Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, I have a 6 month old dragon. He is such a good little rascal....I would like to know what people consider a healthy salad fed on a daily basis would be. Thanks
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Nick

AND I QUOTE:
"Feed Collard, Turnip, or Mustard Greens, Dandelion, escarole or endive. Beans, peas, peppers, squash, zuccini are good as vegitables. Fruits are fine as a treat just no avocado."

Some say that spinach and kale is okay, but it could actually hurt your dragon, so I wouldn't feed it. I don't!

Just try a little bit of everything and then go with what he likes. Its usually the best route
good luck

Here's a good link to Dragon nutrition.

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Thanks Oceanfairy. lol.

>>Hi all, I have a 6 month old dragon. He is such a good little rascal....I would like to know what people consider a healthy salad fed on a daily basis would be. Thanks
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>>Nick

I make up the following basic diet for our dragons and box/wood turtles (it's also good for iguanas and small torts). The basic recipe has served us well for many years at work. I call it a basic recipe as even I don't always stick to it. Sometimes some items are not available and have to adjust other items (or find substitutes) accordingly to make up for the lack.

Greens (frozen but fresh can be substituted):
6 bags Collard greens
3 bags Mustard greens
3 bags Kale greens
3 bags Turnip greens
2 bags spinach greens (very little)
Rape greens (i.e. flat leaf kale)..note have only been able to find this as fresh produce on a seasonal basis.

If substituting fresh greens instead of using frozen, most frozen bags are around 10-16 oz bags (16 oz = 1 lb). Frozen chopped greens are more convenient and cut down a lot on overall prep time. It's a matter of personal choice to decide if you want to work with the fresh or frozen greens.

Veggies:
2 bags each frozen peas (regular size and petite size)
2 bags each frozen green beans (cut and french cut)
1-2 bags frozen yellow corn
1-2 bags frozen white corn
2 lb fresh carrots (grated)
2 lb fresh butternut squash (hard rind cut away and flesh grated)
2 lb fresh sweet potato (grated)

Fruit:
4 lbs strawberries (diced)
2 lbs red or black globe grapes (diced)
2 lbs tomatoes (diced)

Pellets/Other:
1 jar Rep-Cal Box Turtle
1 jar Rep-Cal Tortoise
1 bag Exo-Terra Bearded Dragon (juvenile)
1 bag Exo-Terra Iguana (juvenile)
1 jar JurassiVite Vitamin Supplement (2 jars if on sale)

The above noted pellets are the preferred choice though sometimes I will substitute for other brands if something similar happens to be on sale or they are out of the preferred.

The amounts noted above are what I typically like to use as I make my food up in BULK. For the average hobbyist, you'd probably not need to make up 30 lbs of food at one time. You'd have to play around with the numbers to make the amounts smaller. I normally spend most of one day making up a batch of food that will last for the next 3-4 months. The end result is as stated about 30 lbs of prepared food that is then bagged up in the snack-sized ziploc bags and stored in the freezer (for me, 1 bag = 1 day of food).

If you catch good sales /coupons at the pet store and grocery store, average shopping bill is typically $100 (I aim for $60 at the grocery store and $40 at the pet store)...which all averages out to roughly $1 a day...not bad actually considering that for $1 a day I am feeding 2 adult wood turtles, 1 adult box turtle and 3 bearded dragons and it only required one day's worth of effort - not a day after day type chore.

To prepare the food, I get two thick trash bags and double bag the one bag into the other. I set that on the floor. I cut/slice/dice/prepare all veggies and greens and fruit and dump them into the trash bag. I add in the pelleted foods and vitamin supplement. The purpose of the pelleted foods is basically meant for soaking up the excess liquids produced by the veggies/fruits/greens than for the sake of just using commercial pellets to add color/flavor or as a filler.

After everything is dumped into the trash bags, I then take a good hold on the bags to hold them closed and kinda roll it all around on the floor to mix everything up thoroughly. Make sure the floor has no sharp objects that might snag on the bags and rip them open. I then spend a couple hours packing about half a cup of food into each ziploc, pat out the air to flatten it (for better stacking) and seal it shut. I then stack all the bags into our animal care freezer. The amount of bags used varies each time I make up a batch of food, but often is around 90-120 bags.

Each day I pull one bag out and put it in the refrigerator to thaw overnight for the next day's food. Half the bag goes to the turtles, the other half to the dragons. The thawed bag of food if necessary can stay in the fridge for an extra day, but after that it starts to spoil/ferment...so I really like to judge the amount of food needed to prevent having to leave partially used bags left in the fridge for more than the initial day it was expected to be used. I also don't like making more than 4 months worth of food at one time to prevent freezer burn.

I like to recycle the ziplocs for as long as I can until they can't hold the seal anymore (saves money by buying only new ones to replace those that can't be used anymore). After feeding the animals, I rinse the bag out and dry it and store it in a bin until the next time it comes to make up another batch of food.

Additionally, the basic frozen mix can be added to with occasional topping treats like diced apples, yellow squash, blue berries, black berries, dandelion greens, or other stuff that normally does not freeze well but can be purchased in a small quantity fresh so it doesn't waste too much money if you can't use it all before left overs have to be thrown out or you can't eat it yourself.

For picky eaters that don't much care for salads yet or haven't learned to like salads, throwing in some live mealworms or earthworms into the food dish with the salad often grabs the animal's attention enough that they will eat the food in an attempt to get to the live food crawling around in it. Doesn't take long before they get the idea and chow down on the salad of their own choice. Our box and wood turtles often enjoy the fun of "live salad toppings" even when they don't really need them. lol

The only drawback I hate to making this diet is the butternut squash. I love the squash, but I HATE the hard rind on it when attempting to cut it fresh. Takes me forever to get the squash cut into chunks and then cut the rind off before I can start grating it...and then the flesh is a bit on the slimy side making it hard to hold to grate. My hands are killing me by the time I get done with that lol. I usually save the prep of the squash for last. I always try to look for a butternut with the smallest bulbous end and one with a thin neck... means it less thickness to have to cut/saw through overall. LOL.

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PHWyvern

The only problem with freezing all of your vegitables is that freezing destroys Thiamin. This should then be replaced prior to feed to Dragons.

http://www.herpcenter.com/articles/suggested-bearded-dragons-diet.html

Thank you all for your advice....
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Nick