Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was just curious about how often, on average, a Juvenile Bearded(6 months or so), will shed...I know there are several variables. My ambient temp is 87-91 with a coolside of 84 and a basking spot of 107. I spray him down in the morning, and soak him down every other day ( where he takes a nice long drink)I am feeding lots of mixed greens with apple, carrot, brocolli, cauliflower, and today I am going to try some frozen veggies ( thawed of course). It is dusted with reptical supplement with calcium and D3 twice a week. I also fed 20 crickets every 2 to 3 days, also dusted. I am going to look into this pellet diet , but I don't think the pet store here has it.what is it called again?he is about 15" from tip of nose to end of tail. I have had him for about 2 weeks now. so I was just wondering how long before I can expect him to shed? thank you for your input.

P.S. he is also in a 4 foot by 2 ft by 2 ft custom enclosure I built.I know you don't recommend red light at night, but my pet store told me to use a black light at night, is this good or no? I do have a heating pad on a third of the tank.or I could use a ceramic heat emitter instead.ty for your help!!!

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Be as good to me as I am to my animals
1.0 ball python(normal)Maximus
0.1 golden retriever Amber
1 male schipperke(lil Bear)
0.2 bettas

will come by eventually, but in the mean time you have me.

AFAIK, the shed frequency is pretty much based on growth rate, so the faster he grows the more often he sheds. 15" is pretty big for a 6 month old juvie, so if that age is accurate I'd expect him to be shedding quite often. I wouldn't bet on any of my guesses but I'd think he might be shedding every couple of months if he's still growing fast. Mine got coccidia as a subadult and then brumated right after treatment and quit growing, so she didn't shed for almost a year.

By the way, if he is only 6 months, you could probably be feeding him those 20 crickets daily if he wants them. I think most people don't back off until they're at least a year old.

Ok, here's my 2 cents.....

At 6 months old he should be getting at least 20 crickets daily. Probably more. They should be allowed as many crickets as they can eat in 10 minutes, twice a day, until they are full grown. These little guys need a lot of protien. The pellet diet I believe you are looking for is Rep-Cal pellets. I haven't found any in stores around Dallas, so I ordered mine online. www.reptiledirect.com has them. If you get him on that and he takes to them well, you can cut back a little, but really the more protien the better. He's a growing baby!

You also may want to look into different food items for the salad. Apple, carrot, brocolli, cauliflower..... none of those are very good for beardies on a regular basis, even if you are mixing them with greens. Check out the nutritional content section of this website... http://www.beautifuldragons.com/ ....... and see if you can't come up with some better options.

As for the light, you don't really need anything at all unless you're in a cold climate and temps get under 65 degrees in that room. If that's the case I think the heat emitter is always the best way to go, so the light doesn't bother the beardie while he's trying to sleep. Then again, with the heating pad you might not need anything else. It really depends on the temps in your room.

As for the shedding question, I think it's probably a little different for everyone, but my juvi sheds every 2 months or so.

Good luck! Cute little beardie you have there!
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

TY for your advice and help. I have printed the list on the site you gave me, and will follow it. I have only had the little guy for a week and a half, and i have varied his mix every day, so at least he has not been getting gtoo much of any one thing. He was a rescue from the local petstore.A mother brought him back to the pet store after about 5 months, because her son was not taking care of him. he would handle him every day but would leave it to the mother to feed him and clean the cage... etc.. etc... but mom must have done a good job because he is healthy,and happy and from you guys tell me.....large for his age.he is very well behaved too except when you are on the computer with him... he keeps trying to explore the desk..lol
There are now 15-20 new babies at the store now, there is a local breeder who spits them out a few times a year and they buy them from him, but they are only like 2 to 3 inches long tops! is that to young to be selling? I am not getting any anyways I was just wondering.If I do get anymore it will be a sub-adult or adult morph or het morph, not sure what kind yet though. I am going to wait until I get used to one before I get more, maybe then I will breed some. Who knows.
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Be as good to me as I am to my animals
1.0 ball python(normal)Maximus
0.1 golden retriever Amber
1 male schipperke(lil Bear)
0.2 bettas

Sounds like you're gonna take good care of him.

As for those babies, that does sound pretty young. I got mine at 4 weeks old, and he was 7 inches. I'm thinking anything younger that that shouldn't be sold, they should be kept in the breeder's care at least long enough to get a good start on life.
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

:O
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Be as good to me as I am to my animals
1.0 ball python(normal)Maximus
0.1 golden retriever Amber
1 male schipperke(lil Bear)
0.2 bettas