Feeding, Calcium and vitamin dusting questions

[tlpiorkowski]

Basically, how much and how often?

Currently we are doing calcium every feeding and vitamin 1x week, but not at the same time. We pour some powder into a ziploc, jostle the crickets and roaches around until covered and then feed to Fluffy. They are usually pretty white. Is this too much powder?

Also, how do you know if you are giving them enough bugs? We have had her about 2 weeks now and s/he is about 9 inches long nose to tail tip. She Eats fine and will come up to the bag when we open the cage but will walk away before all of the bugs are out. We are doing about 8-10 medium crickets and 3-5 roaches 2x a day.

Comments? Thanks so much in advance.
Terri

 

[AHBD]

Hi Terri...your feeding schedule sounds good. Always be sure that the bugs are no longer than the space between Fluffy's eyes. Dusting can be done every day for young ones , the 3-4X a week for older dragons. You only need a VERY light coating though, the bugs should not look like powdered donuts.
Just a tiny pinch of powder, too much powder can cause constipation and if it has D3 they can overdose and become ill.

 

[tlpiorkowski]

Ok, I'll cut way back on the powder then, sounds like we are using too much. The donut analogy sounds about where we are, especially since our powder has D3 in it.

Crickets, we have been getting medium crickets, some are a little bigger than the space between her eyes and some are not. S/he does not have any issues with gobbling up the larger ones at all. S/he will actually go for those first. When we do have a couple that are larger, I usually will cut down the number of crickets we feed. Is there a bigger concern we need to be aware of? I don't want to harm Fluffy, but those seem to be the preferred food.

As for feeding, do people usually just put the bugs in the cage and let their dragons just hunt them down or do they purposely feed the bugs individually so that there aren't any extras in there? We have been playing with it, but it seems like with the wall decor we have the bugs get behind that and under the rocks and branches and hide out. Opinions?

 

[quyllur]

With crickets I feed individually, as I have lots of potential hiding places in my viv and I don't want them getting away and then making their way into my house, or staying in the viv and growing to noise-making size. I still get an escapee or two as Fitz will stick his tongue out to grab the cricket from my tongs and come away with just calcium powder or a leg and the cricket makes a break for it.

Roaches and worms I feed in a little smooth sided bowl I got at the dollar store.

 

[AHBD]

Large crix can cause impaction in smaller dragons....babies can swallow them but sometimes they can't easily digest the larger mass and it presses on their spine. Then it can cause paralysis of the hind legs and inability to exctrete it. This doesn't happen too often in larger babies [ over 10" ] but is serious enough to want to be aware of. It's not something that happens to other lizards, just seems to be with beardies.

As for keeping track of the crix, get yourself a jar or oatmeal container with a lid. Put the crix in with a pinch of calcium, shake them up until they're dizzy + moving slow and drop 2-3 in at a time. They are quickly caught by the beardie and none get to hide away while others are being eaten. It works best if you just do a few at a time until beardie isn't interested anymore.

 

[tlpiorkowski]

Oh wow! That is a good reason not to feed them large crickets when they are little. We measured her yesterday and she is about 10 inches from nose to tail tip. But I will still curtail her bigger bugs. Is that the same for the super worms? We got some that are medium, now I'm worried that those are too big for her.

 

[AHBD]

Superworms aren't great for smaller dragons for several reasons but it's understandable that you want to use them if you have them and if it's difficult to get other feeders. Some dragons get spoiled on them and then refuse other prey items, but if the dragon is young it should keep eating other bugs when it's hungry. To be on the safe side, cut them in half and offer them a few at a time to avoid the risk of impaction, it should be fine that way but it's best to offer insects other than superworms.