how to feed

[moonkid]

im new with my beardie and his about 11-13 months and 12 1/2 inches long he eats as long as i let him..
i was told told to let him eat everything he can eats in 15 min but sometimess his doesnt want more than 10-12 crickets but he cant stop eatin mealworms i can tell his full but he is lookin for them..... soooo

how should i feed him? how many crix n mealworms? how many times a day?

sorry i know they are too much questions but i need to be sure he is gonna be ok in the future..


thanx

 

[braydensdad]

I usually feed my beardie once in the morning, this includes his salad and about 8 tp ten crickets. Then I give him another helping of crickets around noon and than another small helping about a hour or two before he goes to sleep. I have been told to stay away from the mealworms as much as possible, due to the threat of impaction. I have a shipment on the way of Pheonix worms which are supposedly real good for your beardie. If you do want to feed your beardie meal worms I would say may a couple every other day, from what I was told. And the amount of crickets a day is all going to depend on your beardie's age and size. Hope I covered everything. If you have anymore questions feel free to ask away.

 

[Embee]

I'm not an expert, but the consensus you will find on the forum here is that mealworms are not a decent staple feeder for dragons. Particularly troublesome for juveniles, the hard shell is an impaction risk. Beyond that, they do not provide adequate nutrition and as you've found, they are a treat that beardie will like, but aren't necessary what he needs. Crickets are much more nutritious (particularly when gut loaded). They offer a much better protein/fat ratio, among other things. You may have to do some tough love though... eliminate the worms entirely, and then continue to offer crickets and wait until he accepts crickets as his staple food. At that age, you dragon is still a juvenile so I believe, as many as he can eat 2-3 times per day. When they get beyond 18 months, they slow down.

Also, you could try phoenix worms (medium or large for that size dragon I believe). They can be used as a staple, have TONS of calcium (no need to calcium dust, but can be dusted with vites 2x per week), and most (not all) dragons tend to like them very much. When your dragon is larger (I believe the minimum size is 15 inches), you can try super worms which are very nutritious as well. They are well-spoken of around here for adult dragons. I imagine many around here have other good ideas as well.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Em

 

[Embee]

Here is a link to a previous discussion that may be of help to you:

http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=98998&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=mealworms

Em