Whoever said Beardies should eat 100 crickets a day is bull!

[Dragonman555]

I started feeding my Bearded Dragon 100 small crickets a day 50 crickets in 2 feedings for a week and guess what? His rear legs are paralyzed and he can't walk! Before anyone says overfeedings not the problem I took him to a reptile vet and he said that overfeeding was indeed the problem and says 10 to 20 crickets a day is fine for a growing Beardie and also told me he never met anyone with a Bearded Dragon that ate that many crickets. Now my Beardie Charlie is on some medicine the vet gave him and hopefully will recover! I love how most of you on here bash pet stores for giving bad information but yet some of you guys give bad info as well even everywhere else on the internet! After this incident you bet I won't be trusting the internet anymore regarding care on Bearded Dragons!

 

[sweetiepie9]

I'm sorry to hear what happened to your beardie but I've raised 2 beardies to adult hood and rescued three others and they've never had a problem with their rear legs because of eating too much. So please don't bash this site I really do apologize if someone gave you the wrong information. Cricket bodies have to be smaller than the space between your beardie's eyes, plus beardies should only eat what they can in 15 min per feeding. So I'm sorry your dragon had problems with his back legs but maybe he ate crickets that were too big. My little ones always ate more than 50 crickets a day, I was going through 1000 crickets every two weeks. They never had an impaction problem, which is what this sounds like. I'm hoping your beardie fully recovers. Have you checked to make sure your UVB light is right, not a coil, compact or Reptiglo? And if your basking spot it hot enough as it should be at least 102-105F? Both of those things affect their digestion as well as calcium and vit/min. I've been raising beardies for 6 years and have never had a problem as you've explained.

I'm praying that your little guy get through this and is back to good health quickly.

 

[carlisv]

I know there are times when Dubs ate 100 small crickets a day when he was a baby. By small, I mean less than 1/4", some of them half that size. He would have some in the morning, some when I came home for lunch, and another batch when we got home from work, so it was split up into three meals rather than two. Granted, he didn't eat that much every day, and we did limit him to 5-10 minutes per meal, with greens available all day. We made sure his digestive system was in tip-top shape by giving two or three baths a week and closely monitoring his viv temperature, since temperature is crucial to digestion.

Dehydration and low temps can cause constipation/impaction, so is there a chance he needs more water or higher viv temps? I've never known of a beardie that eats itself sick. Their appetites are usually self-limiting.

 

[Mediabandit]

I have never heard of this happening either. While growing up Havoc was eating close to 100 crickets everyday along with a salad or 2 a day. I agree with the other posters, sounds to me like you have other issues with your husbandry. Do not come on here and bash the site or people who try to help you. If you would like to post your setup then we can see if there is an issue.

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb?
Di you have any type of night time heat source (ceramic heat emitter, colored bulb, etc)?
How long are lights on each day?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
What is the night time temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bathe your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?

 

[Dragonman555]

I apologize I just snapped because my pet... no my friend is on the line. I know you guys do your best and I'm very sorry for bashing. His lighting is a reptisun 10.0 temp is around 105-110 the vet said that was fine. The vet asked if I fed any mealworms because they can cause impaction I have but only when I first got him 6 months ago and it was only 2 small mealworms no bigger than the space between his eyes. He has pooped since then so the mealworms shouldn't be to blame he also eats collard greens, Kale, and I gave him a little bit of Banana one time as a treat I also fed him a fuzzy rat. But it was only after I started giving him 100 crickets his legs gave out on him. Could it have been the rat? This was not a pinkie mouse it was an actual baby fuzzy rat. Do Rats have different kind of protein than Mice? If this was the rat I feel stupid I thought Reptiles would like a Rat.

 

[Mediabandit]

Larger mice such as fuzzies or rats are to big which will result in impaction then lead to death. Please fill out the questions I asked so we can determine if this was the cause or not. Please be honest and specific with the answers.

 

[daner923]

I think he's answered the proper questions, actually. The answer is almost certainly yes, it was the rat, not crickets. The bones, fur, and claws can cause serious blockages. There's no way that thing was smaller than the space between his eyes, was there? I'm kinda incredulous that you would come on here bashing us about the crickets, when you in fact fed a RAT to your dragon. Did you do that based on advice you got from someone on here? In some beardies, crickets can cause impactions, but typically due to low temps or incorrect UVB. Please keep in mind that just as every person is different, so are beardies different. I mean, I've eaten large pieces of steak and never choked, but that doesn't mean it won't happen to someone whose throat may be prone to clenching tightly. No one on this site was out to hurt you or your baby, but please understand that the knowledge on this site is not just one person's opinion, but is the aggregate of experience from thousands of owners over many years. When someone gets something wrong they are almost always corrected, and this site is pretty consistent with its message. Bottom line: the rat is almost definitely the problem.

 

[sweetiepie9]

Poor guy, whoever told you that mice or rats, even babies, are good for dragons is at fault. I've never heard of anyone here who is an experienced beardie owner, who would give that type of advice. As Andrew said, beardies aren't geared, like snakes, tegus or monitors, to be able to digest mammals of any sort. I hope your little guy does get that rat digested and out, but that is, I'm sure, the reason for the paralysis. You vet needs to know right away about the rat he ate and he needs to xray to determine if it's digesting or not. There is no way eating crickets could cause this type of problem, but eating them on top of an undigested rat would defnintely cause this problem. So please let your vet know, get him back in there, get an xray done an see if there is an impaction. I'm sorry that you were told this and whoever did tell you this, please let them know that it's never good for beardies to eat mammals. I'm praying your little guy will be ok.

 

[littlehusandjake]

Wow. My baby Jake wouldn't still be here if it wasn't for the help on this site. As far as the 50-100 crickets a day rule goes...I don't think now there is a "rule" regarding how many to feed. I put Jake in a feeder tank 2 hours after lights on at 8am, and put 20-30 in there with him. Then I take my shower and get ready for work. If he eats them all, I give him more. When he acts like he's done (he follows the with his head but no longer goes after them) then I pull him out. Simple. Odviously he eats less than before because he's now 16" long instead of 4" and the crickets are much larger-so he eats less of them. If I still fed him smalls I have no clue how many he would stuff in his big tummy, plus one day he decided Mustard greens and Collard greens with Butternut squash was awesome. I went to the per store the other day and bought my usual 14 doz crickets. There was a fellow in like with a young boy with what looked like maybe a dozen in his bag. He asked what are you feeding, I said a bearded dragon. He said how many? I said one. He said me too and walked out. It's sad, very sad. The local petco sold me some mealworms a few months ago. They jammed my little Jake up real good. Took him a week to go poop and then it was just the empty shells of the mealworms. I was never so scared for my dragon, and pissed at myself for not finding out it they were ok before feeding them to him. That was MY fault, no one else's. They also feed mealworms and ONLY mealworms to all the baby bearded dragons they sell. Last time I was there I complained to the manager because it looked like all 3 babies were in trouble. I hope your dragon turns out ok, I really do. Do what I did though-read through the posts on this site and beautifuldragon.com. Buy a book or two. Do internet research. You will be better off, and your dragon will be better for it.

 

[Mediabandit]

I think he's answered the proper questions, actually. The answer is almost certainly yes, it was the rat, not crickets. The bones, fur, and claws can cause serious blockages. There's no way that thing was smaller than the space between his eyes, was there? I'm kinda incredulous that you would come on here bashing us about the crickets, when you in fact fed a RAT to your dragon. Did you do that based on advice you got from someone on here? In some beardies, crickets can cause impactions, but typically due to low temps or incorrect UVB. Please keep in mind that just as every person is different, so are beardies different. I mean, I've eaten large pieces of steak and never choked, but that doesn't mean it won't happen to someone whose throat may be prone to clenching tightly. No one on this site was out to hurt you or your baby, but please understand that the knowledge on this site is not just one person's opinion, but is the aggregate of experience from thousands of owners over many years. When someone gets something wrong they are almost always corrected, and this site is pretty consistent with its message. Bottom line: the rat is almost definitely the problem.

If he was told to feed a rat to his Beardie what other things was he told that are incorrect? That is why I asked him to answer the questions. As soon as he said "RAT" I knew right away that was the cause as well, but was trying to get some honest info out of him so we could further help him if his Beardie survives.

 

[Nenya]

Hey,

I've never heard before to give the Beardis so many crickets is this normal in U.K./USA ? :shock:
My Beardie (8 Months) gets all 2 day max. 3 adult crickets... the Breeders told me that and many other Germans too (okay if the Beardie younger they get more... but 100 :?: )
I read in a German Forum from one who gave his Beardie too many crickets.
Other people said that Bearded Dragons eat so much as they can, because in Nature they dont know when they get the next lunch, so we must look that they don't become too many.

I’ve never heard of this „Rule“
or dou you mean baby Dragons and this micro crickets?

(sorry for the bad englisch)

 

[PrettyInInk]

Given the perfect advice, things can still happen. I have raised four extremely healthy, happy beardies. I guarantee it was NOT the crickets, NOT overfeeding. It was the mouse.
Are you seeing a herp vet, or just a small animal vet? In my experience, small animal vets grasp at straws, and herp vets know what they're doing.

 

[LoveMy4BeardieGals]

I agree with most here..it was definitely the rat pup. There was and is no need to feed mice/rats to a beardie. There have been some cases where pinkie mice were given to malnourished and underweight dragons, or females who had just laid a clutch of eggs, but for a perfectly everyday normal beardie, there is 0 need for rat or mice! My savannah monitor, even had a hard time with a rat pup, so I can only imagine what havoc it had on your baby. It was I imagine way toooooo hard for him to digest, and I bet he is still digesting it, hence him having issues with the crickets that were eaten after. So please do not bash our help here, you like you stated, fed the rat, NOT us! I have 5 beardies, young juvies and they all eat however much they can eat within 10 to 15 mins, 2 to 3 times a day, and that can be 50+ crickets each time, for the each of them, and I have never had any issues.

I hope everything turns out fine for your baby, good luck.

 

[AHBD]

Hi Dragonmann...I could see how you would believe your vet, after all it's the vet and he's supposed to be the expert. Now if it were 50 crickets that were too large, [ with or without the rat ] he could have a case, but it is definitely the rat pup that caused impaction. So how long ago was it that he had it ? Do you know some of the things you can try to help him out ? You can try giving canned pumpkin [ no spices ]. olive oil, baby food prunes and applesauce, then bathe him in warmer than usual water to help stimulate a bowel movement. Vets also sell a product called lactulose that can help to grease it through. Hope your beardie will improve for you shortly