Too much food.?

[acidburn01]

So, this lady at a local petshop is saying we are overfeeding our dragons and they're basically fat.

Toothless is 6 months old (Maybe even 7, for all we know) and on a good day he will eat 30 or 40 crickets a day, like 20 roaches, a couple supers, and he'll nibble his salad. Now, that's on a day he's starving. On an average day, maybe 20 a day, 15 roaches(more if we offer them) he'll eat his worms no problem and still nibble his salad. He also picks at his BSFL throughout the day. He is 18 inches and right at 400 grams. He doesn't look fat, obviously but he's big, I know that. Are we over feeding them.? There are some days where he only eats maybe 10 crickets, or even 6, and will still eat a good amount of roaches. He never turns down roaches.

This lady says we can give him three hornworms and that's all needs to eat for the day. Can someone give me a better feeding schedule for a 6 month old.?

 

[xp29]

At 6 months he is still growing, petstore UNDER FEED to keep them small because babies are easier to sell. I generally don't cut back feeding mine until their growth slows down, when they stop putting on size and start adding girth thats when i cut mine back.

 

[acidburn01]

At 6 months he is still growing, petstore UNDER FEED to keep them small because babies are easier to sell. I generally don't cut back feeding mine until their growth slows down, when they stop putting on size and start adding girth thats when i cut mine back.

So, you don't think all that food is too much in one day.? She tried to tell my boyfriend that we need to give them just a small handful of roaches and their salad a day at their age. Like 15 roaches and that's it. That seems like way not enough food for a 6 month old.

 

[KarrieRee]

So, you don't think all that food is too much in one day.? She tried to tell my boyfriend that we need to give them just a small handful of roaches and their salad a day at their age. Like 15 roaches and that's it. That seems like way not enough food for a 6 month old.

Its not feed as many roaches as he will eat in a 15 min time span make sure your feeding the appropriate size for him - feed salads every day -- I would feed more roaches than crickets - they are a empty feeder and roaches are more nutritional and he will fill up faster on them - this cutting the amount of crickets down - salads and a few super worms every couple of days - horn worms are good for hydration - and they grow fast so you would need to feed them every day till they are gone 1-2 -- please do not listen to the pet store people ---

 

[acidburn01]

Its not feed as many roaches as he will eat in a 15 min time span make sure your feeding the appropriate size for him - feed salads every day -- I would feed more roaches than crickets - they are a empty feeder and roaches are more nutritional and he will fill up faster on them - this cutting the amount of crickets down - salads and a few super worms every couple of days - horn worms are good for hydration - and they grow fast so you would need to feed them every day till they are gone 1-2 -- please do not listen to the pet store people ---

I know crickets aren't that great, but it fills him up. Otherwise, you don't think he's being overfed.? The lady is a supposed reptile specialist at a small pet shop, not like petsmart or anything.

He does get a nice salad everyday and used to be great at eating 90% of it but here lately, he only eats a few bites or so.

 

[KarrieRee]

I know crickets aren't that great, but it fills him up. Otherwise, you don't think he's being overfed.? The lady is a supposed reptile specialist at a small pet shop, not like petsmart or anything.

He does get a nice salad everyday and used to be great at eating 90% of it but here lately, he only eats a few bites or so.

Hes getting all those bugs so that is what is filling him up-- crickets are a dirty feeder they tend to cause parasites - I would pull him off of those and get him on roaches and salads and treat worms every other day - the salads are going to not have him gain so much weight as well - He sounds like a eating machine - its hard to say whether your over feeding him - I would slow him down if hes at 400 grams - his pic doesnt look like hes over weight - the salads are going to be better for him anyway - hes still growing tho being hes only 6 months old - watch his body - you can tell if hes not gaining or growing any more - if you want to feed another staple feeder get him some silk worms or BSFL - those are another good one to feed and better nutritionally as well

 

[xp29]

Try feeding the salads first thing in the morning, then offer bugs later on the day. He can eat as much salad as he wants.
Most beardies don't really over eat in my experience. (After they are near grown/grown) all 7 I've had would stop eating when full. They may nibble on bugs throughout the day, but i always had bugs left at the end of the day. Babies have a bigger appetite but they use that food for growth so it's ok.