Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Lola's doing so much better! We upped her UVB to an 8.0 (wow that thing's bright) and started feeding her 3/4" crix instead of the 1/2"ers. I don't know if she has an eyesight problem or if the smaller crix just weren't jump starting her feeding instinct, but she does so much better with the slighly larger ones. We do pull off the larger back legs so they don't hop away on her and they're easier to digest, and she's really starting to get a belly! I'm going to re-measure her in another few days and see if she's finally starting to put on some length. We've had her since september and she's only shed ONCE.

Anyway, here are a couple pics - the first one she's a bit dark in because she just got up for the day and is still warming up

And here's another

My Coral x pastel german giant cross - bigger than lola, and 6 weeks younger! He's almost 12" and about 3.5 months old

They are beaautiful! I too have one dragon who is almost a month older then my other who is not as long and substantially lighter then the other. One is 12weeks, 7 1/2", other is 9weeks, 8 1/4". I also just bumped up my cricket size but I haven't given them yet cause I'm so paraniod of impaction. ARGG! I'm going to go for it they seem to fit the "size btwn the eye" rule but just barely. I wish I had the guts to do like you and pull off those back legs! (husband is out of town, but I think he'd look at me like I've lost my mind!)

Again...beautiful babies!

Marilee

Ahhh! I knew it was you celeste, just had to see the name kearse under this post. Might need to get me some new shades, looks like these can't quite handle the color intensity of Lola. Nice dragon there 8)

I'm glad you found something that is working for you! I've noticed in a couple beardies I've had they did seem to feed better on the slightly larger than you'd normally feed prey item.
Soory I didn't think to mention that...... Put you through all that feeling of rejection because you thought she had daggers for you because you were taking time away from her and her man...LOL

How did the silkworms turn out for you? Did you get them up to a good feeding size?

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

Yeah - she really has to have her tank WARM too, it can't fall into the 90's or she gets lazy.

We did get the silkies up to about 1" and then fed them off, they went really fast, only lasted a couple days. The dragons needed some convincing to try them but once they did they ate them well. The silk stuff was annoying though! I don' t know if I'd order them again. How's the minimealworm experiment going?

Congratulations! I'm glad your picky eater is gaining weight and eating a lot more. Those are cute new pictures!!! I especially like the second one - she has the coolest coloring! And of course Kearse is a cutie too! My beardie also started eating, so I'm very excited!

How come the silkworms were difficult? I wanted to feed those as a staple to my beardie.
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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Cookie Monster)
1.0.0 Crested Gecko (Vas-D)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.0.2 Goldfish (Lenny & Carl)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)

It's not so much that they're difficult, they do have their perks. They don't smell, they're quiet, and they're more easily digested than other feeders.

In my limited experience, the only things that really annoyed me were:

1. The fact that you have to feed them 1-2 times a day to get them up to feeder size (unless you order larger ones, which I was having trouble finding

2. The fact that they "silk" to each other and are a pain in the a$$ to separate from each other when it's time to feed them off.

3. They didn't seem to invoke a great feeding response in either of my beardie's, I had to dangle them in front of them for a while before they started taking them off of their branches.

Your experience may differ greatly. I do think they are a great feeder insect, but I'll have to change a few things in my routine before we can use them as a staple here.

>>2. The fact that they "silk" to each other and are a pain in the a$$ to separate from each other when it's time to feed them off.

Hahaha, aw that sucks. How do you take off the silk they wrap each other in?

>>3. They didn't seem to invoke a great feeding response in either of my beardie's, I had to dangle them in front of them for a while before they started taking them off of their branches.

That's the type of response I was thinking I was going to get... Mainly because I feel it won't work... But since many people kept saying it triggered a feeding response, I figured it was worth a try... I still am going to try too!

I want to use silkies as a staple with RepCal pellets and a few greens, but I'm still slowly introducing the pellets. I think he ate one or two, but he's been getting at the collar greens a bit more.

Thank you for the info Celeste!
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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Cookie Monster)
1.0.0 Crested Gecko (Vas-D)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.0.2 Goldfish (Lenny & Carl)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)

Just wanted to say that the silkies will have to be introduced as the new feeder to the dragons and they will have top get used to this. Once they figure out that they are the new food source you shouldn't have any problems. They will also be a little more expensive than crix if you only feed a couple beardies as you won't be able to buy eggs in bulk at a cheaper rate cause you won't need that many. You can buy them in smaller packages like 1000 and 2000 eggs but they are a little more expensive that way. It will take around 2.5 to 3 weeks after hatching to get them to feedable size. 1000 1" silkies should last a week or better for a couple beardies. Buying them already hatched out and fed to proper size will be rather costly and though more nutritious, the cost will more than likely not be affordable for most..... 1000 1" silkies with enough food to last a week or so runs around 25-30bucks.

As far as the silk they spread around as they move from place to place..... get some tweazers and pull them off the silk with those.... I use my fingers but have heeard others mention the tweazers working for 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

Thanks Robert

I bought long reptile tweezers the other day, but have yet to use them. So I'll put them to good use with the silkies.

They do seem rather costly, but I want Cookie Monster to pick up on the healthier side I won't introduce them to him yet as I am still introducing RepCal pellets slowly. He's getting used to them, but eats more of his greens. I wanted the pellets to be the main diet, but I want to give some variation. So mainly pellets, then some greens, and a variation of silkies, crix, occassional wax worm, and superworms in line for the future!
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0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Cookie Monster)
1.0.0 Crested Gecko (Vas-D)
0.0.2 Fire Bellied Toads (Norman & Forman)
0.0.2 Goldfish (Lenny & Carl)
1.0.0 Black Lab / Pit Bull (Mikey)