Question about feeding.

[mafu7]

Hi. I'm getting my first Bearded Dragon probably around Christmas. I was wondering if anyone could tell me if phoenix worms and meal worms are a good staple food, with crickets and waxworms as an occasional treat. My uncle had a Veiled Chameleon, and the crickets were harder to take care of than the lizard! Also, are flightless fruit flies okay for Beardies? Cuz if they are, I would substitute them for mealworms, since the mealworms have the hard shells.

 

[jscott]

hello, and welcome. phoenix worms are a great staple, but its good to mix things up alittle. supplement the phoenix worms with crickets or roaches.

i would stay away from meal worms and wax worms; they are a poor source of protien/calcium(good) and high in fat/phosphorus(bad).

check this site out for proper BD nutrition;
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
its a bit of a long read, just be sure to read the part about calcium powder dusting and muti-vitamins.

it has a list of foods that are safe, questionable and dangerous for BDs. be sure to make a mental note of dangerous foods(tomato, rhubarb, avocado, etc) and avoid them while shopping for your BD.

i garuntee youll find that site helpfull, but if you have any other questions feel free to PM me or just ask here :wink: .

p.s. check in to lighting and make sure you have an appropriate setup. alot of people go through the pain of buying everything only to find out what they bought isnt safe for BDs.

Reptisun 10.0 linear fluorescent tube is the only strong, safe UV-B tube in the US... no spirals, no compacts and no ReptiGLO 10.0s...

petstores will set you up with whatever they have on the shelf at the time. dont listen to pet stores, check around on this site in the enclosures section. look at the questions people are asking about proper lighting and dangerous bulbs to find out what to buy and what to stay away from.

hope everything works out, happy holidays :mrgreen: .

 

[mafu7]

Are flightless fruit flies okay? They are not on the list.

 

[jscott]

im pretty sure fruit flies are not an appropriate food for BDs.

stick with crickets, roachs, phoenix worms, silk worms*, superworms* and plenty of safe veggies.

* these are big feeder insects, make sure your animal is 16" from nose to tail tip before trying these.

 

[jscott]

ive never tried silk worms though i have tried supers. theyre pretty big but if your reptile is large and can chomp them in half then your ok i think.

what size beardie are you getting? do you have the cage already, or do you know what you need to get?

let me know if you have any questions or if you want, i can post a intro to beardie care(covers light, heat, food, shelter, bathing, temps...)

 

[mafu7]

Thanks for the info. I've done a lot of research already about this. The beardy I'm getting at my local Petsmart, I've never seen an unhealthy pet in that store. It is probably about 9-10 inches. I plan on getting a Zilla 40 gallon critter cage, or something similar. It is 36" L x 18" W x 16" H I think, so that should be good for when it's an adult, right?

 

[jscott]

sounds good. just make sure you use a safe substrate(preferably slate, tile, outdoor/reptile carpet or non stick shelf liner) and good lighting.

if you live in a relatively cold place you can probably use a MVB. those are waaay better than any fluorescent UVB light, so long as you can put up with the heat. if it heats up the cool side too much youll have to stick with a repti-sun 10.0 or arcaidia 12.0 if your in the UK.

 

[mafu7]

I was thinking a reptisun 10.0, a heat pad, a night bulb, a day bulb, and a basking bulb. Sound right?

 

[jscott]

all you need is:

a reptisun 10.0 tube(not compact) that streches he length of your tank

a bright white heat bulb, preferably one that produces some UV-A(look for it on the side of the box at the pet store).




the RS 10.0 and heat bulb ARE the day lights. you dont want ANY lights on at night. BDs have a light sensitive organ on top of their head that measures and moniters incoming light. even if their eyes are closed the sense organ is processing away. if the nighttime temps get down to 60-65 then buy a Ceramic Heat Emmiter(CHE), its like a clay lightbulb that provide no light, just heat.

they need the temps to drop alittle at night, that is natural. nighttime temps are fine in your house so long as their above 60 and below 80, no heat sources are usually necessary.

 

[mafu7]

So all I need is the reptisun 10.0, a basking bulb, a heat pad, and possibly a CHE? (my house is almost always 65-75 degrees at night, but I'd probably get one just in case) Well, it is 2:07 A.M. here in Ohio, so I'm gonna get some sleep. Thanks again for the help, hope to talk to you tomorrow, mafu7

 

[jscott]

oops, forgot to say: NO HEAT PAD OR HEAT ROCKS.

if you short on time, just search around tommorow on this site. basically they cant feel heat from their belly so they risk getting burned or overheated without knowing it.

g'night :wink: .

 

[mafu7]

I thought only the rocks were bad.

 

[jscott]

nope, heat pads are dangerous too. if you have a proper heat lamp theres no need for a heat pad, the light will heat the surface of the rock up plenty.

 

[mafu7]

Is reptile sand okay for the size I'm getting? I want sand, it looks better.

 

[frog]

jscott, i just wanted to say that i have fed silkworms to my leos before and my dragon which isnt 16 inches long with no problem (i used the small ones that you buy in the cup with food in it :wink: )


about sand, i wouldnt go there at all. i recommend tile, it looks great and is perfectly safe