Gutloading and Feeding Help

[zonkey]

Hi all, a few questions here.
What are the staple leafy greens and vegetables I should be feeding my beardie?

As for insects I have some dubia roaches, and black soldier fly larvae coming in... I'll get some crickets and worms too. I want to gutload them all, so I wanted to ask if this product would be good https://www.amazon.com/Castaway-Organics-Insecta-Load-Mealworms-Superworms/dp/B07YSWTQ4M ? Or how about https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/flukers-high-calcium-cricket-diet-115-oz-2237167 ?
and how to keep the insects alive for a long time?

There is a slight chance I might adopt a beardie who has MBD. If that is the case, what foods would be most beneficial and helpful to her in this condition?

Please let me know. Thank you all.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi all, a few questions here.
What are the staple leafy greens and vegetables I should be feeding my beardie?

As for insects I have some dubia roaches, and black soldier fly larvae coming in... I'll get some crickets and worms too. I want to gutload them all, so I wanted to ask if this product would be good https://www.amazon.com/Castaway-Organics-Insecta-Load-Mealworms-Superworms/dp/B07YSWTQ4M ? and how to keep the insects alive for a long time?

There is a slight chance I might adopt a beardie who has MBD. If that is the case, what foods would be most beneficial and helpful to her in this condition?

Please let me know. Thank you all.

The best thing for a dragon w/ MBD is the UVB correctly placed and distanced -- diet is the same - here is a website for nutrition Nutrition Content ignore the kale info its out dated and is a good staple feeder --- BSFL will eat the stuff they come in - dubia roaches can be fed dubia food - dubia dew and what your dragon eats - most are not hot on greens but will squash carrots fruit etc-- do not feed carrots to the roaches and dragon too much Vit A- you will orange poop -- check out the protein content in the feed your looking at -- you dont want high protein in the grain/ food -- I get my food for meal worms from the place I buy them from - I also keep my dubias in a 10 gallon aquarium and they last a long time --

 

[xp29]

@KarrieRee touched on it, so I'll reiterate, don't feed hi protein food to your dubias. They convert it to uric acid and store it the way we do fat. High levels of uruc acid leads to gout in beardies. If you decide to breed dubias, babies require protein to grow, adults require some to breed. Feeder sized no protein at all. It takes weeks and weeks of being hungry for them to burn up the uric acid also.

 

[zonkey]

@KarrieRee touched on it, so I'll reiterate, don't feed hi protein food to your dubias. They convert it to uric acid and store it the way we do fat. High levels of uruc acid leads to gout in beardies. If you decide to breed dubias, babies require protein to grow, adults require some to breed. Feeder sized no protein at all. It takes weeks and weeks of being hungry for them to burn up the uric acid also.

@KarrieRee touched on it, so I'll reiterate, don't feed hi protein food to your dubias. They convert it to uric acid and store it the way we do fat. High levels of uruc acid leads to gout in beardies. If you decide to breed dubias, babies require protein to grow, adults require some to breed. Feeder sized no protein at all. It takes weeks and weeks of being hungry for them to burn up the uric acid also.

Thank you guys! That is really good to know. Forgive me for the silly questions, just want to get this right, but what are lower protein things I should be feeding to the dubias, whether vegetable/powder food?
Especially if I am getting the MBD dragon, I want to do whatever I can to make sure the food is the best I can get for her.

 

[xp29]

You can offer any left over veggies from your dragon, or you can feed prepared dubia chow, just make sure it has low to no protein. Thats just for the feeder sized dubias, vabies and breeds need protein.

 

[zonkey]

You can offer any left over veggies from your dragon, or you can feed prepared dubia chow, just make sure it has low to no protein. Thats just for the feeder sized dubias, vabies and breeds need protein.

These are the dubias I have coming in the mail, would these be babies? Extra Small 1/4" Dubia

 

[xp29]

They are, but if your going to feed them off at that size, still don't give protein. Babies need it to grow but if your feeding them off. Growing isn't in their foreseeable future

 

[zonkey]

They are, but if your going to feed them off at that size, still don't give protein. Babies need it to grow but if your feeding them off. Growing isn't in their foreseeable future

LOL true!! Thank you! So only give protein high feeds to other bugs, just not the roaches?
Would it be a good or bad idea to gutload crickets nad other bugs with a specifically calcium high feed for an MBD dragon? (I will have a good UVB bulb, the Reptisun 10.0 T5 I think it is...) and I have calcium powder as well. I heard you can do too much calcium, but not sure what the limit is when it comes to MBD, if that is the route I go I mean. I wont know probably until tomorrow or Friday if I'm getting the MBD one or not

 

[xp29]

Yes as far as i know dubias are the only ones that store the uric acid. (If anyone else knows for sure please chime in)

 

[hdochow]

i never feed our dubias anything but leftover dragon salad. sometimes sir henry eats it all, and the roaches have a day of fasting lol! he is 3.5 years and he is not protein dependent, so i don't worry about if his roaches get any to pass on to him. a couple times a year we grab some silk or super worms to add a little variety.

because of gout and the roaches being his staple feeder, we also add some tart cherry powder, we buy from tracie, to water in a dropper 4 days a week. that's not only as a preventative for gout, but also to hide his liquid calcium and vitamins. he refuses powders, and by the smell, the vitamins are nasty! he gets the calcium combo 3x a week, and the vitamins 1x a week. vitamin day is bug day for being a super trooper!

 

[xp29]

i never feed our dubias anything but leftover dragon salad. sometimes sir henry eats it all, and the roaches have a day of fasting lol! he is 3.5 years and he is not protein dependent, so i don't worry about if his roaches get any to pass on to him. a couple times a year we grab some silk or super worms to add a little variety.

because of gout and the roaches being his staple feeder, we also add some tart cherry powder, we buy from tracie, to water in a dropper 4 days a week. that's not only as a preventative for gout, but also to hide his liquid calcium and vitamins. he refuses powders, and by the smell, the vitamins are nasty! he gets the calcium combo 3x a week, and the vitamins 1x a week. vitamin day is bug day for being a super trooper!

You answered my question from the other thread here lol. I should have read this thread 1st

 

[zonkey]

Thank you guys!!!!
This is sort of on topic lol, but regarding calcium— so I’m going to get the dragon with MBD, the vet confirmed today (when my friend took her) that she has MBD pretty far along and is probably about 4yrs old. But said she’s doing good.
I’ve read you can give too much calcium to a beardie and cause problems, but what about when they have MBD like this girl? What is too much calcium for her? Would it be too much in her case, to provide her not only with calcium powder on her salad and bugs, but to give her greens high in calcium and bugs high in calcium too? And what about multivitamins? (Specifically, Rep-Cal Herptivite as I’ve been recommended, how often would I give that to her?) I’ve had trouble finding any good information on diets and appropriate calcium intake specifically for MBD cases

 

[KarrieRee]

Thank you guys!!!!
This is sort of on topic lol, but regarding calcium— so I’m going to get the dragon with MBD, the vet confirmed today (when my friend took her) that she has MBD pretty far along and is probably about 4yrs old. But said she’s doing good.
I’ve read you can give too much calcium to a beardie and cause problems, but what about when they have MBD like this girl? What is too much calcium for her? Would it be too much in her case, to provide her not only with calcium powder on her salad and bugs, but to give her greens high in calcium and bugs high in calcium too? And what about multivitamins? (Specifically, Rep-Cal Herptivite as I’ve been recommended, how often would I give that to her?) I’ve had trouble finding any good information on diets and appropriate calcium intake specifically for MBD cases

Flagging to Tracie out vet tech mod
@Drache613