Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About a week ago I posted here about one of my 2 1/2 week old hatchlings biting the tail of a cage mate. I have separated the biter but today I noticed that I have 3 others with their tails nipped. I don't feed crickets to them. I turn the lights on about 30 minutes before I put their salad and pellets in the cage every morning. I spritz them and their food at least 2 times a day. I have a 20 long cage that I now have 7 babies in, a 10 gal that has the 4 with damaged tails, another 10 gal that has the one that I know was biting. I have another cage that is 50 inches long 24 inched wide and 24 in high and I have 18 in there with remarkably no tail nips! Is there anything I should do to the tails to help them heal?? thanks....

keep seperating them if they are nipping, they may not be eating enough of the pellets either. you can use some betadine or novalsan on the nips just to clean them up, other then that just watch for infection and keep them clean. also you may want to get the pellets ready for lights on, i know my baby eats very soon after the lights click on, hes hungry almost immediatly, this might be part of the problem, once under those lights they heat up and get active quick. hope some others have more advice for you.

just curious as to how your babies are growing on the only salad and pellet diet?

>>About a week ago I posted here about one of my 2 1/2 week old hatchlings biting the tail of a cage mate. I have separated the biter but today I noticed that I have 3 others with their tails nipped. I don't feed crickets to them. I turn the lights on about 30 minutes before I put their salad and pellets in the cage every morning. I spritz them and their food at least 2 times a day. I have a 20 long cage that I now have 7 babies in, a 10 gal that has the 4 with damaged tails, another 10 gal that has the one that I know was biting. I have another cage that is 50 inches long 24 inched wide and 24 in high and I have 18 in there with remarkably no tail nips! Is there anything I should do to the tails to help them heal?? thanks....
-----
reiko
photos

-eva-

I have food for them in the cage from the time the lights come on until the lights go out!!! When I come home from work we put in more fresh greens etc and even hand feed some to them!!!

in addition to what reiko stated, then i would suggest that you give them some 1/4" crickets. beardies are omnivores and some beardies may need more protein than others, although the vandivers stated that have been successful in not feeding any prey to their beardie babies.

>>I have food for them in the cage from the time the lights come on until the lights go out!!! When I come home from work we put in more fresh greens etc and even hand feed some to them!!!

Actually if you check out the vandivers.com website, you'll see that they primarily feed their baby dragons crickets and slowly wean them over to a more pellet based diet. It just takes time.

Perhaps you can try the canned crickets if you don't like the idea of feeding them live crickets.

I have talked to Jackie several times and they no longer feed crickets even to the hatchlings. I am trying the can-o-crickets to see how that works for awhile. Thanks.

I have never raised babies before so I don't have anything to compare with but they are very healthy! They eat the greens very well but they don't seem to eat many of the pellets yet. I make sure to dust the greens real well to make sure they get the calcium and d3 that they need.

very important to them at this age, greens are secondary, if they dont start eating the pellets you may want to consider the crickets, they really need to eat a lot at this age or you will get nips or worse yet malnourished and undersized babies, if the pellets arent working out crickets are the way to go....
-----
reiko
photos

I see people posting all of the time about wanting to NOT feed their dragons any live prey. WHY?? This is what we know works. Why do people want to change what works? If you have a big problem with insect death why have a dragon? I know that when we hear about crazy people trying to make their dogs and cats vegitarians we look down on it. It is the way things are. Dragons LOVE to eat insects. Why is it OK to bend them to our morals at the expense of their health and happiness. There are no long term studies available that say pellets are ok as the staple. In fact when I called both Zoomed and reptical they said these are intended as a supplement to a cricket and greens diet. Why is it ok to stress out dragons, and completly take away what they live for...hunting crickets that is. I truly believe that my dragons would not have happy lives if they did not get to hunt thier bugs. That IS their happiness! They would survive maybe on pellets..but doesn't the fact that getting them to eat pellets is SO hard for so many tell you anything. It is not what they want..

This is probably not going to be a popular post, but I just want to know. Maybe I am missing something. I am definalty open to other ideas.
-----
MY Dragons!!

some people do it to avoid the parasites that can be present in our feeders, some do it for the wrong reasons yes, i dont agree on an all pelleted diet, i like you feel that my dragons love the hunt, its part of them and keeps them happy, im sure she meant the best for these babies, but i am not certian that an all pelleted diet is good for them, they really need those 30, 40, 50 crickets each a day to fuel that growth, pellets are failing.. on with crickets.

>>I see people posting all of the time about wanting to NOT feed their dragons any live prey. WHY?? This is what we know works. Why do people want to change what works? If you have a big problem with insect death why have a dragon? I know that when we hear about crazy people trying to make their dogs and cats vegitarians we look down on it. It is the way things are. Dragons LOVE to eat insects. Why is it OK to bend them to our morals at the expense of their health and happiness. There are no long term studies available that say pellets are ok as the staple. In fact when I called both Zoomed and reptical they said these are intended as a supplement to a cricket and greens diet. Why is it ok to stress out dragons, and completly take away what they live for...hunting crickets that is. I truly believe that my dragons would not have happy lives if they did not get to hunt thier bugs. That IS their happiness! They would survive maybe on pellets..but doesn't the fact that getting them to eat pellets is SO hard for so many tell you anything. It is not what they want..
>>
>>This is probably not going to be a popular post, but I just want to know. Maybe I am missing something. I am definalty open to other ideas.
>>-----
>> MY Dragons!!
-----
reiko
photos

i dont *like* feeding my lizards (2 beardies, 1 leo...for now!) because they escape and get everywhere, they die off fast and get eaten fast, and are a general pain in the butt. if my lizards could safely do without crickets, id be thrilled (actually, i think i am switching my leo over to mealies...ickier than crix, but easier to serve up). that being said, i know they need the protein, so i live with it. but i dont agree that hunting is necessarily that big a deal to them, especially the older ones. im not sure that beardies think in terms of pleasure, simply survival and instinct. instinct is to eat, whetehr that be by hunting or eating from a bowl. my new beardie, from beginnerbasics, eats prekilled crickets and is doing perfectly fine. its easier on me, no risk of my crix dying off or getting lef tin his cage to nip at him. and he doesnt seem to be missing a thing.

my point is, crix suck, and are a pain in the butt. but as far as i know (and i dont claim to be the expert here) theyre still an important source of protein. sooooooo give the lizards what they need, which i dont think has to include hunting.

and if this made no sense, i take no responsibility since im half asleep
-----
proud mama to:
1.0.0 ball python (mr snake),0.0.1 albino florida kingsnake (CK),1.0.0 leopard gecko (sebastian),0.1.0 colombian rainbow boa (luce),1.1.0 bearded dragon (kaipo and dulce), 1.1.0 colombian redtailed boas (adam and eve)

I am glad you agree about the protien, that is probably the more important point. I and I do not think the hunting crickets is at all similar to maybe some guys going out on the weekend for a hunting trip. I am not talking about fun. Our captive dragons live in tiny little tanks compared to "the real world" . They have NOTHING to stimulate them if not hunting. They may get out a few times a day, but the rest of the time they are in a little world that they can't see out of all that well, and nothing really changes. Especially the hatchlings. They have to have minimal handeling, minimal cage decorations, and they can not really see out of the plastic breeder tubs at all. What else do they have? Four cloudy walls and a rock...maybe a glimpse of a ceiling fan above. Just like any animal including people, they become depressed if not stimuated. Hunting IS an instinct. It is a drive they have. Why supress it? To hunt uses their mind, stimulates their senses, makes them alert, GIVES THEM A JOB! There really are not a lot of things we can give our dragons to do to keep them stimulated, so why take this away? There are no dragon wheels for them to run around on. No cricket shaped chew toys. There are not dragon sized tennis balls. Hunting is there thing...just like ALL of those toys take advantage of INSTINCTS to "keep yor pet happy and stimulated". Ok...once again just my opinion, don't mean to offend.
-----
MY Dragons!!

I have to agree. Animals who normally hunt or search for food need mental stimulation. If you go to a zoo, a lot of zookeepers will hide food and such instead of having it in one area so that it can keep the animal mentally stimulated. It's for the sake of psychological well-being.

>>I have to agree. Animals who normally hunt or search for food need mental stimulation. If you go to a zoo, a lot of zookeepers will hide food and such instead of having it in one area so that it can keep the animal mentally stimulated. It's for the sake of psychological well-being.
-----
reiko
photos

I totally diasagree with you with their "mental stimulation" only being from crickets. I do agree it does stimulate them, but so does other things. Take them out on a leash, them roam around...even if they are young. Mine walk on leashes and they are 7 inches, they love it. Use the Iguana leash, it fits all sizes. Also, if appearence is an issue and your afraid of them not being stimulated...add a hanging bush, a little hide cave...or anything else that you can decorate cages with. If you dont have the money to get some hanging bushes...don't breed. Also, bearded dragons do not get stimluated by appearence..they do not see a bush or a rock...they see a blob sitting there. They can not distinguish features, it's a fact. If blobss timulate you beardie..hang crumpled paper. Crickets are not needed for stimulation....
-----
~Julie~

I'm curious... Where did you find this info on dragon's eye sight?
And also, if they can't make out detail, then it would seem to me that it's the motion that's important, and would explain why some dragons won't eat non-moving food.

D.A.