Hi, everyone! First off, I want to say that I'm really glad that I found this place! I own two females, an almost 6 year old red and a 4 month old citrus. I adopted the citrus (Citrine) a couple of months ago from a woman who bought her from a PetCo. She was gray and stuck in a tank way two small. After a couple of months she finally shed and turned out to be a bright golden yellow! She was 13 inches the last time I measured her.
My red beardie (Sienna) was adopted when she was a hatchling and is a beautiful reddish orange. I actually have a question about her.. I've been in college for three years, and while studying I entrusted her to my parents who were not feeding her nearly enough. She's small for a 6 year old and she's way skinnier than I would like. I think when my mom measured her last she was 18 inches. I am getting her back this weekend when I move to an actual house (as opposed to a dorm) and I was wondering if anyone had advice on how I could help her gain some weight? Right now I feed my 4 month old dubia roaches, superworms, and the occasional wax worms. She also eats a ton of kale and endives (any leafy green really). I feel like my bigger issue is going to be to get Sienna to eat more often, so I do plan on feeding her fattier bugs until she gets to a healthy weight. At 6 years old, does she have much chance of growing, or am I only going to see weight gain?
Sienna actually looks pretty good to me. How much does she weigh? I'd definitely avoid offering fatty worms and a lot of bugs in general. At 6 she should be eating mostly veges. I offer my adult a bug meal once or twice a week at most but he gets a nice big salad every day. I suggest offering a salad and try to find her favorites. Rotate what you offer depending on what looks fresh at the store each week. I would offer 2-3 items from this list with each salad. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html A good salad will give her the nutrients she needs. Offering too much protein or too much fat could lead to liver and kidney problems down the road so it's best to keep her on a variety of veges.
Her current diet sounds fine, minus the waxworms which are too fatty.
The pictures also indicate a healthy looking dragon, but its always worth checking.
Perhaps the best thing to do would be to weigh her weekly to ensure she is staying a stable weight. Personally I don't think you should encourage weight increase. What's she weigh in grams?
Sienna actually looks pretty good to me. How much does she weigh? I'd definitely avoid offering fatty worms and a lot of bugs in general. At 6 she should be eating mostly veges. I offer my adult a bug meal once or twice a week at most but he gets a nice big salad every day. I suggest offering a salad and try to find her favorites. Rotate what you offer depending on what looks fresh at the store each week. I would offer 2-3 items from this list with each salad. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html A good salad will give her the nutrients she needs. Offering too much protein or too much fat could lead to liver and kidney problems down the road so it's best to keep her on a variety of veges.
I didn't see these answers until now! For some reason I didn't get the usual notification. It makes me feel a lot better that she looks a normal weight. I had no idea that their diets are supposed to be mostly veggies once they get older, but that makes a lot of sense considering the fact that I've been struggling to get her interested in protein but she gobbles up the Kale I leave in her tank daily! I'll be sure to check out your list so that I can provide her with some more variety. I think what has me the most worried is that she used to be a bright red/orange all over with some white stripes and it seems as though her head has turned white and her color has dulled since leaving her with my parents.
Here's an old picture of her http://s1100.photobucket.com/user/3mmali/media/1741c417-42be-4b0c-9144-0c498f360df7_zps9c941ccd.jpg.html?o=53.
Feeding her daily seems to have brought some tints of orange back into her head, but it still looks dull so I'm hoping with some constant care she'll shed and go back to her old colors.
Her current diet sounds fine, minus the waxworms which are too fatty.
The pictures also indicate a healthy looking dragon, but its always worth checking.
Perhaps the best thing to do would be to weigh her weekly to ensure she is staying a stable weight. Personally I don't think you should encourage weight increase. What's she weigh in grams?