Too much protein?

[Roccosmama]

So I was at a new pet store today looking around at what they had for reptiles when the "reptile department manager" stopped me to ask what I had. I told him about Rocco and Skooter. When I told him how Rocco eats nothing but superworms and some greens he told me I shouldnt feed him too many superworms because they are too much protein. Is this true??? He said they can cause impaction but Rocco is pooping nearly every day and seems to be healthier than he has been in a very long time. He is finally putting on weight and is very active. Has anyone else heard this??

 

[Claudiusx]

Going out on a limp here but you didn't happen to ask what he recommends? 2 crickets a day was it?

Feeding superworms as a staple is fine, as long as your dragon is 16 inches or longer. Unless you are feeding ridiculous amounts of worms there really isn't nothing to worry about. True, too much worms arn't good for the liver but that is mainly in adults and not growing beardies. Key word is, just not ridiculous amounts

-Brandon

 

[Roccosmama]

Well, whats considered ridiculous amounts? LOL! Rocco is just at the 16 inch mark now but I feed him the medium size supers to go along with the rule of not feeding them anything larger than the space between their eyes. He eats anywhere from 9 to 25 a day. We think Rocco is about a year and a half now. I thought he would start eating more greens at this point but he LOVES his supers and only eats a small amount of greens. So does this sound like too large an amount to feed him?

 

[Claudiusx]

Hmm, well 25 a day, for a whole week is borderline. Try to mix it up a little or only allow like 12 or so a day and he will be forced to eat the salad.... mwuaha

how old is he btw? It should be safe to feed under the 12 worm mark but then again, im not as knowledgeable about beardie kidneys as someone like drache or diamc.

-Brandon

 

[Roccosmama]

We think he is about a year and a half old. Him eating 25 in one day has actually only happened once. He is more likely to eat about 10 a day. He was not doing well for a while.....didnt want crickets or greens or anything else but baby food for a while so im ecstatic that he is finally eating something and putting weight back on!

 

[Sedjet]

There's a couple tricks you can try to make greens more appealing to him. You can try raining the salad down on him, some beardies get tricked by 'salad from the heavens' and will eat it on impulse. Something that helps my beardie personally eat is wiggling the salad in front of him, either by waving a piece in front of his nose or by sticking my finger in the bowl and moving the salad. Bright colours like squash and red or yellow peppers will also make them want to eat. And you can put a super or two in the salad, the movement of the worms will make him wanna eat more.
As to him eating too much protein, beardies can grow until they're two, so higher protein shouldn't be too much of a problem until he's over the two year mark. I would start trying to incorporate more veggies into his diet now so the transition to more veggies less worms will be easier on him.

 

[Claudiusx]

As to him eating too much protein, beardies can grow until they're two, so higher protein shouldn't be too much of a problem until he's over the two year mark..

Higher protein isn't a problem. Excessive protien is. If there is more protein being eaten the the body can use it will just get filtered out and excreted with the urine. Too much protein is hard on livers so there are still borders you need to stay in to keep a beardie safe whether they are growing or not.

-Brandon

 

[Freeie]

Actually feeding them supers as a staple isnt a good idea. They contain alot of fat vs protein. Other feeders that have a less fat ratio would be better like crickets or roaches. Trust me i learned my lesson feeding supers as a staple. Sounds like your guy is at the age where he will only need 30 to 50 bugs a week and be eating more veggies.

 

[Claudiusx]

well what was that lesson? I know lots of people who have good results feeding as staples, as do i. Some might not, like you.
Just like with everything in life, some people like a certain way, and others don't.
But im wondering what the lesson is that you learned that made you stop feeding them as a staple.

-Brandon

 

[Freeie]

I ended up with a over weight beardie she was almost 800g and 20 inches took me almost 6 months to get her down to in the 600 range she looks and feels so much better. I spent so much time getting her more exersize everyday of swimming in her bath for 10 mins and hours of roam time a day. Thats when i found out by others its not healthy to feed them just supers you have to mix them with other proteins with less fat. My males didnt gain to much weight from them because they were to hormonal and got alot of exersize but they did get the fat pockets behind the arms. Since i switched to roaches/supers(only for the girls after egg laying) Those fat pockets are slowly going away.

 

[Claudiusx]

How many were you feeding a day? Of course though you want to mix it up. And when i say staple i don't mean thats the only thing you should ever feed.

Yes i agree dubais are much better staples but that doesn't mean supers still arn't just because dubias are better. They are still good staples in my opinion you just can't overfeed them.

-Brandon

 

[Roccosmama]

Well my problem is that he has no interest in crickets or any kind of bugs anymore. He loves the supers and turns his nose up at everything else. So what if I gave him a variety of different worms???

 

[TheWaveCarver]

Just as an FYI comment, I freed my 18 inch 1 1/2 year old beardie about 5-6 2 inch supers a day. She seems fine and gets a daily salad plus she is definitely not underweight.

 

[diamc]

Hi, thought I would jump in here and make some suggestions and add some info.

Roccosmama, it's a good idea to offer at least 2 different feeders so that they don't get tired of them. Great that he is doing so well and has gained some weight. 8) Silkworms, hornworms and roaches are all good ones to feed as well as the supers. Since you're not feeding the full sized supers, the amount can actually be a little higher than the suggested amount for his age. We usually suggest 35 large feeders (like full sized supers) or 50 small feeders (like crickets) a wk. Beardies continue to grow more up until the age of about 2 yrs but it would be a good idea to try to entice him to eat more greens now. When they are 2 years plus and they are fed a large amount of protein, it can cause liver and kidney problems later on so that's the reason for limiting their feeder intake as they get older.

Hope this helps.

 

[Roccosmama]

Thank you everyone for your coments and help. I think I just need to try several different kinds of veggies and maybe add in some fruits to get him to eat more greens. As far as the feeders go, same thing, im just going to have to try to give him a variety and see what works! Thanks again everyone!