Reptile & Amphibian Forums

1. At what age are you suppose to stop feeding vitamins everyday?

2. Why is so bad to house a baby in a large tank?

3. Is it just me, I've never had a dragon that has waved it's arm. Is that a behavior in all dragons or have I just had some special dragons?

4. Finally how do you post pictures to this forum?

Any answers would be greatly appreciated...

1. I add calcium pretty much every live meal except one per week, which I use a multivitamin. I do this for their entire life. As they get older, they eat less live food so it naturally cuts back on the supplements.

2. Some people will say that it stresses them out and they cannot find their food. I don't agree and think it's fine if the temps. are right and the dragon is OK with it. I always believe that bigger is better.

3. If you have only one dragon then they have no one to wave to so they probably don't do it. It's generally a sign of submission and species identification to another dragon.

4. I use photobucket.com it's free. You can download your pictures there then copy the picture URL from photobucket and paste it into the "Image URL" below your posting.

Thanks, you're answers are helpful and to the point...

Are you afraid you may over supplement your dragons with vitamins? I think I read somewhere to much calcium is harmful to the liver. I could be wrong, but it makes since.

I've heard of too much D3. But calcium just offsets the high Phosphorus in the available feeders in the pet trade.

I use a phosphorous-free calcium powder and dust at most feedings because the insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phos.

I use a vitamin powder twice a month that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A. Beta carotene sources cannot build up in the system but preformed vitamin A can. Excess preformed vitamin A can prevent the D3 from doing its job.

I dust with a phos.-free calcium/D3 powder twice a month lightly because my dragons only get UVB from tube lights (no direct sunlight). UVB light should not pass through glass or plastic. Exposure to UVB allows the dragon to produce vitamin D3 which allows it to use the calcium. Excess D3 from supplements can build up in the system. Excess calcium up to a point will pass through the system...not enough will lead to MBD.

Background information..I have kept various lizards for over 20 years and the last beardie that died I had for over 10 years.

1. At what age are you suppose to stop feeding vitamins everyday?

Vitamins shouldn't be offered everyday after the dragon is over 8 months old. I feel dusting every other day after the dragon is 8 months old is more than enough. Calcium powder should also be tapered down to once or twice a week at the most, once dragons are eating healthy greens daily and are exposed to good levels of UVB.

It is possible to give too much calcium. Excess calcium can cause spiny growths on the bones and other problems, it is pretty much the reverse of MBD.

2. Why is so bad to house a baby in a large tank?

Some babies will stress in a large tank, feeling over exposed and vulnerable. In the wild baby dragons are the prey of just about anything big enough to eat them whole or tear them to pieces (ie birds of prey, scavenger type birds, goannas (monitor like lizards), snakes etc. Thus being in a large open tank with a basking spot and a hide, makes them feel exposed. Smaller tanks mean they can run to shelter faster or they just don't feel so exposed.

This doesn't mean a large tank can't be used for a baby, just have to make sure clear sides are covered, more hides/structures are in the cage so your dragon can choose basking areas (should be a few basking areas too, just make sure there still is a good temperature range) and places to hide if something startled your dragon.

3. Is it just me, I've never had a dragon that has waved it's arm. Is that a behavior in all dragons or have I just had some special dragons?

Dragons tend to wave more when housed with others of their kind, or even to their owners. Some dragons are more arm wavers than others. I see this activity more often in small cages with a bunch of baby dragons crammed in..all the submissive dragons are desperately waving at the more dominate babies, trying not to be lunch or to be picked upon. However, dragons will wave at each other through glass if you have more than one dragon on either side of a room where they can see eachother.

4. Finally how do you post pictures to this forum?

There are several ways, either uploading pictures to any web based photo hosting site and then you can paste the URL in your post with the img tags for HTML at either end. Click on Tools and Toys link below each message window, for how to do this. You can also create a photo gallery here on Kingsnake. It is free and you can use the same name as your forum ID. Just click on the 'Photos' tab ontop of the page. Once you have uploaded pictures, you can select them from the drop down list below, or for multiple pics, copy and paste the url with the image tags as mentioned above.
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PHLdyPayne