calcium

[GrumpyOptimist]

hey everyone, i just rescued a 4 year old bearded dragon about a week ago and i have two questions.

the guy who previously had him was giving him fluker's high calcium cricket diet for his feeders but not actually dusting with calcium. so my first question is, is this enough calcium? or does it need to still be dusted? i figured it still needs to be dusted and was gonna get repashy calcium plus, which i heard is good because it's calcium + vitamins.

secondly, the guy had the wrong kind of lighting (compact uvb) so i just switched over to an arcadia 12% with d3. so my question for that is if i do need to dust with calcium, do i need to dust with calcium with d3 or without because i have a bulb with d3? thanks!

 

[KeyBlu422]

Well, yes. Dusting the insects need to happen regardless of diet. Yes, I think using calcium with d3 would be fine but am not 100%. Personally, I like using the calcium and vitamin supplement separate containers but I think the calcium plus is fine. About the compact bulb, while if I had a tube i wouldn't switch, depending on the brand, compact bulbs actually offer quite similar performance, just in a smaller, more focused area. I use the Exo Terra compacts because it's hard enough to deal with what's in my tank already but will try out a tube the next time I need a new UVB bulb.

 

[CooperDragon]

Are you offering the crickets the cricket diet? If so, that should take care of part of their diet but won't hydrate them. I've found offering veges like squash and carrot and other scraps provide them with a good amount of nutrients and keep them well hydrated. It's important to offer hydrating live bugs. The Repashy Calcium Plus is a good supplement to dust your feeder bugs with and I would do so - a light even coating - at every bug meal. I would also offer a fresh salad with dark leafy greens and rotating items like yellow and green squash, chopped green beans, chopped bell pepper, and whatever else seems freshest at the store. I would reference this list for some salad ideas http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

The Arcadia bulb is a good one. It is a T5, correct? If that is sitting about 12'' above the basking area it should be providing excellent UVB levels.