NEWBIE SEEKING EXPERIENCED INPUT

[AineLovesSteves]

Hello

I have a 4month old male dragon. Ive had him for four weeks now. At the start he was chasing locusts/crickets around the viv and eating live food daily and now he has started to slow. Thought maybe hes gotten picky so got him some wax/morio worms as a treat which he gobbled down. Eats veggies pretty much daily since i got him, drinks water regularly and poops regularly [all healthy poops..cuz I look at them like a weirdo lol].

Guess Im wondering if its normal that he is only eating live food a few times a week now? Ive checked him out physically and he is in great condition, very alert, good skin, good strength in limbs, no limbs missing/black, good activity:to sleep ratio, very sociable with me and the cat etc.

Here is his food/poop diary that I have kept since I got him, any experienced owners that could give some input would be greatly appreciated:

WEEK 1-2:
-16 Locusts dusted
-2 crickets
-daily mouthfuls of kale
-several assisted drinks of water [he couldnt find his bowl so I had to hold him near it]
-5 poops

WEEK 3:
-2 locusts dusted
-daily kale
-no water [was letting him try and find his bowl on his own]
-2 poops

WEEK 4 :
-3 wax worms dusted
-2 morio worms dusted
-1 locust
-3 poops
-daily kale
-drinks water almost daily [he found his water bowl...so proud ]


go raibh maith agat [thank-you]

Aine

 

[kingofnobbys]

Hello

I have a 4month old male dragon. Ive had him for four weeks now. At the start he was chasing locusts/crickets around the viv and eating live food daily and now he has started to slow. Thought maybe hes gotten picky so got him some wax/morio worms as a treat which he gobbled down. Eats veggies pretty much daily since i got him, drinks water regularly and poops regularly [all healthy poops..cuz I look at them like a weirdo lol].

Guess Im wondering if its normal that he is only eating live food a few times a week now? <<< no, he should still be eating at least 2 live insect meals per day at 4 months , he needs insect protein much more than veg material in his diet at this point. Ive checked him out physically and he is in great condition, very alert, good skin, good strength in limbs, no limbs missing/black, good activity:to sleep ratio, very sociable with me and the cat etc. <<<< keep the cat away from him, cats are hardwired killers and it will only take a moment for the cat to bite or claw and maime and infect your little boy with some very nasty (lethal bacteria - on it's claws and teeth) and for thing end very badly for the beardie. Cats and lizards CAN NEVER BE FRIENDS or and your cat should never be allowed anywhere near him or his enclosure (cats are perfectly capable of breaking into an enclosure to get at a lizard as my next door neighbour found out the hard way when his big sister's cat was left inside with freedom of the house and get into his Jacky Dragon colony tank and killed every one of them but one (killed 4 out of 5) !

Here is his food/poop diary that I have kept since I got him, any experienced owners that could give some input would be greatly appreciated:

WEEK 1-2:
-16 Locusts dusted
-2 crickets
-daily mouthfuls of kale
-several assisted drinks of water [he couldnt find his bowl so I had to hold him near it]
-5 poops

WEEK 3:
-2 locusts dusted
-daily kale
-no water [was letting him try and find his bowl on his own]
-2 poops

WEEK 4 :
-3 wax worms dusted
-2 morio worms dusted <<<< wax and morio worms are not adviseable feeders for such a young beardie.
-1 locust
-3 poops
-daily kale
-drinks water almost daily [he found his water bowl...so proud ] .... not important , as many / most beardies will not recognise standing water as a something to drink and if they have adequate intake of live insects and greens and vegs , get sufficient hydration from their food. None of my beardies have water bowls in their tanks, I do give them a little drink (drip water in their noses if it's been very warm).


go raibh maith agat [thank-you]

Aine

I suggest you find a local source of the following insects:
>>> BSF maggots (sold as phoenix worms in the USA)
>>> silkworms (he'll take medium sized worms up to 2inches long)
>>> crickets (I'd recommend 1/2 - 2/3 sized crickets for a 4 month old)
>>> roaches (similar size)

A 4 months old he should be polishing off up 20 medium crickets and up 4 - 6 medium silkworms per day split over 2 meals per day + greens and grated veg (I favour buk choi and grated carrot and grated sweet potato). This was what my records show for Rex and Puff , Peppa and Toothless. He should be about 90 - 120g at 4 months old.

I was handfeeding Rex and Puff all their bugs from about 3 months old, 4 - 5 of the bugs per day to Peppa and Toothless. Is perfectly OK and a great way to bond with lizard to hand feed them.

 

[AineLovesSteves]

Hi

thanks so much for the speedy reply !I was told not to feed them roaches as they are hard to digest and to give locusts over crickets as locusts are a better source of protein???

Also what should I do then to encourage him to feed more if he wont chase the live food?I really don't want him to get hungry/sick.

I think il leave the water bowl as he seems to like it

 

[kingofnobbys]

Hi

thanks so much for the speedy reply !I was told not to feed them roaches as they are hard to digest and to give locusts over crickets as locusts are a better source of protein??? >>>> Locusts are fine provided you gut load them for a day or 2 with high calcium greens and other nutritious foods (I like giving my crickets adult beardie pellets (the hard ones from the bottle (RepCal brand)) and if you dust them with calcium daily most days.
I'm in Australia so BSF maggots and locusts are not easy to find sold as reptile food.

Also what should I do then to encourage him to feed more if he wont chase the live food?I really don't want him to get hungry/sick. <<< I'd cut back on the greens and salad , or at least hold off until later In the day to give it to him, he's probably filling up on greens and salads and isn't hungry when you give the bugs to him.
Handfeeding is OK too.

I think il leave the water bowl as he seems to like it <<<< Rex and Puff discovered the water hides the smell of their poos and the water bowl become a toilet bowl .... cleavour lizards .!!! And often only sat in the water to cool off. So I removed their water bowls.

 

[AineLovesSteves]

cool thanks I will remove the greens for awhile to tempt him with the live food and get some crickets again to see if he likes those

He only weighs 40gs.maybe he is younger than i was told?

But now I am confused as my local reptile shop guy and breeders I know says feed locusts not crickets and advises morio/wax worms as a treat and states that they must always have access to water??
I am handfeeding him but sometimes he just turns his nose up at me and gives me the stink-eye lol?

I have reared cats all my life and I can read their behaviours very well.My cat is old and fat and lazy and lets the lizard sleep on him. But you make a valid point which is why the cat is never unsupervised around the lizard

 

[Zombiepanda]

If he is starting to shed that could be why his appetite has decreased. Not always, but possible. Just to give you an idea (I saw your post about size and age also) Maggie is 5 months old and just hit 11 inches. She's a smidge on the smaller end but is in the throes of a major growth spurt and will polish off 25-40 crickets depending on size(1/2-1/4 respectively) or if we have roaches on hand she'll finish off maybe 12-20 roaches. But when she went through her first shed she hardly ate anything for a few days and it really freaked me out. Just keep offering a few times per day and he'll perk back up