Your opinion. How you feed...

[Crewdog00]

So this is what I feed my 5 month old BD and this is how I do it. Looking for advice or if you guys mix it up. Eat meal is one type of feeder at a time. Breakfast will be super worms. I leave them in the bowl and he can eat as many as he likes while I am at work. I come home and they are usually all gone or 1-2 left behind. Then for dinner I feed as many dubia as he will eat. Next day I feed super worms for breakfast and crickets for dinner. Day 3 I do roaches for breakfast and super worms for dinner. Once a week I throw in a few waxworms. And salad is offered everyday. I have fed him 7 days a week since I got him. Thought: I would do crickets and dubia roaches at the same time for dinner. And do super worms and roaches for breakfast at the same time.

Do they need a meal with more than one feeder type or do you guys feed one feeder per meal/day/week?

 

[Phoenix76]

Sounds like he is extremely well fed.

What is in his salad?
Does it get eaten?

 

[Crewdog00]

Romaine leaves, Kale, skinless pear cubes or skinless apple cubes. Salad gets eaten here and there. Maybe 2 times a week he really kills the salad. He is spoiled I tell you. He's a good boy though.

 

[Pushkin]

I think with the feeders, you are spoiling him rotten! Mine gets crickets OR roaches, whatever I have. He's not up to super worms yet, but I'll add those when he's a bit bigger.

For veggies, you might want to swap out the Romaine and kale for other leaves - I know neither are good for them, I think because they bind calcium (and we all know how much dragons need to keep their calcium). It's best to avoid anything with lettuce in the name, as well as kale and spinach.

 

[Taterbug]

Your live food regimen sounds great. What supplements do you use and how often?

Pepper is picky so I feed him what he will eat. Some days he wants supers, someday she wants silks, someday roaches etc. the only problem with feeding different bug is you probably don't want to put supers in the same dish - they may kill it eat the roaches. I don't tend to have other feeders on hand, but if I do I offer them too.

I'd add some variety to the salads. I get a different green each week or trip to the store, generally what's on sale. One week is kale, then collards, then turnip greens, mustard greens if I ever see them, watercress if it's cheap. Sometimes spring mix if the bunches are in bad shape. Check out beautiful dragons .com for a good feeder list. In general dark leafy greens (with the exception of spinach) are the best to offer. Squashes and other veggies can be added in as well. As he gets older you'll want to try to ensure he is accustomed to eating salad.

@pushkin - Kale and romaine are not good staple/only greens but they are not bad for them. They do have calcium binding chemicals in them, but at pretty low levels. Lettuces tend to be less nutrient dense than dark leafy greens but dark lettuces are still ok to include in a mix. Of course dark leafies are a better option when available. Spinach should be avoided as a large component of the diet but even that is ok to give a leaf here or there.

 

[Pushkin]

Taterbug - thank you for the clarification! So you think it's okay to feed them off and on? Pushkin loved kale, but then everything I read said don't feed them kale - so I cut him off! I'm sure he'd enjoy having it every now and then!

 

[Taterbug]

Taterbug - thank you for the clarification! So you think it's okay to feed them off and on? Pushkin loved kale, but then everything I read said don't feed them kale - so I cut him off! I'm sure he'd enjoy having it every now and then!

Finally it will be your own discretion, personally I have no qualms feeding it based on my research and the fact pepper loves it.

Most information that I can find that is backed by actual measurements shows Kale (especially curly leaf) as having low oxalate content (based on calciumxalate ratio) and still a reasonable calciumhosphorus ratio after the oxalate is considered.

Of course oxalate and calcium are highly variable by growing conditions. Kale can have a great ratio, or a bad one. So can most of the dark leafy greens, including collards! To me that just says we need to give variety so we aren't relying too much on a few plants that we can't have any idea what they contain. Spinach and chard are the only ones to universally be poor sources of calcium - but that doesn't mean they aren't good sources of other things (vitamins, iodine etc) rather we shouldn't rely on them to provide calcium.

 

[CooperDragon]

I agree about Kale. I just mix it in with others such as Turnip and Collard greens and then add a rotating fruit or veggie option with the greens. It's never a standalone staple but it is popular so I keep it in the rotation.

 

[Crewdog00]

Great discussion. Love the input. I got some new greens today after cleaning his 75 gallon tank. Got new tile in there and rearranged his furniture. Seems to like it.