Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi again,
I've basically discovered that everything my friend had been doing with my beardie was WRONG!!! Annoyed me at first but now I'm doing everything to get my beardie on the straight and narrow.
Sorted the basking spot so its now at about 40-42 degrees celsius.
Now, after speaking to an owner of a local reputable reptile store, turns out he wasn't supplemented correctly. He was on calcium sand and was given vit&min in water only. Have discovered calcium sand bad for beardies in case ingested so I'm planning on doing the following:
change sand to washed and sifted playsand, leave vit & min as was in water which i spray on Khan and salad (Reptasol). as well as dusting crickets with Repton supplement.
All I want to know is will this be sufficient supplements and how often should i supplement him?
I feed him a box of crickets twice a week (do i need to change this to a few times a week?)
not taking any notice of advice from my mate now.
really disappointed with the way he's been treat - surprised he's still alive!!!
thanx in advance guys!

kat

i wouldn't put the vitamins in water. especially sice some of the multivitamins aren't soluable in water to begin with. your best bet is to either dust the crickets and/or salad (ie - sprinkle it on).
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a free range dragon is a happy dragon

I agree with lightly dusting crickets or other insects with multivitamin and calcium powder instead of the liquid vitamins. The problem with liquid vitamins, it is harder to determine just how much the dragon injests and too much is just as bad for them as not enough vitamins/minerals. Dusting is a better way to control how much they injest (just don't heavily coat the insects, they should look like a light dusting, not coated as though you were making shake N Bake porkchops, or battered).

Depending on the age of the dragon, determines how much insects to feed and how often to dust. I can't remember what age you said the dragon was, so will give you the specs for all age groups.

hatchling to 2 months: insects 3-4 times a day, dusted each time. Feed all it can eat in about 5-10 minutes.

2 months to 6 months: insects twice a day, dusted once per day. Feed all they can eat in 5-10 minutes

6-14 months: feed insects once a day. All they can eat in about 5 minutes. Dust every other day.

14 months: Insects 2-3 times a week or very few daily (about 10% total food intake can be insects). Dust 1-2 times a week (2-3 times for breeding females..or egg laying females (infertile or fertile eggs)

At all stages greens should be offered, for the most part, babies won't eat much if any greens but by the time they are 6 months half their daily diet should be greens. (see www.beautifuldragons.com for a great list of what greens to feed and how often]

Young dragons can be encouraged to eat their greens by dropping crickets, small silkworms and other insects (no mealworms or superworms for dragons under 6 months or 10" of length) With the greens finely chopped, dragons are more likely to grab a few while trying to catch the insects and eventually develop a taste for them. It is also good to have fresh finely chopped (or coarsely chopped for dragons over 8 months) available at all times.
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PHLdyPayne

Okay...to tag on to this post...you have given me this info before about my 14 mo old. I just want to make sure I'm doing it right now. He gets greens every day and 20-25 crickets every other day. Is that still too much or okay? He is still not pooping on a regular basis and I am going to take a sample to the vet (when he finally goes!!!) Thanks.