I was wondering if someone can tell me how much would be considered too much for a growing beardie? He's about 6 months old now and every time I order his feeders it seems like I'm running low quicker than the week before... even tho I up the amount I'm ordering every time!
I feed twice a day, now his staples are dubia roaches and bsfl. Every morning he easily chows down 30-40 bsfl in less than 5 minutes... and sits by his bowl looking at me with the "where's my food at!?" look. Seriously, if I ignore him he comes to the glass and starts his scratching to get my attention as I feed my other tanks. Sometimes I give in and pop a few mealworms in his bowl, but I don't want to get him used to that since I read they are not a good feeder. I have them because I started the colony before I got Kempachi thinking that would be all I needed to feed him -SILLY ME.
In the afternoon he gets dubia roaches, about 20-30 of them.
Should I give him as much as he really wants or should I stick to a set amount of feeders per day?
-- I put veggies in his tank every morning before I put the feeders in, but the only thing he nips at are carrots. When I say nip... I mean one or two tiny pieces and then he's back to his spot waiting for his real breakfast.
At that age it sounds like he's just really hungry and growing well. I'd keep offering two meals all he wants. It's likely to plateau after a bit in between growth spurts but he may grow to full size relatively quickly (which is fine). While you can overdo it with bugs, especially when they get older, I'd be hesitant to cut back protein too much for a growing dragon.
It's less of a problem with a growing dragon since they need so much protein to support their growth spurts. Adult dragons often become overweight and an unhealthy diet can lead to kidney and liver problems among other issues. I think the key is to give them as much variety as possible to help ensure they are getting the nutrients they need from their diet.
Sometimes you can go up a size on the insects and feed them less because they get full more quickly. The bsfl are a small insect so they are not as filling even with the large size once a dragon is over the 14" mark.