I'm sooo confused...

[StarStitcher]

First I'm told to feed crickets, about 5 twice a day. Then I read to feed as much as she'll eat in any 10-15 minute period and do that 2-3 times a day. Then, I hear that I shouldn't feed crickets at all but to feed Reptiworms or Superworms. Then, after she gobbles a large meal of them up I read NOT to feed superworms or if I do that it's only as a treat.

FOR the love of Lizards... I have a baby that is about 2 months old. She weighs 13 grams and is 16.2 centimeters long. I do NOT want to kill her, I want a happy, healthy, big, loving lizard. I have calcium and vitamins. She has greens in her dish every day.

Now, what do I feed her? How much should she eat? How often? WHen is she considered a juvie? What changes then? I'm already an old lady with white hair but I'm going to be a looney one trying to figure this out. Every post I read says something different. :?

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Good staples are Reptiworms/ Phoenix they are the same. Horworms, crickets and dubia roaches are also recommended. Superworms are only for beardies that are 16 or bigger as babies have a kink in their system. Yes feed as much as she will eat 2x a day for 15 mins. If its crickets take them out after she's done eating as they can bit her. Yes I feel your pain had the same conflicts when I got my first one 3 years ago

 

[StarStitcher]

OMG!!! I hope she's all right. I gave her small superworms tonight and she ate 13. OMG... I hope I didn't kill her...

Ok, where is the best place to order Reptiworms or Phoenix worms from? If she survives I need to buy some.

 

[StarStitcher]

Update on Nessie. I spent the night terrified I had killed our little one when I gave her the Superworms. Sometimes this old brain fails to fully engage. Here I am trying to do my best and make such a huge mistake. This morning she was not even moving when I got up. I turned on her light and she looked bad to me, very lethargic. She wouldn't touch her crickets for breakfast. Early afternoon she started to go poop. OMG did she poop!!! I never knew a little thing like that could poop so much! They weren't runny or anything... there was just a lot of it compared to anything I saw from her before. She had a number of bowel movements and looked happy. I gave her a nice soak afterward and since my new temp gun came I was able to adjust her water better. I knew I was low before but didn't want to burn her eather. Today we had it up to a nice temp. After she went back to her nice clean house. About an hour later we looked at her and POOF! She was in HIGH molt! LOL. She had been molting before and silly me didn't see any more skin so I thought she was done. HA!!! She had just begun and now it was as if her entire body was shedding. Tonight she ate about 15 crickets, chasing them down through her tank. I think she's going to be all right.

By the way, I ordered some Phoenix worms today... The Superworms are in the garbage. That was too close of a call. I'm so relieved she's all right though.

 

[destiny1998]

Yay! For dragon poop

 

[Svanire]

Man I don't blame you for the confusion. We ended up starting out with mealworms and ALMOST bought sand for our beardie, the guys at petco seem to have no idea what they're talking about it seems. On the upside, generally they're actually pretty tough animals so if you mess up a lil they can generally come through it pretty well.

With mealworms/superworms there's only a CHANCE they could become impacted, and it's not like an instant death thing from what I've read. You could actually try a home remedy [a lil bit of olive oil and a nice warm bath, along with a gentle belly rub sometimes helps them pass the blockage], and if that doesn't work, a vet I've read can usually get things fixed. Long as yer beardie seems happy n active and has normal lookin droppings, they're most likely fine. Mind you I'm not saying impaction is no big deal, you want to avoid any chance of yer lil buddy getting sick, but if it does happen, I've read there's a good chance they'll come through if treated quickly.

As for food, I just recently switched from crickets to dubias, it is SO worth it. I found a local place that sells them for super cheap. For one, they're much cheaper than crickets. While dubias where I am are 22 cents each and crickets 18, dubias have a much higher survival rate [We'd always have most of our crickets die off within two days] and our beardie needs much less before she gets full, around 6-8 dubias vs the 25+ crickets we'd feed her a day. For another thing, they don't stink NEARLY as much, in fact you have to lean into the enclosure and take a big whiff to smell anything. Lastly, surprisingly they don't bite -at all-. I used to catch insects as a kid and got bit all the time but these fellas are suuuuper tame. They have a lot of advantages, it'd be super worth it to see where you can get them. I'm certainly happy I did.

 

[StarStitcher]

Thanks for the advice, I just ordered 1000 Phoenix worms for Nessie. I think she's a bit small yet to eat Dubais but I have little doubt that she'll be eating them in the future. I won't miss the crickets a bit. I'm thinking that my son will start a colony and care for it. My youngest son is 35 and lives with me. He helps me out with things I can't do any longer (I'm disabled) or are really hard to do and helps me raise my 5 year old daughter.

We all love Nessie so much here that it is just a huge relief she is well. I had read about that bath and oil and was prepared to do that if needed but I didn't think it was time to try anything till she had a chance to pass it herself. And pass it she did!!!

I have spent so much time on this site since we got her that I have hardly even looked at the news. Funny... I feel better NOT having read the news. Dragons are so much more hopeful.