruit NO Citrus -- there is a list of foods on the feeding board that will take you to a website for other things to feed an not to feed -- she looks good to me so hope that helps
Karrie