Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is there anyway to enhance a beardies color with every shed? Maybe a supplement, or a special kind of light, or certain foods?

What do you do to make sure a beardies color stays strong? Thanks.
-----
0.0.2 RES's (The Boondock Saints)
0.0.1 Common Snapping Turtle (Aggro)
0.0.1 Eastern Red Bellie (Jake)
0.0.1 Map Turtle (Mappy)
0.2.0 Bearded Dragon (Yeungling,Killian)

Ya, spend the extra money to get high quality dragons in the first place. Beyond that make sure they get proper husbandry (light intensity is key also).

Sean
Heart Mountain Herps

...to Seans post. The t-rex sandfire superfoods line of products contain plant extracts that contain pigments that may enhance your dragons coloration. They contain Haematococcus algea for red pigmentation and Marigold extract for yellow pigmentation.

>>Ya, spend the extra money to get high quality dragons in the first place. Beyond that make sure they get proper husbandry (light intensity is key also).
>>
>>Sean
>>Heart Mountain Herps
-----
Bill DiFabio
Garden State Herpetoculture...website to follow...
Email Me
"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense,
not between right and wrong." - Carl Jung

Beware....some breeders were adding extra betacarotene to their diet to enhance color as well....but if the new owner decides not to supplement with Supersandfire foods or extra betacarotene as I don't, then the colored dragon you sold them will fade and they will be disappointed, it would not be a "true" color anyway, they are all beautiful naturally and I feel they need no enhancements.

A proper diet, good UVB exposure, good hydration and keeping them parasite free and healthy is the best way to show off their true colors!
-----
Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com
"Whining is not only graceless, but can be dangerous.
It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood" ~Maya Angelou

genetics are most important. Even with the best genes, the Beardie has to be happy for good color. Proper husbandry is key. The t-rex diet does help and is great. I have also found that sunlight or at least a good UVB light can help.

.

-----
Bennett

Home Of The Florida Orange
www.beardiedragon.com

n/p
-----
Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com
"Whining is not only graceless, but can be dangerous.
It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood" ~Maya Angelou

...on betacarotene and other pigments. If you feed your dragon dark leafy greens, carrots, yellow squash,etc., they are getting a good amount of betacarotene. If you gutload your bugs with these items and also spirulina, they are getting even more. If you use Herptivite they are also getting a good amount from that. If you further supplement there diet with more than what they already get does is effect coloration?...maybe, maybe not...I have my doubts. Actually, i'm not quite sure how you would do that. If someone buys a dragon from a breeder that adds extra betacarotene to the diet and the dragons color soon fades while in the new owners posession, was it the sudden drop in the amounts of this pigment that caused this? Could be, but there are several other variables that could influence color, such as temps, light intensity, type of lighting, stress, and genes. There are dragons that look nice as Juvies and fade out somewhat as adults. Regardless, this is an interesting subject. What's more interesting are the other benefits associated with plant pigment supplementation.Which is where my interest in these compounds are...They are known antioxidents and may have anticarcinogenic properties among other health benefits that are being investigated. There has been an quite alot of research into the health improving properties of several plant pigments in recent years...some are:

astaxanthin: found in the haematococcus algae in the t-rex supps.
Lutein: found in marigold extract, also in the t-rex supps.
Lycopene: found in tomatos...it makes them red.

Here are some resources for those interested in reading more on this subject:

http://www.astaxanthin.org/wellness.htm

http://www.aquasearch.com/astax.htm

http://www.lef.org/abstracts/codex/astaxanthin_index.htm

http://www.parktonks.co.uk/animal_products/aquaculture/colour_enhancement.htm

There is much more out there and you can check out pubmed if you are interested in reading studies done with plant pigments.

good luck

>>Is there anyway to enhance a beardies color with every shed? Maybe a supplement, or a special kind of light, or certain foods?
>>
>>What do you do to make sure a beardies color stays strong? Thanks.
>>-----
>>0.0.2 RES's (The Boondock Saints)
>>0.0.1 Common Snapping Turtle (Aggro)
>>0.0.1 Eastern Red Bellie (Jake)
>>0.0.1 Map Turtle (Mappy)
>>0.2.0 Bearded Dragon (Yeungling,Killian)

-----
Bill DiFabio
Garden State Herpetoculture...website to follow...
Email Me
"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense,
not between right and wrong." - Carl Jung

We're not talking fading over time and sheds....the half-life of betacarotene is fairly short, so one who's been over supplemented to enhance color will fade fairly quickly, not over the time from Juvenile to adult, of course some dragons start out brighter and fade with sheds to their adult color....that's not what is being talked about here. I'm not talking about the minimal enhancements given with normal supplementation, I'm talking about purposely trying to enhance color with supplements.....

BTW...tomatoes are acidic, much like citrus and generally shouldn't be fed to dragons....

Again, proper husbandry of healthy animals is the best way to see their true potential color.
-----
Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com
"Whining is not only graceless, but can be dangerous.
It can alert a brute that a victim is in the neighborhood" ~Maya Angelou