Feeding crickets

[electracrapps]

I have a bearded dragon that is almost a year old. One girl at petsmart says to feed her crickets once a day but another girl says twice a day. I feed her kale in between. So how many times a day should I feed her crickets?

 

[Claudiusx]

At that age, I usually start feeding live insects once a day, but then again its because my girl can EAT a lot in one sitting.

Does your dragon eat a lot of insects at once?

Also, you need to be giving more than just kale in the salad.

Here is a website you should check out:
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

-Brandon

 

[Beardednoob]

A dragon of this age still needs plenty of protein, I would honestly feed 2 times a day. Once the dragon get to be ~1.5 years old this should be cut down to every other day.
Mentioning the kale being fed, you may want to add other dark leafy greens in to the mix such as collard greens. :wink:

 

[ChiefsDaddy]

I would do twice a day. At that point, you still want your dragon to get a good amount of protein. Once they are adults, you can feed once a day, but a 1 year old dragon is still growing.

 

[Beardednoob]

I am not against Brandons post though, I should have worded mine a bit different, by the time the dragon hits 1.5 years of age they should already have their protein cut down to once every other day, some every 3rd day. But, again the factor remains of how much does your dragon eat in a feeding.

 

[Claudiusx]

It will depend on the dragon IME.

For instance. Kiki was doing 2 daily feedings of insects a day, until I noticed she was starting to get a bid pudgy. She is now on 1 daily feeding of insects and she still is putting on the pudge.

The best judge will be your own dragon. Is he/she gaining weight at a steady pace? Or is he/she getting fat?

-Brandon

 

[electracrapps]

Thanks everyone for getting back to me so quickly. I am brand new to this site. My baby eats anywhere from 20 to 25 large crickets at once. And she is looking a little pudgy to me. She is very wide. But her stomach is not dragging when she stands on all fours. Should I feed her as many crickets as she will eat or stop her at 25? I have gotten mixed answers at Petsmart. She LOVES the Kale. Thats really all I can find that she likes. She will eat a little bit of mustard greens sometimes. I have tried mixed veges, and she refuses to eat them. At first she would eat squash with her kale and now she wont even eat that. I would really like to broaden her meals so any ideas will be very appreciated. They told me at Petsmart when she gets older she can eat mice, but I dont like that idea at all. Do any of you feed your babies mice? My daughter has a pet hamster so a mouse is to close to a pet to me.

 

[electracrapps]

I will post a pic of her on here for ya'll in a couple of hours, when I get back from running errands. Never thought I would be a proud owner of a pet lizard, but I sure have gotten attached to her,

 

[electracrapps]

Oh and one more question, what about cutting her nails. They are very long. Would a dog groomer do that or can I do it myself? My vet said they couldnt do it.

 

[Beardednoob]

Oh and one more question, what about cutting her nails. They are very long. Would a dog groomer do that or can I do it myself? My vet said they couldnt do it.

Use standard nail clippers and a bright back light to do this, also may require some patience or a tired/sleepy dragon.
:wink: