Hello & have a question

[Amy8387]

My husband david & I just got our (trechnically his) 1st reptile yesterday, a 3 month old beardie that he calls "Raden".

Raden is very healthy & alert, but he doesn't want to eat any pellets or veggies. His breeder said she feed them silkworms (they were in the tank with them & the worms were bigger than his head), mealworms, crickets, & lettuce & carrot mix & that only her adults liked the pellets. Since we brought him home yesterday he's eaten 15 gut loaded calcum/D3 dusted crickets. We've offered him shreded lettuce, chopped carrots, chopped cherry tomatoes, yellow squash, sweet potatoes & moisten Exo Terra juvenile dragon food.

I've talked to 2 friends that have 3yr old & 7 yr old dragons & they said he's in trasition & possibly a picky eater & not to worry just yet.

Should we worry?

Amy & David




Eddited To Add: Raden is in a 20 gallion long critter cage w/ 2 inches of white calcim sand, he has a large piece of driftwood in the middle of the cage with a rock in both the warm & cool side. He aslo has a hollowed out peice of wood that he hilds under. the heat is set at 86F, cool at 70F, & humidity at 60%.

 

[ELillady]

Don't feed him lettuce!

 

[Chris]

lettuce gives them the runs which dehydrates tehm

use salads off this list, teh staples are marked in green.

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

tomatoes arent a good choice either, limit the carrots, the list will tell u everything. buitternut squash and sweet potato are faves though, my girls really love the crunchy sweet potatoes,...

mealworms arent very nutritious and can lead to impactions in young dragons, so feed freshly molted ones, and use them mostly as treats.

silkies, and crix are fine. roaches are another great feeder.

if he doesnt end up eating teh pellets u can use them as cricket/roach food, that way theyre gut loaded with something good.

@ his age he can be offered 2-3 bug feeds a day and should eat about 100 crix a day. he wont eat much salad yet cos of his age, but keep offering it to form good habits for adulthood.

calcium sand turns to cement uin a beardies tummies and leads to death via impaction, a really nasty way to go. if you really want to use a particle substrate washed sifted playsand is alot safer, but still not withoutrisks, and alot cheaper. when scooping poo out of the sand include all the wet sand otherwise it'll harbour bacteria and if he keeps re injesting his parasites they'll blow out and make him sick.

young dragons are best kept on non adhesive shelf liner, news paper, slate or tiles. they lick everythign and will injest their substrates.

rock is the best basking surface, it holds heat better.
basking temps should be 100-110F. under 100 they cant digest food, leading to infections from food rotting in their tummies, more likely food related impactions, and they dont get the nutrients cos its not being digested, ie, lack of growth and immunity. he does need a cool side though so see what u can do with the basking area while still maintaining a reasonable gradient,..i use normal cheap reflector globes from teh supermarket, tehyre just fro heat after all so y waste money?

how are u measuring temps? if its not with a temp gun or digital probe therm ots inaccurate and can be as far as 20 degrees off,..you'll need an accurate way to measure them.

what kind of UVB light have u bought him?
thats as important as food and heat. without it he wont be able to process the calcium he eats and will end up with metabilic bnone disease, another thing they die from.

how are u keeping him hydrated? beardies are NOT desert animals contrary to popular belief. baths, misting and via syringe are all good ways. baths also help them poo..

dont worry fro a week or so till he settles in, look out fro his poos, smell and consistency. obviously if he gets really lethargic before them worry earlier. hes eating crix though right? it sounds like hes doing fine to me,...

anyway, that it from me!

good luck and enjoy your new baby! :lol:

 

[noel4142000]

well you can give them lettuce only if its dusted with dragon dust vgf try some flavor enchancers for the pellets

 

[Chris]

well you can give them lettuce only if its dusted with dragon dust

that might help with nutrition, but do u mind explaining how that stops tehm from getting the runs therefore becoming dehydrated?

 

[mark thorpe]

well you can give them lettuce only if its dusted with dragon dust vgf try some flavor enchancers for the pellets

no, lettuce is bad for beardies all round, virtually no nutrients, and it effectivley gives them the runs.. leading to dehydration

it is marked in blue on the beautifuldragons site, meaning feed rarely..

Lettuce, Romaine
1:1.3

1.6%

.2%

1.7%

2%

95%
Poor nutritional value, high vit. A (26 IU/g), high oxalates


personally, i wouldnt feed lettuce to Derek..



also.. about teh dragon dust..

http://www.reptilerooms.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=4756&highlight=hooray+dragon+dust

http://www.reptilerooms.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=3627&highlight=superfoods