Overfeeding? Worried about Stunt in Growth

[prolecat]

Hello, i was just wondering if beardies stop eating when theyre full, or whether they are vulnerable to overfeeding.

Here is my new citrus guy that i purchased at a local pet store.

I have been feeding him medium/large crickets and i try to always keep greens available, mostly mustard greens.

I recently have fed him some mealworms, the regular sized ones. He/she can regularly eat 3-4crickets, plus 5-10 mealworms, and sometimes goes down for greens afterwards.

Sometimes he/she gets very fat and pudgy!

I dont know its approximate age because i wasnt informed by the pet store, i would like for it to grow to its full potential, i love big fat beardies!

Can a beardie lose growth potential if it is not properly fed? or can he make that up be eating more later in life. I just want to make sure i do everything to get this little guy to grow to his full potential!

He is currently under a reptisun 10.0 18" UVbulb.

 

[LQDragons]

that little guy needs small crix, at least no bigger than the space between his eyes. Mealworms are not a good food source for your beardy. Yes, without proper nutrition it can limit they're growth. It's good that you have greens available all the time. He should eat live food 3x a day, all he wants in 10-15 min. until about a year old. He'll stop when he's full . Be prepared, he can eat alot, some will eat 75-100 insects a day. My almost 7 month old ate 125 large crix today, but she's a BIG girl.

 

[gwoody]

Agree w/ last post-er. Lay off the meal worms as much as possible. not a good source of nutrition and can cause blockage from too much shell etc. And definitely needs to be eating the smaller crickets that are no bigger then space between eyes. I have had the legs from larger ones cause me expensive problems when I first started w/ beardies. The pet stores and sometimes breeders too can give you bad info. (NO Not all breeders! before someone gets all puffed up! LOL..) Blood in stool from getting stuck in the intestines and ripping or causing everything to back up until its an overload. Which of course just started a whole parasite build up and then that had to be dealt with etc.. Right now I still have 7 baby(11weeks) dragons from Tang and romeo's clutch. I still have to buy the smaller criks for the two runts. Yes its more costly to buy more and when they get as large as my bigger babies ( 10 and 11 inches) they eat tons of them! The 75 to 100 number is what I see too. But they stop and go to their heat spot when they a are full. especially if you only have the one dragon in a cage and so there's no food competition. One thing is if you can find a roach dealer near you, they are more nutritious for them can eat them a bit larger as they are softer shelled. and they eat less. But really as juveniles they are just big piggies! LOL.. And thats what you want! Just keep up the variety and veggies, And get those fecals done regularly. That and the right lighting are a good formula. G..