Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted this over on one of the "other sites" but I've always found a lot of knowledgeable people over here so I thought I'd ask here as well.

I was wondering if there's been any research regarding coloration and diet. I know a lot of animals (fish for example) need certain foods to get their coloration. My beardie's colors seem to be fading as he grows. I know this is natural sometimes, but I also wonder if maybe he needs more pigment in his diet.

He eats his greens very well, but has never really eaten other vegetables much. Just curious if this might be contributing to his color loss.

I've also read that beardies kept in natural sunlight develop more colors. So, I guess lighting may play a big role.

Anyway, just looking for opinions.
-----
0.9.0 Ball Pythons
0.1.1 Leopard Geckos
0.0.1 Egyptian Tortoise
0.0.1 Bearded Dragons

I've read the articles regarding Flamingo's losing their color because of improper diet. I don't remember what they were not getting but it was something that they normally get a lot of in the wild. So the moral of the story for Flamingos at least is to feed them a diet that most closely resembles what they would have in the wild.

Since I live in America, I don't have access to the insects and plants in a dragons natural habitat. I just try to give as varied and nutritious diet as possible. I use this site as a basis for greens and vegetables.

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

I also offer Hornworms, Silkworms, Superworms, Blaptica Dubia Roaches, and Crickets.

I have read that you can feed carrots regularly to retain color but don't believe and disagree with this. Especially since carrots are high in Vitamin A which is bad for Beardies and are not a part of thier diet in the wild.

I do agree that sunlight is best, but here in the Northeast 6 months of the year I have to depend on Zoo Med's technology which I change religiously. I have taken in babies that I was sure were normals and when they grew up turned out to be very pretty colored. I had a orange and white baby a few years ago and now she is yellow. I don't know why this happens, genetics maybe.