Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My beardeds havent grown at all since I got them. I have had them both for about a month now. I weigh them everyday and they have stayed the same. I feed them salads, mealies, and the occasional waxies. I dust the salad with calium and multivite each day. Both have access to water and food at all times. The 10 1/4in female is in a 20L with a heat lamp and UVB lamp. The basking spot is about 110-115. The male is in a large tupperware container with a a basking spot of about 110 and a UVB also. I have heard that beardies have been known to grow 1/2in a week. Whats up? The male is a GG and the female is an orange. He is about 12 1/4in.

Thanks

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I have:
1.1 Kankakee Bulls
1.0 veild chameleon
1.1 corns
0.1 az king
1.2 tiger sals
0.0.4 fox snakes
0.1 3-toe box turtle
1.1 Crotaphytus collaris
1.1 Crotaphytus binctores
1.1 Korean Ratsnake
0.1 desert kings
1.1 Bearded Dragons(german giant and orange)

Have you had fecals done on both of them? Mealies aren't the best choice for a staple feeder...crickets or silkworms should be the staple.....

How many bugs do they eat per day? Have they shed since you got them? How old are they? Have you weighed them at all?
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com

>>Have you had fecals done on both of them? Mealies aren't the best choice for a staple feeder...crickets or silkworms should be the staple.....
>>
>>How many bugs do they eat per day? Have they shed since you got them? How old are they? Have you weighed them at all?
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>>Tracey
>>Tracey's Beardies
>>www.beardiecrazy.com

I havent gotten fecals done but I would trust the breeder who I got them from. I have gotten many animals from them and have never had any trouble. I was under the impression that crix arent a good staple because they can transmit parasites. I try to only give them the mealies every other day, they are the dried once that are sold commercialy. They have each shed once since I have gotten them. The salad is made up of a variety of greens. I o weigh them everyday. They also get soaked every other day.

Thanks,
Mike
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I have:
1.1 Kankakee Bulls
1.0 veild chameleon
0.1 corns
0.1 az king
1.2 tiger sals
0.1 3-toe box turtle
0.1 Crotaphytus collaris
1.1 Crotaphytus binctores
0.1 desert kings
1.1 Bearded Dragons(german giant and orange)
and soon to be 0.0.5 sandfire X red/yellow and sandfire X yellow pastel/sunburst

They need to be getting alot more protein at this size, whether from bugs or pellet it's your choice but they should not be on a primarly salad diet at this size. Get the fecals done, they have the some parasites in their system naturally, add stress and that's when they come out in force and make them sick.

Sean
Heart Mountain Herps

How do I get them feeding on pellets? I have the juvi kind and they have refused them. I have even tried soaking them in applejuice.
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I have:
1.1 Kankakee Bulls
1.0 veild chameleon
0.1 corns
0.1 az king
1.2 tiger sals
0.1 3-toe box turtle
0.1 Crotaphytus collaris
1.1 Crotaphytus binctores
0.1 desert kings
1.1 Bearded Dragons(german giant and orange)
and soon to be 0.0.5 sandfire X red/yellow and sandfire X yellow pastel/sunburst

try hand feeding the pellets and as I said, until they are eating them well you need to give them bugs...crickets or silkworms.....and get the fecals.....
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com

www.repcal.com has some suggestions. Basically start by mixing it in with their salad so that they are forced to eat some and then they will realize it's food. You can soak them to make them softer, I use orange pedialite because that's what they got used to as babies but most juices or water will work. I also keep a dish of dry pellet in with them at all times. Quite a few of my beardies won't even eat crickets anymore they like the pellet that much.

Sean
Heart Mountain Herps

I agree with Sean.....the breeder can be the best, dragons carry parasites naturally and a change of environment which causes stress can cause natural parasite levels to rise. They can also get parasites from the greens and water sources as well not just crickets. I also agree with the fact that at that age they should have protein daily....twice daily is what I would give at that size. If they haven't been raised prior to you on pellets, you may have trouble getting them to eat them, though they may....I would still give them bugs daily and not mealies until you know they are eating enough pellets.

You don't go down to every other day with protein until 12 months so you've got a long way to go until then.....

Get the fecals, up the protein and they should be fine....
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com

Anything can pretty much carry parisites except for maybe pellets. Crix are a great source of protein which growing BD's need in one form or another. IF you don't want to feed crix, then I think you should be feeding either silkworms or pellets. Plus from what it sounded like they need far more food then you are currently feeding, at least 1-2 10min feeding frenzies on crix or silkworms. Juvi pellets and salad should be available throughout the day also.

When I asked my vet how my dragon might have gotten coccidia, she said one of the ways it can be caught is through their veggies. I wash all veggies thoroughly before feeding them to my lizards, but she said sometimes it doesn't matter, all it takes is one bad batch. So your babies might be at just as much risk eating veggies as they are eating crickets, but that doesn't mean you should cut off veggies too just because a small risk does exist.

Sometimes being overprotective isn't always the best thing. Mealworms have shells that can sometimes cause impaction in small beardies, and aren't as nutritious for them... so I would say that feeding them mealies is at least if not more risky than crickets.
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1.0.1 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Hi,

Are the freeze dried crickets ok or do they need to be live?
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I have:
1.1 Kankakee Bulls
1.0 veild chameleon
0.1 corns
0.1 az king
1.2 tiger sals
0.1 3-toe box turtle
0.1 Crotaphytus collaris
1.1 Crotaphytus binctores
0.1 desert kings
1.1 Bearded Dragons(german giant and orange)
and soon to be 0.0.5 sandfire X red/yellow and sandfire X yellow pastel/sunburst

nope.... live is what you want...when dead they lose most of their nutrients....
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com

You definately want live crickets, fed on the same types of greens and veggies you'd feed your beardies.

Once you'r babies are older, you can go back to your mostly salad feeding routine. For a great chart of beardie friendly and not-so-friendly foods, bookmark www.beautifuldragons.com/ and go to the Nutrition Content link.

I sympathize with you though. I have an adult and I got too comfortable with the salad diet and occasional crickets and silkworms... it's so easy not having to keep live food around at all times. Recently I got a little baby, and my hands are full!!! It's really a lot of work, but SO worth it in the long run.
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1.0.1 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)