Feeding/Supplement Question: QUANTITY, QUALITY, & FREQUENCY

[NoodlesMommy]

MY SCALY CHILD, NOODLE, IS A 13 MONTH OLD CITRUS FEMALE AND I HAVE LOTS OF QUESTIONS (GOT HER MORE THAN A MONTH AGO AND I AM EAGER TO LEARN AND TAKE ADVICE ON CARING FOR MY SWEET GIRL

-Is she considered a Juvenile or an adult?

-What kind of special considerations should I take for her age/age group?

-How often (per day) should I feed her?

-How much? (each meal)

-what time(s) of day is/are best to feed her? (How much time between meals?)

-How many insects/how many/much veggies? fruits?

-How much of each (bugs/veggies/fruit) in each meal?

-How variegated should I make her meals (bugs and foods)?

-Is it better to feed her by hand/tweezers or put it in the bowl (or both)?

-How often (per wk) should I dust her live food with Rep Cal Calcium? and How much do I use?

-How often (per wk) should I dust with Rep Cal Multivitamin? How much do I use ('serving size')

-Do I dust her live food in all her meals that day particular time/frequency or just one meal?

-How often should she be pooping?

-How much water should she be drinking (per day/per week?)

-Can she be trained to drink from a standing water dish? [[I spray her and use a syringe now and then but i am worried she'll get a respiratory infection that way/get water in her nose/ ears and i want her to have water when she needs]]

-Is it safe for her to drink water from the tap? [[I live in San Diego, CA USA and we have 'hard' water here]]

-Is it safe for her to bathe in tap water?

-If tap water is a 'no-no' what kind of water can she drink/bathe in?

-How often should I bathe her? [[she HATES baths...]]

-How often should I spray her with water? (her body/tail)

-What temp. should her drinking water be? (via syringe/spray bottle)

-What temp should her bath water be?




ALSO:

how much sleep should she be getting at night (not including daytime naps?

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR THE HELP! I AM A NEW BEARDIE MAMA AND THIS FORUM HAS BEEN SO HELPFUL!

 

[AHBD]

Hi again..... All good questions, but I will start out by saying that ALL of them concerning feeding can have various answers. She is pretty much an adult....you will have people saying that they grow until 2 years of age, but this refers mostly to a slower growing dragon. Most beardies are full size by 14-15 months, and may grow ever so slightly after that age. Can you post a full body shot of her from above as well as the side ? She looks pretty hefty there, so she can be fed live insects every other day, 5-6 at the most, especially if the bugs are large. By the time she's 15-16 months, feed her live food every 2-3 days, and you can reduce the amount by 1-2 insects. Of course if the bugs are medium rather than large you can offer a few more.

Fruits do not need to be part of her diet. Offer mostly greens like collard, mustard, turnip, arugula and kale as well as veggies like raw grated squash and green beans [ can be chopped in half ] Calcium only 2-3 X a week, VERY lightly on one meal, vitamins only 1, at the most 2 X a week, again, very lightly on one meal.

Spraying water on the snout is the way I've raised every dragon I ever hatched [ 1,000's ] and not one ever developed a respiratory infection. Offer water via spray bottle or eyedropper about every 6-10 days. As babies it's every day, larger dragons don't drink as often. No need for baths unless she gets dirty [ like if she steps in poo] Tap water may be fine but if you're concerned you can use bottled water or let your tap water sit out for 24 hours.

Lights should be on for about 14 hrs. a day, she will sleep for most of that time the lights are off.

 

[kingofnobbys]

She's beautiful.

I regard them as juveniles from 4 months til about 12 months, then subadults in their last growth period til 2 years old.

Juveniles I give two feeds of live insects per day + some greens
Subadults get one insect meal per day + some greens (since they are still growing steadily and need the protein and fats).
Adults , my gang are spoilt rotten , still one meal of bugs per day but it's only maybe 10 medium crickets , and greens daily.

As said , spoilt rotten , all mine are handfed - by finger tips - (mostly) because they enjoy it and helps reinforce the bond.

Pooing, every beardie seems different when they mature, some go regular as clockwork everyday, others have a habit of saving it up and might go every 5 - 7 , even up to 12 - 13 days between poos .
I give olive oil if no poo for 7 days. again every other day and resort to a bath and tummy rub at 10-11 days , rarely gets that far - no particulate substrates - so it's dietary / metabolism related for mine.
Giving my subadults/ adults a large silkworm or two each day with their diner seems to help with the pooing, more than 2 large silkworms per day and you can expect sloppy poos.

Dusting : Tu-F (pure calcium dust) very lightly every bug, Sat&Sun calcium dust + vitamin powder (1:1). I try to have one day no supps.


My lights are on a timer , on 6am, off 10pm. The lizards all take afternoon siestas and each gets a period to roam on the floor each day.
subadults and adults are fed after we have lunch , good and hungry by then.

Bathing : only when it's deemed necessary or helpful. Unless beardie enjoys the experience or likes to drink the water when bathing, in which care it's fine to endulge her.
Tap water is fine, if it's safe for human consumption it's safe for your pet.

I keep a spray bottle with tap water in it at all times - used for initial spot cleans when lizards have accidents when out, it's at room temperature and they seem to like it dripped on the snout for the beardies and of cause the BTS have water dishes that they empty every few days - they are thirsty drinkers and make very good use of their big blue tongues.

 

[NoodlesMommy]

Here are two pictures of her to give you an idea of size

 

[AHBD]

Yes, she's a pretty girl, looks healthy, alert + pretty much full size. Now is the time to feed as I described, the metabolism has slowed down and she does not need a lot pf protein to support her now. The focus should be on lots of good salads + veggies and insects every 2-3 days now.

 

[NoodlesMommy]

She's beautiful.

I regard them as juveniles from 4 months til about 12 months, then subadults in their last growth period til 2 years old.

Juveniles I give two feeds of live insects per day + some greens
Subadults get one insect meal per day + some greens (since they are still growing steadily and need the protein and fats).
Adults , my gang are spoilt rotten , still one meal of bugs per day but it's only maybe 10 medium crickets , and greens daily.

As said , spoilt rotten , all mine are handfed - by finger tips - (mostly) because they enjoy it and helps reinforce the bond.

Pooing, every beardie seems different when they mature, some go regular as clockwork everyday, others have a habit of saving it up and might go every 5 - 7 , even up to 12 - 13 days between poos .
I give olive oil if no poo for 7 days. again every other day and resort to a bath and tummy rub at 10-11 days , rarely gets that far - no particulate substrates - so it's dietary / metabolism related for mine.
Giving my subadults/ adults a large silkworm or two each day with their diner seems to help with the pooing, more than 2 large silkworms per day and you can expect sloppy poos.

Dusting : Tu-F (pure calcium dust) very lightly every bug, Sat&Sun calcium dust + vitamin powder (1:1). I try to have one day no supps.


My lights are on a timer , on 6am, off 10pm. The lizards all take afternoon siestas and each gets a period to roam on the floor each day.
subadults and adults are fed after we have lunch , good and hungry by then.

Bathing : only when it's deemed necessary or helpful. Unless beardie enjoys the experience or likes to drink the water when bathing, in which care it's fine to endulge her.
Tap water is fine, if it's safe for human consumption it's safe for your pet.

I keep a spray bottle with tap water in it at all times - used for initial spot cleans when lizards have accidents when out, it's at room temperature and they seem to like it dripped on the snout for the beardies and of cause the BTS have water dishes that they empty every few days - they are thirsty drinkers and make very good use of their big blue tongues.

BTS?

 

[AHBD]

Blue tongue skinks.