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My bearded dragons health and my taking care of him! plz look..

Slaytallica Jul 29, 2004 02:30 AM

hiya, I have a feeling my beardie isn't up to health after looking at some of yours. Like that dragon i saw 'Dino' hes 21" long and 450 grams..

My lizard is probably about 7 mths old now and hes about a foot long now.. I feel as if he isn't as big as he could be

I usually feed him everyday, crickets and maybe sometimes mealworms.. I give him greens now everyday - I dont have a feeding schedule I just give him some crickets and then later on some greens.. I rarely dust the stuff anymore ( i know its bad ) but I was hoping you guys could give me some tips on how to get him to be the healthiest he can be. I am going to buy a callendar tomorrow just to set up maybe a good schedule and what to feed him wich day?

Please just give me some ideas on what to do to give him some better health.. Thx =)

Replies (4)

dragonsbynature Jul 29, 2004 05:45 AM

But, the first thing I would suggest is read every single post on this forum. It will take some time.. but it will be worth the time to help you understand a lot of different opinions/advice about dragons.

There is not necessarily ONE right way to do it all.. but certainly there are a lot of things in common that most people do.

I think most here would agree that your dragon should be offered proper supplementation and dustings, crix/supers, greens/veggies and pellets. A variety of each is a good schedule to have.

Not all dragons will reach 18" and 450g. Some genetically will get no where close to that. If you would like email me and I would be glad to go over everything with you that I personally think you should do. I will not do that here anymore.. I gave up with that.. but if you want my opinion/help would be glad to do what I can.

Good luck with your dragon.
brandon
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Dragons by Nature

veronicag Jul 29, 2004 10:20 AM

You're going to get a wide range of answers from a question like this ... but here are a few things you can do to help.

I would get him on a regular feeding schedule with his salad. I feed mine a daily salad and give it to them fresh, first thing every morning. They have learned to rely on that and will even look or stare at me funny if I'm late with the salads! LOL I've been known to sleep in a little on the weekends.

Alternate the greens, veggies, and fruit every week so he doesn't get bored with his salad. Make sure you are sprinkling his salads once or twice a week with a calcium supplement (like Miner-al) and once a week with a multivitamin like Herptivite.

Crickets are good, and occasional mealies as treats are ok too. But have you considered silkworms? They are much higher in calcium and beardies really love them. I know they aren't as cheap as crickets and mealies, but the benefits of feeding them to your beardie are amazing. Silkies are what I feed to my malnourished and skinny beardie rescues to fatten them up rather quickly.

Keep him hydrated. Offer him juice diluted with water, or Pedialyte. You can add all sorts of stuff to the juice, like acidophilus and vitamin B - both should increase his appetite and are not harmful to him.

Make sure your environment temps are correct. A beardie that is too cool won't digest food properly and will most likely have a decreased appetite.

Check for parasites often. I check all my beardies every 3 months. Parasites can be very detrimental to a beardies health. They can steal the nutrition that the beardie should be getting and they can cause other major health problems as well.

And lastly, I would make sure that you have a good UVB source. UVB rays have proved to be essential to a beardies health. Proper UVB can increase a beardies appetite, aid in calcium absorption, and can increase the overall color intensity of your beardie.

Good luck with your dragon! And don't worry about his size ... Being healthy is way more important than size. As long as he's healthy and parasite free, he will grow with time.

~Veronica
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Beautiful Dragons

littleherper Jul 29, 2004 01:42 PM

feed him some greens everday. after he eats his greens feed him crickets. give him as many crickets as he can eat in a 10 minute period. If he eats all the crickets you put in there. then give him more. lightly dust his greens and his crixs at least 4 or 5 times a week. spot clean his cage everyday.
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sincerely,
Jonathan D. de Kluyver
JDDK Reptiles
Quality Reptiles and Amphibianswww.jddkreptiles.com

Slaytallica Jul 30, 2004 09:59 PM

Thanks so much for the answers guys.. Im going to try to find what most breeders give their beardies. (Veggies, Fruits, Greens) I know all of them but I don't know where to start.. luckily hes eating like mad.. He had about 15-20 cricks today.

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