Why my BD always seems hungry

[superyynju]

Hi guys,

My BD has bee with me for 1 month and today he just finished shedding. He is about 6 to 7 months . The thing I find interesting with him recently is that he is always hungry. I give him 3 meals every day. 10 crickets for breakfast. 5 crickets and some fresh vegetable leaf for lunch and 10 crickets for dinner. So in total he eats 25 crickets plus a lot of vegetable salad every day! He is only a juvenile dragon.

He poops 1 time per day and there is some liquid with it but no terribly bad smell. I think he is really healthy. He got calcium, vitamin 2 times per week in his food. But to me, the amount of food he eats every day seems a lot. If I don't feed his enough food, he will be really unhappy, doing all the glass dancing, running up and down his shelter to get my attention. Also when he is hungry, he doesn't like me to handle him. Once he gets feed, he is really calm and just lie in there with his two back legs stretched under the basking light. If I handle him at that time, he will be really cooperative.

I put him on my floor and he just goes all the way to where the crickets plastic carry box is and try to bite into the box to get his food..... He is also extremely interested in tasting things with color or pictures of vegetables on it. One of my shirts has a plant logo on it and when I was playing with him, he just bite the plant logo on it. He also likes to lick everything new to him, even my fingers, arms.....

Does my dragon eat too much? How many crickets do you guys feed your BD a day? My BD is a juvenile and maybe that's the reason he is so hungry for food?

Thanks.

 

[KristineM]

You should be allowing your beardie to eat as much as he can/wants 2-3x a day within 15 minutes They need a lot. Constantly growing. Fresh veggies should always be available as well!

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Good luck!! Keep us updated

Edited to add: they WILL lick everything. It's how they explore their surroundings. It's completely normal. He sounds happy!

 

[superyynju]

Thanks for the link KristineM.

My BD is growing very fast. I'll feed him as much as he wants

You should be allowing your beardie to eat as much as he can/wants 2-3x a day within 15 minutes They need a lot. Constantly growing. Fresh veggies should always be available as well!

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Good luck!! Keep us updated

Edited to add: they WILL lick everything. It's how they explore their surroundings. It's completely normal. He sounds happy!

 

[Sauzo]

Mine used to eat that much at least. Usually more. She was eating about 30 dubias a day a couple weeks after I got her. She has since cut down on food. She usually just eats around 20 dubias, a few phoenix worms and 2-6 pieces of greens for breakfast. I think they go through growth spurts and want to eat tons. Harley grew almost 2 inches in a month during that too. Went from 6.5 inches to 8.5 inches. Like others have said, feed them as much as they want in 10 mins or so. He prolly wants some snacks when he sees those crickets in the box :wink: Switch to dubias if you aren't squimish about roaches. They are much meatier and filling imo.