Accidentally Overfed???

[Rc12500]

Hi! I'm a new Beardie owner I've had my Dragon, Mushu (yes like the dragon from Mulan)for about a week, today when I was feeding him out of my Kricket Keeper, I was tapping the little tube so the crickets would come out. I was about up to 9 crickets and was trying to get one more out, but when I tapped about 5 more came out. All of the crickets seem to keep to one tube for some reason I don't really know why, but did I some how hurt my Beardie? Should I not feed him as many crickets tomorrow? Should I only feed him greens tomorrow and then go back to normal cricket feedings? Help!! And also thank you!

 

[Adriana0918]

How old is he?

 

[Rc12500]

How old is he?

I'm not sure on his exact age but he's still a young guy, if it helps any he's around 6-7 inches

 

[fuchsiaSkies]

Hi there!

Did he eat 'em all? If so, you're totally fine! If he doesn't eat them all, never leave them in the enclosure with him overnight, as they might decide munch on him while he's sleeping! Don't worry so much about the number of bugs he's eating, just let him eat as many as he wants in 10-15 minutes twice a day (or three times if you can manage), and offer him fresh veg every day, even though he probably won't be interested when he's still small.

Good luck! (And got any pictures? :wink: )

 

[Rc12500]

Hi there!

Did he eat 'em all? If so, you're totally fine! If he doesn't eat them all, never leave them in the enclosure with him overnight, as they might decide munch on him while he's sleeping! Don't worry so much about the number of bugs he's eating, just let him eat as many as he wants in 10-15 minutes twice a day (or three times if you can manage), and offer him fresh veg every day, even though he probably won't be interested when he's still small.

Good luck! (And got any pictures? :wink: )

Yeah he ate them all :smile: I'm so glad he's ok! I usually only feed him once a day in the morning I give him around 9-10 crickets (which he eats in about 2-3 minutes he loves them!) and I change his water everyday and his greens whenever they start to get gross :lol: but he absolutely loves his greens he finishes his dish of greens (or gets close to finishing them) within 2-3 days! I usually give him collard or dandelion greens sometimes even a mix depending on what we have in the house, but thank you so much on you advice!
And here are some pictures

Here he is "hugging" my thumb :lol:

This is his favorite place to sleep or just relax

And this is him on under his basking lamp

 

[fuchsiaSkies]

Awwwww... I wanna squish his wittle face... I miss having the tiny babies!


On another note, I would really recommend giving him fresh veg every day and not leave it in the tank longer than a day. It starts to decompose as soon as you cut it up, especially if it's under those hot lamps for so many hours. I toss whatever my guys don't eat that day into the bug bin (I use roaches mostly), and they devour it. Plus, the bugs are now getting fat and healthy on greens that are good for my dragon, so extra bonus! And I'd still recommend feeding at least twice a day, Mushu needs all the high-quality live food he can get to grow big and stong (and sassy!).

 

[Rc12500]

Awwwww... I wanna squish his wittle face... I miss having the tiny babies!


On another note, I would really recommend giving him fresh veg every day and not leave it in the tank longer than a day. It starts to decompose as soon as you cut it up, especially if it's under those hot lamps for so many hours. I toss whatever my guys don't eat that day into the bug bin (I use roaches mostly), and they devour it. Plus, the bugs are now getting fat and healthy on greens that are good for my dragon, so extra bonus! And I'd still recommend feeding at least twice a day, Mushu needs all the high-quality live food he can get to grow big and stong (and sassy!).

Yeah he's really cute :lol: and ok I'll start changing his greens more often, thank you for telling me this other wise I would have no idea. :smile: In regards to my crickets how many do you think I should feed him? Like maybe 10 in the morning and 5 at night? Or should I do 10 for both feedings. Also since I have to feed him twice how many crickets do you recommend keeping at once I usually get 24 but if I feed him twice a day that'll only last me like one day. Sorry for all the questions I'm still new to this whole thing.

 

[fuchsiaSkies]

No worries at all!

I assume you're buying from a pet shop right now, so those crickets aren't cheap. I'd recommend you start ordering in bulk online and just keep them in your Kricket Keeper, and they usually come with some egg crate pieces, or just empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls (they like to hide). On some sites you can get 1000 crickets for around $20-30! They last a good while if you give them food (like leftover veg scraps, baby carrots, etc.), and he's probably going to go through quite a few as he grows. Some little guys can eat 20-30 appropriately-sized crickets twice a day! He's itty bitty now, but you're probably going to be shocked at how fast Mushu can grow if he gets plenty of food!

 

[Gormagon]

Actually he needs to eat as many as he can eat in 10 minute time frame 2x a day. It can be as many as 40 or more a day in some cases. It is a blessing that he actually eats greens at his age.... Most don't until they are close to a year old when, the transition from 80% bugs to 80% veggies.
In all honesty you have been underfeeding him just a little.

 

[Rc12500]

No worries at all!

I assume you're buying from a pet shop right now, so those crickets aren't cheap. I'd recommend you start ordering in bulk online and just keep them in your Kricket Keeper, and they usually come with some egg crate pieces, or just empty paper towel or toilet paper rolls (they like to hide). On some sites you can get 1000 crickets for around $20-30! They last a good while if you give them food (like leftover veg scraps, baby carrots, etc.), and he's probably going to go through quite a few as he grows. Some little guys can eat 20-30 appropriately-sized crickets twice a day! He's itty bitty now, but you're probably going to be shocked at how fast Mushu can grow if he gets plenty of food!

I guess they're not that cheep, I don't really know how much crickets usually go for :lol: the ones I get are $0.11 per cricket. I usually get 24 but I guess I'll start getting like 50 of them every time I go up to the store and then I'll probably start ordering a bunch online, my only concern is that not only is my Kricket Keeper kind of small to hold a bunch of them, but also some of them die in the keeper, is there anything I can do to keep that from happening or is that a normal thing? Also I have a kind of an off topic question. Mushu is shedding at the moment (most of his tail has already shed and his body and head are starting to turn white) whenever I open his cage to change his water or greens or whatever he kind of runs away from me (I've also noticed some stress marks in his belly and when I try to stroke his back he'll run from me too), but when he wasn't shedding he would run towards me and even try to climb my hand sometimes. Is he starting to get scared of me or something or it normal for beardies to be less social when then shed?

 

[fuchsiaSkies]

I have a small bin, too, as I'm not growing my own colony. It's probably only about the size of a 'large' Kricket Keeper. Do you have the one that's got 4 tubes in, brown vented lid? I can easily fit 1000 bugs (roaches or crickets) comfortably in that size bin (with egg crates or paper rolls), and yes, some are going to die, it's inevitable. If you're going to start ordering online, dubia roaches might be a better choice than crickets. They live a lot longer, with very low maintenance, do not jump, can't escape cuz they can't climb smooth surfaces, do not make noise, and do not smell nearly as bad as crickets, and are better nutritionally and more filling than crickets. A dragon will eat lots more crickets than dubia, but get the same amount or even more nutritional food in their bellies. 1000 extra small dubia at Mushu's age/size will probably last about a month, and dubia are great because they don't have a hard shell like crickets (lower impaction risk!) and can be eaten a little larger, so even if they grow a little before he eats them, he'll still be fine!

Yeah, some dragons get a little finicky when they're shedding. Does your tank open from the front or from the top? He could be seeing you as a predator if you're coming in from the top (like a bird!), or he could just be having a beardie mood swing, which is totally common. He hasn't known you for all that long, so give him some more time to settle in, relocation stress can be pretty hard on some little guys.

 

[Rc12500]

I have a small bin, too, as I'm not growing my own colony. It's probably only about the size of a 'large' Kricket Keeper. Do you have the one that's got 4 tubes in, brown vented lid? I can easily fit 1000 bugs (roaches or crickets) comfortably in that size bin (with egg crates or paper rolls), and yes, some are going to die, it's inevitable. If you're going to start ordering online, dubia roaches might be a better choice than crickets. They live a lot longer, with very low maintenance, do not jump, can't escape cuz they can't climb smooth surfaces, do not make noise, and do not smell nearly as bad as crickets, and are better nutritionally and more filling than crickets. A dragon will eat lots more crickets than dubia, but get the same amount or even more nutritional food in their bellies. 1000 extra small dubia at Mushu's age/size will probably last about a month, and dubia are great because they don't have a hard shell like crickets (lower impaction risk!) and can be eaten a little larger, so even if they grow a little before he eats them, he'll still be fine!

Yeah, some dragons get a little finicky when they're shedding. Does your tank open from the front or from the top? He could be seeing you as a predator if you're coming in from the top (like a bird!), or he could just be having a beardie mood swing, which is totally common. He hasn't known you for all that long, so give him some more time to settle in, relocation stress can be pretty hard on some little guys.

No my kricket keeper only has 2 tubes in it, I guess I have the smaller one, and maybe I will think about getting the roaches. Also his cage opens from the top, but he usually doesn't run away from me until I actually touch him but I'll keep working with him and help him get more comfortable in his new home hopefully it's just a mood swing or from his shedding

 

[Squirt585]

He wasn't overfed. My little guy, Squirt is 8 weeks old (6.5 inches) and eats around 30 medium phoenix worms a day and about 10 medium crickets and eats some turnip and mustard greens. Hes so cute! He reminds me of my very first beardie.