Hey everyone.
I was just curious what the suggested feeding regimen for an adult female Dragon should be.
Riza's been doing great with what we've been doing for the two years I've had her, but I wanted to just check in on the suggested feeding for an adult.
I offer her a salad everyday unless she's bromating.
Normally it's mustard greens and shredded acorn squash (she prefers her squash over the greens :roll.
Lately I've been adding some pumpkin to her salad every other day and she really seems to enjoy that. Every now and then (with the weather getting better), she goes outside to enjoy the sun and ends up viciously eating whatever clover she can get.
As far as feeders go...
We're in the process of getting our Dubia roaches into a decent sized colony before feeding them regularly to the Dragons. As such, the Dragons aren't getting live feeders too often.
I have been buying superworms for Riza and feeding her about ten every other day and thinking about going back to buying bulk for her until the Dubias are ready.
Basically, how often should the adults be eating feeders?
Another concern of mine is that Riza's in the spring process of laying unfertile eggs. She's already had two clutches this year and I think she's getting ready for a third.
What should I be doing food-wise for her after she lays?
Thanks in advanced.
P.S.
As we speak, she's munchin' on her greens. She tends to munch on them throughout the day lately...which is nice to see.
Forgot to mention (mentioned in the title but didn't clarify), I estimate Riza to be about five years old.
This is her third year with us, but she was already a couple years old when we adopted her.
The person who sold her to us didn't know how old she was...so it's all a guess as to her age.
It seems like there are two common methods for feeding adults: a decent helping of insects every other day, or a few daily. Picky dragons who don't eat their greens unless they are really hungry seem to benefit more from the every other day method. As long as you are giving her greens and she's eating them, estimate her food out so that 80% is salad and 20% protein feeders, and you will be good to go!
As for her laying - if she goes off her food and looses weight before laying, after her appetite picks up, you can increase her protein intake to help her get back up to normal weight quicker. Worms with a higher fat content are good for this. If she's a good eater though even while gravid, you don't need to change much of her diet. Just make sure she's getting plenty of calcium to help with egg development. Just like with birds, creating eggs can leach calcium from their bones if they don't have access to enough.
It sounds like she is a good eater for you though, which is awesome! Keep up with variety and she will most likely continue that way.