Beginner Here

[KatieKat]

Hi everyone, I'm new to the site and being a bearded dragon mommy.. I got my Beardie on the 15th of October,he was maybe two months old. But now he is three months old, very small only three inches. He is so sweet, from day one, he has been very calm and enjoys being held. But I do have a few questions..
1. My Bearded Dragon Kit came with Sand, and he had sand in his exhibit at Petco, should I give him sand? I have a terrium liner.. I have Vita Sand
2. Kovu is very picky. He would eat collard greens and kale a week or two ago, but now he won't touch veggies, I've tried tomato,peas,mango,watermelon..
Will he like veggies when he is older and start eating them? He'll only eat his mealworms and crickets..
3. What is better Repti-Calcium or Repti-Vite ?
4. Is D3 the best thing?

 

[Ferociouscorpion]

1. No, using sand puts your beardie at risk of impaction. Terrarium liner or slate tiles is what most people here would suggest.

2. You don't need to worry about them not eating vegetables at this age. Babies will not really eat them but you should just leave a some in the enclosure so they can nibble on it if they want. The diet should be about 70% protein 30% veggies. When they are 1-1.5 yrs old you would need to start transitioning them to a 70% veggie and 30% protein diet.

3. Not sure but I use Rep-cal Calcium with D3 and Rep-cal Herptivite. Make sure your calcium also has D3 it helps them absorb the calcium. I dust their feeders 5x a week will calcium and 2x with the herptivite vitamins.

4. Use calcium with D3.

 

[KatieKat]

Thanks for the help!
I always spriknly his crickets with the powder, but today I used the Repti-vite only.. hould I use the Retpi Calcium? I used RV because it had D3

 

[Ferociouscorpion]

You should dust crickets with the calcium 5x a week and repti-vite 2x a week. Your calcium doesn't have D3 but its better to dust them with calcium 5x a week since insects don't have the correct calcium ratio for your dragon to develop healthy bones. Just make sure you pick up calcium with D3 the next time you buy calcium. Also idk if you have a UVB bulb but you do need one so your dragon can use the calcium.

 

[KatieKat]

Okay, I'll be sure to do that. And yeah, I have a UVB light. Thanks for all the help! Puts me at ease knowing he dosen't have to eat veggies quite yet!

 

[pyffersnpaws]

Hi... welcome to the best forum I have found for our little family members. I totally agree with the everything you were told... Personally I use the non adhesive shelf liner for my "babies" I found it's easier to clean up after them and you can wipe it down...also, here is the link to a great website for a list of all food that is safe for the bearded dragons. Hope it helps, and we would love to see some pics of your baby.
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Lisa

 

[tgolden]

I started mine on veggies from day one. I would suggest keep trying with the veggies, mine would eat them up like a pit bull on a stake then not touch them for days but having them there if they want them will make it easier on ya in the long run to get your dragon to eat the green stuff.
~tommie