Beardy feeding

[chirish]

Hey all,

I have a question on what to feed my lizard mushu. I got my lil' mushu back in September when I want to say he was only a couple months old. Now he's (with his tail) over a foot and a half long. Such a cutie. Ever since then he's gone up and down with wanting crickets and not wanting them (though I do offer them daily). I kind of want to run my routine across some other eyes just to make sure it sounds good to others.

*Daily Mushu gets powdered crickets (the powder I use is ReptoCal which has calcium and vitamin D3). This crickets are gut loaded with greens and potato.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=6418
*Daily mushu gets his kale or collard greens (he goes through phases of what he likes), and summer squash
*Occassionally I'll give Mushu some banana and grapes and other fruits which he loves ( I keep away fro mthe citrus)
*Dail Mushu gets Rep-Cal Juvenile Bearded Dragon Food (which is the pellets)
http://www.repcal.com/BDragon.htm
*He has water daily in his cage.

*I want to put sand in his vage just to try it out before he get's his upgraded cage. I got the calcium rich white sand from petsmart. I hope he will be okay in it.
*Second I just bought some Flukers High Calcium cricket diet to feed my crickets.
http://www.flukerfarms.com/highcalciumcricketdiet.aspx

I'm kind of worried that the combination of the cricket diet, reptocal, and bearded dragon food will over load Mushu with calcium. Is this true? Should I still be dusting my crickets daily for him and how many times does everyone think I should feed him daily?

Thanks a ton.

 

[melissawf]

Your food schedule sounds good but get rid of the new sand! That calcium sand is death to beardies. What happens is they eat it and it clumps up in their gut and they get impacted. Think clumping cat litter. If you really want to try a sand, get the kind made for children's sandboxes and make sure it is sifted as there can occasionally be a large piece you wouldn't want Mushu to eat. You will have to watch him and if he is "licky", then you will have to take it out. Also, keep his food away from the sand. Most people who do sand keep it in one corner of the cage, away from where the beardies eat.

I assume you have good temps and proper UVB and all that since you didn't ask. Hopefully the sand is still in the bag so you can get your money back.

-Melissa