Overfeeding?

[travis27]

King Oswald is a few months old. He is measuring right around 6-8 inches from nose to tail. I haven't measured so I really don't know. The lady I got him from said he was a juvenile. When we got him he ate right around 5-7 crickets with some beardie salad. (Greens topped with what I call beardie crunch. It's just the store bought beardie food. He seems to like it). Not long after we got him, like a day, he started to shed. He ate very little. I offered him what he wanted, bathed him and misted him a couple extra times a day. Well, after he got everything off except his tail I dropped some crickets into his cage. He gulped down about 7 3/4 inch crickets. I needed to save some for the morning so I let that be it. The next morning he had around 10 with his salad. Around 6, after the family ate, we fed him he gulped down 10 more and that's been the pattern ever since. The issue I am having is that everywhere I read it says don't feed them any more than what they will eat in 10-15 minutes. When I use the term gulp, I drop 5 and they are gone in under a minute. I drop the other 5, again, gone in under a minute. So I have 8 more minutes of "feeding time." Do I keep dropping them in his cage a couple at a time or is there a limit with his size and what not? I know this is probably not a typical question as most feeding questions are of the "he won't eat" type. But I don't want to under feed him but at the same time I don't want to over feed him. Any suggestions?

 

[Catalyst]

When I use the term gulp, I drop 5 and they are gone in under a minute. I drop the other 5, again, gone in under a minute. So I have 8 more minutes of "feeding time." Do I keep dropping them in his cage a couple at a time or is there a limit with his size and what not? I know this is probably not a typical question as most feeding questions are of the "he won't eat" type. But I don't want to under feed him but at the same time I don't want to over feed him. Any suggestions?

There are two methods to feeding a growing dragon - one is to offer him as much as he wants in 5-10 minutes, and this means to let him keep eating until either time is up or he stops himself. This can add up to over a hundred crickets a day in some cases (although it is often less). This method reasons that by giving him everything he wants you are making sure he gets everything he needs to grow properly. The second method is similar but you cut the dragon off after 50 bugs each day - the reasoning here is that you're providing sufficient protein for the dragon to grow well but not allowing them to completely stuff themselves and are also encouraging them to try their greens & veggies earlier. Either way, as a juvenile he should be offered his crickets 2 or 3 times a day. Hope this helps.

 

[travis27]

I am feeding crickets twice a day with a salad during the day.

 

[Burra]

I use the all he can eat in 10-15 minute method. 10 crickets per feeding, especially since your beardie is still hungry, is probably not enough. I'd probably do the 50 per day (25 at each feeding) since you said he's also eating salad and pellets. But it is your choice. Just try not to underfeed your baby.

 

[travis27]

The crickets were in the 3/4 inch size. He is not a baby.lol. But he ate around 20 but he was still looking around like that wasn't enough. I'll let him gorge tomorrow morning and see what he does to his greens during the day. If he ends up not touching them, I'll back off a couple of crickets. He's probably around 8 inches. How many months do you think that is??

 

[Burra]

Dragons grow at different rates, so size isn't always a good gauge of age. That said, at 8 inches he is still quite young. The 10-15 minute feeding is for babies and juveniles, you start cutting back on the protein as they hit 1 year. Most beardies do this on their own and start eating more greens, but some don't.