How much is too much for a growing juvenile?

[J4ckdaw-]

Hi there, I'm just curious on the amount of which I should feed my 5 month old (He will be turning 5 months as of tomorrow)? At the moment he is 115 grams and 14" long. I've been feeding him 10 calcium dusted crickets per feeding (2 feedings per day), 10 undusted BSFL per feeding and 1 hornworm before bed. He also eats a medium sized salad made up of collard greens, bell peppers and butternut or spaghetti squash depending on what is available that day. Is this too much for a dragon his age, am I overfeeding him? He poops 1-2 times a day, each day of the week.

 

[xp29]

Na that's an ok amount, if anything it's a bit light on protein but if he eats his greens that'll keep him from being hungry. Are you giving a multivitamin also, if not he needs that a couple times per week also.

 

[J4ckdaw-]

I don't have multi vitamin but that's something I'm looking to buy some eventually, no store near me has any in stock and the earliest they'll have another shipment is next Friday due to shipment issues. I'm only asking this 'cause it is starting to look like he is a bit chunky.

 

[xp29]

Can you post up a couple pics? (More cause we just like pics round here than anything lol).
They do start to fill out as the grow but usually it's not drastic till they are near full grown. But be aware they can and will pancake themselves out (usually seen when basking) and they can also inflate themselves if they are being defensive or contrary (that would be my Snicker Doodles, she is VERY opinionated lol) and it makes them look chunkier than they actually are.

 

[J4ckdaw-]

Can you post up a couple pics? (More cause we just like pics round here than anything lol).
They do start to fill out as the grow but usually it's not drastic till they are near full grown. But be aware they can and will pancake themselves out (usually seen when basking) and they can also inflate themselves if they are being defensive or contrary (that would be my Snicker Doodles, she is VERY opinionated lol) and it makes them look chunkier than they actually are.

Yes, one second...

 

[J4ckdaw-]

Can you post up a couple pics? (More cause we just like pics round here than anything lol).
They do start to fill out as the grow but usually it's not drastic till they are near full grown. But be aware they can and will pancake themselves out (usually seen when basking) and they can also inflate themselves if they are being defensive or contrary (that would be my Snicker Doodles, she is VERY opinionated lol) and it makes them look chunkier than they actually are.

Actually, now that I think about it it could have been him inflating... For a few minutes it looked like he was the fattest beardie alive and now he is more well proportioned

 

[xp29]

He looks really good in those pics. I can still see his hip bones just ever so slightly, to me overall he looks very healthy.
He is a very pretty beardie to. Is he translucent? It looks like he has the black eyes in one of the pics.

 

[J4ckdaw-]

He looks really good in those pics. I can still see his hip bones just ever so slightly, to me overall he looks very healthy.
He is a very pretty beardie to. Is he translucent? It looks like he has the black eyes in one of the pics.

That's great to hear! Would you suggest feeding him a bit more, maybe around 25 crickets a day? Yes, I'm really happy with how his coloration is coming out! He does carry translucent genes but they aren't visible on himself, if he were to have offspring they would be translucent or at least I am pretty sure that is how it works... Lol, I'm not big on breeding my reptiles at the moment! His eyes are normal but his nails are clear.

 

[xp29]

That would be ok on the food.
Clear nails are hypo's. Both hypo and translucent are recessive genes. It takes both parents carrying it to make it visible. If they carry the gene but it isn't displayed then the are "het" for it (heterozygous). Breeding two visible translucents is a bad idea, it could be potentially bad with two visible hypos (it seems to be two schools of thought on hypos). It's much better to breed two hets or a het and a visual. So if you should decide to breed him he is a fantastic choice . Some of the most amazing beardies are bred from two dragons that look unremarkable and normal, but carry heterozygous genetics.

 

[J4ckdaw-]

Thanks! When I do start breeding beardies, and I do plan on doing so in the future, I'll keep that in mind if I do decide to use him in a breeding pair. I was told he was a het, hypo translucent high color from where I got him so nothing you've said contradicts what I've learned. You are a great source of advice and I really appreciate your well educated responses!

 

[xp29]

Thank you. I plan to start breeding as soon as Sinatra is old enough. He is almost there now. He is mature enough but my females still intimidate him.
I've done a ton of research on it.
When you decide to give it a try, my advice is to breed high end beardies. The reason is because if you breed low end then people will impulse buy them and they end up mistreated and neglected. But if you breed high end beardies, no one is going to 500 to 700 dollars for a breadie on impulse, they are going to be more educated and way less likely to mistreat them. The thought of sending even one baby into a bad home is what had stopped me from breeding for years. But after talking to a lot of breeders and people who are experienced in them, they convinced me to give it a try.
Sinatra is hypo, het trans, het zero, blue bar dunner. He has phenomenal color saturation as well. Sweet Pea is hypo, trans blue bar dunner with a very interesting color. Snicker Doodles is a gorgeous blue bar tiger with very deep dark orange coloring, i suspect she may be double het also (crossing my fingers) and Ruby is a hypo leatherback that is cheetos orange and if I'm insanely lucky maybe het trans lol (i have no reason to suspect it, but a guy can hope ) 3 to 4 hundred should be the cheapest of most of those pairings (baring any normals) so i shouldn't have to worry about bad homes as much. Wow i didn't intend to type such a long post lol, but anyway you get the idea and if you read all that I'm impressed lol.

 

[J4ckdaw-]

Wow- haha! Sounds like you've got yourself a beautiful bunch of dragons! That's good to know, with the pricing and all, I'll keep that in mind!