Am I overfeeding my beardie?

[EsaMatt]

Hi guys, my beardie approximately 5 months old is eating up to 70 crickets a day, am I overfeeding it? It looks pretty fat to me, but other than that, he seems fine. Anyone?

 

[Rankins]

Haha...cute little pudgy thing
He does look a bit plump, but cute as heck. How much vegetable matter is he getting? 70 crickets a day does sound excessive depending on their size. It can cause protein overload cause possible problems with gout. You could probably cut the crickets down to about half of what he is getting now and add more veggies to the diet. It will probably be healthier and it will save you a lot of money. Vegetables are much cheaper than bugs.

 

[EsaMatt]

I dont have much options with greens, so Im getting toothy some squash for staple, with occasional red peppers and carrots. It eats them daily, but not alot, I guess I will do that!

 

[kingofnobbys]

Nah , he's fine, let him have as many crickets as he wants while he's young and growing. Heck he's only 5 months old , he's likely having a growth spurt.

 

[EsaMatt]

Oh hahaha im confused now! Do i continue letting him have as many as he wants? Or restrict to about 40 crickets..

 

[kingofnobbys]

Oh hahaha im confused now! Do i continue letting him have as many as he wants? Or restrict to about 40 crickets..

what size crickets are you giving him ?

Personally, I'd let him enjoy his live food.

 

[Rankins]

Heck If I was that size and ate 70 crickets a day I would explode and my blood uric acid levels would probably be sky high. Kind of hard on the kidneys, and possible gout issues. However you have gotten a couple opinions to chose from

 

[EsaMatt]

Oh hahaha im confused now! Do i continue letting him have as many as he wants? Or restrict to about 40 crickets..

what size crickets are you giving him ?

Personally, I'd let him enjoy his live food.

Im giving him small crickets of course! Dont wanna risk impaction. It takes one to two giant sized poos everyday hahaha

 

[EsaMatt]

Heck If I was that size and ate 70 crickets a day I would explode and my blood uric acid levels would probably be sky high. Kind of hard on the kidneys, and possible gout issues. However you have gotten a couple opinions to chose from

I know! I often wonder how those crickets fit into that belly of his hahaha, yeah that sounds bad your opinion?

 

[Rankins]

Not everyone agrees on every subject all the time, and that's perfectly fine. We all have had different experiences with our reptile ownership. It doesn't necessarily mean that different opinions are nessecarily wrong. Many people do experiment a bit with diet and ratios of insects to veggies.
My personal thoughts are that excessive protein isn't always utilized, if too much is given it isn't processed and utilized. It converts to uric acid and is either excreted through the kidneys or can be deposited in joints and organs. The protein molocule is rather large and can clog up the renal tubuals causing scaring of the kidneys. So the goal is to try to balance the amount of protein you give to avoid those problems. Too much protein can be just as dangerous to a young dragon as an old dragon. Too much is still too much regardless of age or size. Problem is, there is really no way to know how much is too much without frequent blood uric acid testing and protein levels. So its kind if a stab in the dark on judging how much to give. I tend the be more cautious about how much I feel is appropriate. I usually feed my Rankins the veggies early in the day and then offer the a bugs a couple times later in the day. That way I know they should be getting filled up a bit with veggies and still getting enough protien without overdoing it. Besides its cheaper...crickets are expensive and 70 a day adds up to a lot of money for a monthly expense.
However, as I stated...this is my opinion and others may disagree. Doesn't mean I'm any more right or wrong than anyone else. Its just has worked out well for me for a very long time.

 

[EsaMatt]

Hey, that makes a lot of sense thank you for that, ill probably go with veggies in the morning and twice cricket feedings later in the day!

 

[AHBD]

I agree with Rankin's, you should cut the feedings way down. Still feed twice a day, but give him 20-25 crix at one time. I've raised beardies for over 20 years, never had one with gout but there are dragons here quite often that develop gout which is an extremely dangerous disease. It's much better in the long run to use fewer insects and offer veggies.....the dragon is more likely to decide that it's going to eat greens if it's not constantly stuffed to the max with bugs.

 

[EsaMatt]

Hahahaha thats so true, my beardie needs more greens! Although my greens choices are really limited, is it ok if i just use squash as staples no greens?

 

[AHBD]

It's better to use greens along with the squash....if you can get turnip, mustard, collard, dandelion, arugula, bok choy, endive.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Hey, that makes a lot of sense thank you for that, ill probably go with veggies in the morning and twice cricket feedings later in the day!

I suggest bugs for two meals each day with salad offered after the 2nd bug meal, this way he'll get the bugs he needs to grow and develop and wont just pig out on the much less nutritious salad and not have room left for the insect proteins he really needs.

At 5 months old Peppa and Toothless were each getting about 30 MEDIUM sized crickets and 3 - 4 medium sized silkworms each per day in 2 meals (the larger bug meal in the am, the smaller mid pm with salad , ie 20 crickets in am, 10 crickets + some silks + salad in mid pm)..