Feeding for 2 month old

[rarneson]

We got a bearded dragon for our 10-year-old son for Christmas, and the family loves him (the dragon, not the son...although we like him too). Anyway, I was in Petsmart last night and told one of the workers (who works with the snakes, lizards, et al.) that our bearded dragon has just about doubled in size in the last two months. He's now about nine inches.

We told him that we feed him about 15-20 crickets in am, same number at night, with a little bit of lettuce mixed in. The guy was blown away with this amount of food. He said that he thought that number should be about 5 in am, 5 at night.

Any thoughts? I must say, the bearded dragon does look pretty pudgy, but I've never had one before and have no frame of reference regarding what they should look like at that age.

Look forward to the feedback. Thanks.

 

[Shakti75]

Never listen to what the workers at Petsmart or any other chain pet store tells you. In all my experiences, I have never found one that knows what they are talking about, and generally, I end up telling them things they didn't know.

Edit: Apparently you can't say the word i d i o t on here, lol.

 

[rarneson]

That aside, does anybody have any thoughts about the amount of food I'm giving him? Thanks

 

[Shakti75]

As many as he can eat in 15 minutes. When mine was that little, I'd say she would gobble up about 25-30 in that time.

Also, pleeeease don't give him lettuce. It has no nutritional value and can cause diarrhea. Greens such as collard, turnip, mustard are all better for him. This site will give you some better ideas for salad stuff http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

 

[rarneson]

great; thanks. So it doesn't sound like I'm feeding him too much; and, yes, I've noticed that about the lettuce.

 

[rarneson]

Just for clarification, did you feed him once a day? So he would eat about 25-30 per day? Thanks again.

 

[Shakti75]

No, twice a day. Generally, what I did was, when the lights went on at 9am, I put in a bowl of salad. Then, around 1-2, I fed her her first insect feeding, dusted with calcium. Then around 6ish, the second feeding, without calcium. I dust with calcium 6 days a week (one meal) and then with vitamins the other day.