Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my 6week old beardie seems to be doing fine (active, love to sleep in our hand at night) but i'm a little worried if he is eating enough. i was told by the breader that i can feed just beardie pellets and greens. i put out fresh romaine and soaked juvi pellets every morning and sometimes in the afternoon. he sometimes takes some out of my fingers on occasion but how can i make sure he is getting enough. he is about 6 inches from tip-to-tail. sometimes he looks plump to me and other times thin! HELP! he has been pooping a little every day, just not sure if it is enough.

thanks in advance for any advice

btw...been checking out many of your websites! great job!

Who said you could feed just greens and repcal? I suppose it's possible but it would be better for him to get protien from live prey (crix, roaches, silkies, whatever). He won't grow as fast without the live prey.

Sean
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Heart Mountain Herps

well i have been told by two breeders at the reptile show in tampa, fl. maybe they were just trying to get me to buy. Actually i bought a dragon last year from the same show for my brother and she also told me the same. his will be a year old next month and is about 14-16 inches long. he has fed pellets and greens but has given some meal worms for treats in the past. Is that a normal size for a 1 year-old? now i'm a little worried. i don't think i can handle keeping crickets but i do want to do whats best for him. agghhh!!$@#$#$%

my brother corrected me..his 11 month old is almost 19 inches.
is this normal?

It sounds like the length is fine. I also attend the reptile shows. Too many people there just want to make the $$, and they'll tell you what you want to hear so you'll buy. I was a vendor at the Orlando show and the guy set up beside of me was telling people that they could get 2 or 3 dragons for their kids & keep them all together. Then they would ask me questions when they approached my booth. You'd better believe I set them straight.
Vendors like that really piss me off. I've found that most people really appreciate my honesty and are more likely to buy from someone who lets them know 'straight up'just how much maintenance is involved with keeping beardies.
Cricket

absolutely! no one wants to buy a "family member" to find you may not have the means to take care of it properly. I had mentioned that i have a 5 year old sulcata who is of course a veggie/pellet eater and they told me that i could take care of my beardie the same way with the rep-cal pellets. what kind of worms can i substute crickets with? or can i do that?

Sean from Heartmountainherps had earlier recommended someone check out a website. I had to see it & it's great. The website is www.beautifuldragons.com It not only tells you what live prey to feed your beardie, but also how to take proper care of the feeder insects.
Cricket

I've been feeding silk worms and butterworms. They are high in protien and calcium and low in phospherus. You can see the nutritional value at www.beautifuldragons.com

I've been getting them from www.midwestherpetoculture.com Thomas has both for sale so you can combine shipping. The beardies love them!

Later,
Robert
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A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds,
adored by little statesmen, philosophers and divines.
Ralph Emerson

if you're going with just worms keep in mind that even though they're generally good for your dragon (protein and calcium) they alsp tend to be high in fat

Derek