Feeding schedule questions....

[khaleesithedragon]

Hey everyone, I will be getting a 2 month old beardie in January (I know, a long time from now, but i´m really excited!) and I would just like to know if any of you have a strict schedule for feeding your dragon?

How strict are you on your schedules? Do you feed them certain things everyday? For example, do you do crickets one day, and worms the next day? Do you do greens in the morning, and just protein in the afternoon? Do you always mix protein with greens? Roaches?

What time do you ¨wake up¨your beardie before the first feeding? After waking up your beardie, how many minutes do you wait before turning on the light again? (I´m thinking of getting a timer so I won´t have to worry about turning the bulbs on and off...)

what time do you feed in the afternoon? How many times a day do you feed your baby beardie? I read for a juvi it is 2 to 3x a day? Adults?


Any tips would be appreciated! Thank you!


edit: Any adult/juvi feeding schedule would be appreciated too, for future reference

 

[CooperDragon]

It's good to see that you're doing your research ahead of time and have come to the right place =).

Babies are fed 2-3x per day and will eat mainly protein/feeders (crickets, dubia roaches, Phoenix Worms, etc). I always provide a fresh salad as well, but often the little ones aren't interested. I still provide it so it's available and they have a backup food source to get used to. You will want to dust roaches or crickets with calcium powder 5 days per week and multivitamin powder the other two days. You can switch to 1x a week for the vitamin powder for an adult. Adults are offered feeders once a day and get a fresh salad every day. After a year or so (it varies with every dragon) they won't need as much protein as their growth slows so they switch to about 80% veggies/salad and 20% bugs (it's the opposite for babies). Keep in mind the little ones will eat a LOT. It may be a good idea to get a dubia colony started now so it's ready to go and self sufficient when the time comes.

As far as the schedule goes, I have the lights on a timer. They come on about half an hour before I get up and go off roughly when the sun goes down or a bit after. Morning is bathtime and feeding time (I have an adult). Evening is maybe a treat and play time. With a baby you'll want to do a feeding in the AM and one before bed. Give at least 2hrs in the light to digest before the lights go off in the evening because they need the heat to digest properly.

Here is a good list of salad items to feed. I usually put 2-3 items in a salad at a time depending on what is fresh at the store http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html And here is a good guide for worms https://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=76&t=197902

Lighting is quite important too. Please check back when you're ready to start getting equipment and we'll help you get all of the right gear to keep your little buddy happy.