Advice on salad.

[Elelia]

How much salad should my 4/5 month old beardie be eating? I offer her a large variety - endive, mustard greens, watercress, butternut squash, prickly pear, basil and rosemary but she doesn't seem to eat any of it on her own. I can hand feed her some squash but not that much (10 cubed pieces).

I got her a couple of days ago.

Also, could someone give me some advice about what times of day to feed her?

I've checked all her temperatures, substrate and uv are all correct and she seems quite happy, I'm just concerned she isn't getting enough salad.

 

[SukiLove]

At her young age she may only still be picking at her salad. Right now she should be eating lots of protein twice a day, as much as she wants for 10-15 minutes. Crickets, dubia, phoenix worms, silkworms are all great sources of protein for her. With mine I usually feed 30 minutes after lights on in the morning, all insects, then I leave a salad in there for them for most of the day, and then a second insect meal about 2 1/2 hours before lights off.

Your salad mixture sounds great by the way, keep it up!

 

[Elelia]

Great thank you, that's put my mind at ease a bit.

We've been feeding her dubia roaches and crickets at the moment but she only manages 10 roaches or crickets in one sitting. Hopefully she'll pick up soon.

Just to confirm, how often should I be dusting the crickets/roaches? We have calcium powder and vitamins and I just want to make sure we're on track. I tried to do lots of research but I just want to make sure because I don't want to upset her at all.

 

[SukiLove]

When they are young you want to dust calcium with vitamin D3 5 days a week, and 2 days for the multivitamins, this goes until they are about a year old. Now this is assuming you are using a UVB tube and not an MVB. If you are using an MVB you just need to use calcium without the D3.

 

[Elelia]

Great, that means I'm completely on track and my research has paid off. Yes, I'm using a UVB tube. Thank you so much

 

[SukiLove]

Your welcome. I forgot to say, the dustings are more frequent when younger and drop down when they are older, not that they ever stop. :lol: So, 5 days a week calcium + vitamin D3, 2 days multivitamin until about a year old. Then once they're over a year you can drop it down to about 3 days a week for calcium + vitamin D3 and 1-2 days a week for the multivitamins. I reread that and realized it could be taken the wrong way! :roll:

 

[Elelia]

She's not had anything to eat today, I've tried crickets and roaches as well as her salad but she's taking no interest. Am I being paranoid or should I worry?

 

[SukiLove]

If it's just a day or two I wouldn't worry too much unless she's showing signs to make you worry- i.e. black-bearding, unusual/extended lethargy, etc. Sometimes they just don't eat for a bit, usually when they shedding some tend to slow down on food. Just keep offering and watch her.

 

[Elelia]

Thank you, she seems completely fine apart from eating so I'll just keep an eye on her.

 

[DylanFreeman]

My beardie wont touch anything that doesnt move unless i hand feed it to him :?
The only fruit/veggie that he'll touch right is apples. I also have had no luck with pellets, and almost purchased All Living Things omivore mix/fruit veggie mix. Any thoughts? Looking for some reliable people to bounce thoughts off of because im raising this beardie all on my own!

 

[SukiLove]

I don't put much stock into pellet food, too many extras that are just not needed. If your beardie is young, he may only nibble at the salad right now. They need more protein when growing, so insects look way more appealing to them.

I would keep offering salad greens so that it can be recognized as an available food source. He may surprise you and start eating.

 

[DylanFreeman]

Im not sure how this site works. Can i add you as a friend on here or something so i can bounce questions off of you in the future? You seem very knowledgable!

 

[SukiLove]

You can post your questions in the appropriate areas and will get help from many experienced owners here.

 

[hmdavi01]

It's normal for them to not be interested in salad at all for a while (although you should still keep offering salad!). I take my little Albus out and put him in a feeding cage for his crickets but leave a salad in his normal terrarium at all times. You could try mixing in Nature Zone bearded dragon bites (most beardies love these) and your beardie should become more interested in his/her salad. If you're still having trouble feeding veggies, get different veggie baby foods and feed your beardie this until it gets used to real veggies (squash, carrot, and kale-if you can find it-are probably the best baby foods to get). Albus loves when I feed him baby food! It's also good bonding to feed your little cutie although a possibility of spoiling them.

 

[Elelia]

Yesterday all I managed to get from her was 3 squash pieces and a tiny bit of prickly pear. 4 crickets and 8 roaches.

Today she managed 1 squash piece, 1 prickly pear piece, 1 roach (it was a tiny one as well) and 4 crickets.

I'm happy she's eating at least something but it's still worrying me though. However, these past 2 days her legs have been shedding like there's no tomorrow, she's still pooing regularly and she's active and basking fine. I'm hoping she'll be back to her cheeky self soon.