- Beardie name(s)
- Devlyn
Hey everyone! I wanted to get opinions on the eating habits and schedule of my girl Devlyn. As the human I want to set her up for the best habits. However, she mostly will eat bugs around 6pm only, this is ongoing from when I adopted her at 6 months old. She is 10 months old now. I want to make the most of her growing juvenile time to become big strong dragon. I'm not sure if this slow down in weight gain or appetite problems are anything of concern.
Good changes in her eating habits from 6 months to 10 months old: Eating greens reliably, almost every day, the only caveat is that she has a few bites then stops. Around 8 months old, after the parasite infestation she had was finally cleared up she really picked up eating greens. Her picky habit is that she does not want to be observed eating greens. She will run away and hide if I see her eating greens. I wonder if eating greens when she had parasites hurt her tummy, so that is why she used to refuse them and still runs to hide. My best guess. She will eat very fun greens like violet flowers and dandelion flowers by hand/tongs. I’m working on a positive association to greens, plus giving her privacy. Greens go in her enclosure at 7am daily so she has hours of privacy to eat greens. Honestly she could eat more greens in my opinion.
The problem eating habit is with bugs. Since I first got her four months ago she mostly eats bugs at 6pm. This is likely the ongoing time she was used to eating. I will leave BSFL or Dubia roaches in her enclosure daily. I get home between 4:30 to 5pm on weekdays and then offer bugs by tongs or by holding the food dish in front of her for her to eat, sometimes I do pick her up to move her to food dish. I always use a white ceramic vessel for bugs and greens. I offer bugs for about 5 minutes every 15/20 minutes until 7pm at the latest. Weekends I start offering her bugs at noon, she still mostly eats at 6pm. Weekends I go longer between offering bugs, 1 hour every hour until she eats. Some days will eat little, like 2 Dubia roaches and greens, then she will not eat more. Around 8 months old she ate bugs heartily, gaining weight much quicker. Since 9 months onwards she has been picky and not eating as much and her weight gain slowed down. I offer crickets as well daily, gut loaded, I don’t feel comfortable leaving those alone with her because they could bite.
She poops 2-3 times a week, sometimes more often. When she had the parasites she pooped once every 10 days. What am I asking… Does anything sound off or wrong? Any suggestions for improvement? She will always go for hornworms, butter worms, or silkies. The local store which had silk worms stopped carrying them! I don’t know if I have in me to raise silkies. I have one bearded dragon and one tree frog. Would it even be worth it? Is this slow down and inconsistent weight gain look alright?
6 month old – 11.75 inches long
10 months old – 15 inches long
6 months old – 194 grams
7 months old – 212 grams
8 months old – 266 grams
9 months old – 294 grams
10 months old – 304 grams
8 Months old was good turning for her. No parasites. Good appetite. Now it's coming down and I want to stay ahead before any problems. The vet examined Devlyn one month ago at 9 months old, as well as fecal sample. He thinks she looks great. Tests are clear, zero pinworms. I sterilized her enclosure every week until the past month. I still do a big clean weekly, but have not baked her logs. 105°F hot spot. 75-80 at coolest corner. Thermo digital probes to measure. Heat lamp and Arcadia tube 12%UVB new from Feb 2019. No night light or heat, gets down to 65-70°F nightly. I keep her enclosure doors open about 1 hour daily to let fresh air inside.
Dust: Ca w D3 3x weekly. Ca only 3x weekly. Multivitamin 1x weekly. Blood tests at 7 months old showed good Ca
h ratio, no signs of MDB. She doesn't always get her supplements because she skips bugs some days.
She seems happy! No other signs other than this slowed weight. Her slowed weight gain has me worry.
Good changes in her eating habits from 6 months to 10 months old: Eating greens reliably, almost every day, the only caveat is that she has a few bites then stops. Around 8 months old, after the parasite infestation she had was finally cleared up she really picked up eating greens. Her picky habit is that she does not want to be observed eating greens. She will run away and hide if I see her eating greens. I wonder if eating greens when she had parasites hurt her tummy, so that is why she used to refuse them and still runs to hide. My best guess. She will eat very fun greens like violet flowers and dandelion flowers by hand/tongs. I’m working on a positive association to greens, plus giving her privacy. Greens go in her enclosure at 7am daily so she has hours of privacy to eat greens. Honestly she could eat more greens in my opinion.
The problem eating habit is with bugs. Since I first got her four months ago she mostly eats bugs at 6pm. This is likely the ongoing time she was used to eating. I will leave BSFL or Dubia roaches in her enclosure daily. I get home between 4:30 to 5pm on weekdays and then offer bugs by tongs or by holding the food dish in front of her for her to eat, sometimes I do pick her up to move her to food dish. I always use a white ceramic vessel for bugs and greens. I offer bugs for about 5 minutes every 15/20 minutes until 7pm at the latest. Weekends I start offering her bugs at noon, she still mostly eats at 6pm. Weekends I go longer between offering bugs, 1 hour every hour until she eats. Some days will eat little, like 2 Dubia roaches and greens, then she will not eat more. Around 8 months old she ate bugs heartily, gaining weight much quicker. Since 9 months onwards she has been picky and not eating as much and her weight gain slowed down. I offer crickets as well daily, gut loaded, I don’t feel comfortable leaving those alone with her because they could bite.
She poops 2-3 times a week, sometimes more often. When she had the parasites she pooped once every 10 days. What am I asking… Does anything sound off or wrong? Any suggestions for improvement? She will always go for hornworms, butter worms, or silkies. The local store which had silk worms stopped carrying them! I don’t know if I have in me to raise silkies. I have one bearded dragon and one tree frog. Would it even be worth it? Is this slow down and inconsistent weight gain look alright?
6 month old – 11.75 inches long
10 months old – 15 inches long
6 months old – 194 grams
7 months old – 212 grams
8 months old – 266 grams
9 months old – 294 grams
10 months old – 304 grams
8 Months old was good turning for her. No parasites. Good appetite. Now it's coming down and I want to stay ahead before any problems. The vet examined Devlyn one month ago at 9 months old, as well as fecal sample. He thinks she looks great. Tests are clear, zero pinworms. I sterilized her enclosure every week until the past month. I still do a big clean weekly, but have not baked her logs. 105°F hot spot. 75-80 at coolest corner. Thermo digital probes to measure. Heat lamp and Arcadia tube 12%UVB new from Feb 2019. No night light or heat, gets down to 65-70°F nightly. I keep her enclosure doors open about 1 hour daily to let fresh air inside.
Dust: Ca w D3 3x weekly. Ca only 3x weekly. Multivitamin 1x weekly. Blood tests at 7 months old showed good Ca
h ratio, no signs of MDB. She doesn't always get her supplements because she skips bugs some days.She seems happy! No other signs other than this slowed weight. Her slowed weight gain has me worry.
