Licky-Bowl

[tattykassy]

Hey All,
So I want to get some opinions here about the "licky bowl" I have set up for my beardie as of recent.
Back before I got my beardie I was working at a pet store and that is how I had my first encounter with a bearded dragon, I was charged with maintaining the reptile section in the morning before we opened and looking after the feeder bugs. I read as much as I could about them while I was there to try and make sure I was doing the right things for them and even convinced the manager to change their diet as they had them on mealworms with a red,yellow pepper and swiss chard salad. <----- Terrible!

Well when I wasn't there I noticed they were not feeding them enough or even giving them calcium or vitamins and reguardless of how much I asked my co-workers to do it they were just high-school kids that didn't really care to take any extra initiative. So I started leaving a small shallow bowl with a bit of calcium powder on one side and a bit of vitamins on the other and low and behold they started going up to it and licking a bit of the powder and carrying on their way. It was sort of a solution to my problem with those little beardies because it at least provided them an available source when they needed it, sort of like a salt-lick is to a cow. It even worked with the following three batches of babies we received after those ones were sold.
Normally I just put some calcium and vitamins into a butternut squash mixture and hand-feed him with the dropper because he doesn't seem to want to eat dusted insects he picks out the ones with nothing on. This worked fine for the longest time except lately I've been working and so busy planning my wedding and trip later this month that I haven't been able to hand feed him any vitamins.
So, I fell back on old methods and set him up a licky-bowl.
It seems to be working, when I got home yesterday the powder was slightly disturbed and he has a cute little white mustache, so I'm thinking of watching and observing intake and trying this out for awhile.
Why he'd lick it off a plate and not off a bug I have no idea, but I'm wondering about the possible risks I'm taking by doing this.....?

Thanks for your time!

 

[Goonie]

I can't see why it would be harmful, since he could only lick off so much of it before his mouth gets dry :wink:
There are a few members here whose beardies would only ingest calcium/vitamin powder 'away' from their feeders/salads. My memory is escaping me as to who's beardie did this, but he cleaned up an entire pile of spilled calcium powder in seconds, then looked for more.

 

[tattykassy]

That seems to be what mine has started doing, he was normal when he was little eating the dusted bugs without issue. Then he started avoiding those ones, and once he got big enough for worms I started putting the calcium and vitamins at the bottom of the bowl with the worm. As long as I put them in right when he felt like eating, he'd eat them and take some of the powder in the process. Now he's stopped eating any worms out of the bowl, he just sits there watching them wiggle around and they just end up dying and I feel bad and end up hand feeding him.

Maybe if he was a person he'd be one of those guys that can't stand the pea's and carrots touching each other on the plate, very particular about eating rituals..... :silent:

I'm glad its not harmful though, I sort of did it on impulse and didn't really put much thought into if it could be harmful and then it sort of hit me a few days afterwards like maybe it could be harmful...
Thanks for your input

 

[Remus]

wow, this is a really good idea. Al doesnt like crickets with the calcium powder so i try to put it on his salad but if he see's it, he wont eat it. I may try the bowl with the powder, and i also feed the crickets their food dusted.