how much vitamin/calcium do I give a baby beardie

[krystalsboy]

Hello. Frank is about 8 inches now and weighs 17 grams. He eats about 15 big crickets and does not seem to have digestion problems with them. Poops once a day. Has some greens everyday but not much. How many crickets should I dust with the vitamins/calcium d3?? All of them, 5 days a week?

 

[lpdjstitch]

7 days a week all of them and if i am right his greens too

 

[ErinMeetsMachine]

First of all.. don't feed him big crickets. He's a small guy, he should be fed crickets that fit inbetween his eyes. Which also means that he'll be eating a lot more (babies often feed upwards of 100 a day.. I would suggest finding an online cricket supplier). They need to fit inbetween his eyes to avoid the possibility of impaction (which is a blockage in the digestive system that is hard/impossible to digest.. can also lead to paralysis of the back legs.. and fatility) as well as provide proper digestion. As far as dusting with supplements... dust with calcium one feeding 6x a week. Then dust with the vitamins one feeding 1x a week. Your dragon should be fed 2-3x a day. Just to clarify it all.. out of the 2-3x you feed your dragon in a day.. only ONE of those feedings need to be dusted. Not all, that can cause them to become hypercalcimic.

Hope this helps.

Krystalsboy, I've seen you on other pots, we're glad to have you here. i know you'e had a lot of questions. to sum everything up can you please answer the following questions:

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

 

[krystalsboy]

How old is your dragon? don't know
How long have you had your dragon? month
How long is your dragon? 8 inches
What is the sex of your dragon? female
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 29 gallon
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? textured tile
Do you use UVB lights? yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? reptisun 10.0
How old is your UVB bulb? 1 week
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 6 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? yes/ halogen/ 50 watt
What are the basking temps? 107
What is the cool side temp? 80
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? wire and probe end
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? setting the probe directly under the light on the spot where she basks
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. big crickets and fresh greens and squash
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? 3 times a day
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? yes, reptivit and calcium with D3 once a day
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? yes, once a day around noon
Do you bath your dragon? How often? yes, 10 minutes every evening
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? no, mist her greens sometimes before putting them in the cage
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? no
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?[/quote] no

 

[lpdjstitch]

i wish mine would eat that many a day he only eats like 20 a day good luck with her

 

[diamc]

Hi, thanks for answering the questions. Your setup looks good. As far as the calcium and vitamins go, you should be dusting his crickets with calcium 5 days a wk, but only 1 feeding a day and the other 2 days you should be dusting with vitamins, but only 1 feeding a day. Since your beardie is only 8" long, you're taking an awful chance of impaction or crickets getting stuck by feeding him the large ones. The back legs on the large crickets are very big and beardies can actually choke on them. It would be much safer to only feed small crickets and make sure to only feed ones that are the same distance as the space between his eyes. Also, babies should be pooping 2 to 3 times a day so changing to smaller sized crickets would help him to be able to digest them easier and quicker.

 

[krystalsboy]

THanks DIane...I'm getting the little crix tomorrow and getting a fecal done. I have a sneaky suspician she has worms. SHe is just not very active at all. Seems to me she should be very lively and running around all over her cage. But she justs basks all day

 

[diamc]

That's good that you're getting the smaller crickets tomorrow. And, getting a fecal checked is also a good idea. Let us know how you make out.