how many???

[newkiki]

So i finaly figured out the staple for my beardie its going to be *spagheti squash* shreded and raw. But now i have to figure out how many criquets to give her per day and when to feed it to her during the day, and i have butterworms she absolutely loves to eat so how many can i give her per week. oh and i bought about 100 mealworms but just found out that they are BAD, so now does any one know how i can dispose of them ( i only have a beardie so giving them to another = no )

Thanks for future help!!

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

While spaghetti squash is great for beardies, it is much better nutritionally to use a dark leafy green as a staple veggie. Like collards or mustards. You can mix the squash in with the greens.
If you can tell me how old your beardie is... I can tell you how many feeders she will need a week.
Unfortunately, the mealworms are not a great feeder for beardies, due to their shell being hard to digest. Now if you have an adult beardie, mealworms are okay as an ocassional treat and they will keep for a good while in the fridge.
If you know of someone who has a gecko, they eat mealworms as a staple.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hello again! I got your pm and have sent pm's to three members here who also live in Canada. Of course, none of them are in Quebec, but they may be able to help you in your search for greens. :wink:
Since your beardie is an adult, at 3 years old, her diet should consist of 80% greens/veggies and 20% protein/live feeders.
So fresh salads daily and 30-50 live feeders a week. You can feed her both crickets and butterworms(great staple). Since you are offering crickets, you can feed towards the higher end number of feeders. The crickets are not as meaty/fatty as other feeders, so they can have a good amount of those.
You can feed any time of the day as you wish. Some beardies like a regular scheduled feeding. So if you want to do it the same time everyday, that will work. Also with adults, they do not have to be fed every day. I have a 6 y.o. beardie that gets fed every other day. It's up to you how you divide the number of feeders up throughout the week.
Are you supplementing with calcium and multivitamins?
Adults need calcium 3 x a week and a multivitamin 1 x a week.
If you have any other questions.. feel free to ask. There are many experienced and knowledgable members here that can help.

 

[newkiki]

i do put calcium on her worms up to now, but now does anyone know a trick to making them eat spagheti sqashti? i do not think they fed her any squash, i think it was only criquets and salade ,simple feeds.

 

[Momto3boys]

Hi

You can buy all kinds of greens at your local grocery stores like Sobeys....
I've also been taking advantage of all the vegetable stands farmers have been setting up during the Summer mths.

We also have fruit and veggie stands or health food stores that sell lots of veggies.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Thanks Brandy!

 

[newkiki]

tahnks, but what about the winter months what can i do about those, i'll do reaserch on the farms and stores that may sell the required greens but uo to now not many i know as them or they will but not until its in season so i don't have a choice but to feed her the squash and criquets an her absolute favorite butterworms. i'll go and see at 2 grocery store that are not to far away (20-25 minutes ) maybe they have what i'm looking for. lots to do lots to do...

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi newkiki, where in Quebec do you live? I'm from Montreal, my mom's family is from Charny, near Quebec City and my dad grew up on a farm in the Eastern Townships. I grew up in Greenfield Park and Boucherville, then lived in Montreal for many years before my son & I moved to Vancouver in 1987.

Having a 3 yr old beardie means 80% salad and 20% feeders give or take. If you have crickets, feed them the same food, especially squash & cricket food. They don't like greens as much; apple is also good.

There is a list of foods at www.beautifuldragons.com, under nutrition, which is very good. We also have the same sort of trouble with greens here. The greens that are most beneficial to beardies are collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, but none are available anywhere that I know of. I was told by a member here that she buys spring mix (mixed salad) for her beardie's greens. Another squash that is very good is butternut squash, one of our beardies staples. I've found at the bigger grocery stores you can find greens in the winter, too. Our beardies really like raspberries, so they get those as treats. They mostly eat super worms.

You said you had bought a bunch of mealworms. They're like candy to beardies, but don't have alot of nutrition. We also fed our first beardie Sweetie on mealworms when she was bout 5-6mo old. I made sure the worms ate greens, then they had some nutrition, so were better but not every day.

The lights you use are important, too, in digesting their food. If your beardie is pooping regularly and being given calcium 3x/wk and multi vitamin 1x/wk, then she's getting enough nutrition and enough UVB.

I don't know if any of this helps. It's hard to find greens in Canada. Swiss chard & kale are also good, but not everyday. If you have dandelions that grow in your area and aren't sprayed, dragons love dandelion, especially when it's fresh picked. They like the dandelion flowers, too and both are very good for them.

I hope this helped some.

Let me know how you're doing,
Deb
We have 6 dragons, 4 of our own and 2 we're fostering for a friend who's in Japan for a year.

 

[Jasper's Mom]

Do you have a Superstore or Loblaws near you? They usually have endive, which is a great staple green. If you have a health food store near you, they usually have things like collards, dandelions and mustard greens. I know it's a bit different in Quebec than in the rest of the country so I'm not too sure, but in Alberta I've been able to get all of these things year round.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Thanks Deb and Sandi! You gals are great.. you too Brandy!
Hopefully with all the great advice and stores you all suggested, newkiki will have some success in finding some greens for Kiki.