Reptile & Amphibian Forums

1) At what age, or how long should the toe nails be before I cut them? And does anyone know of a good site which explains how to proporly cut them?

2) Why is my beardie so dark in his cage, but much lighter when i take him out. And somewhat related, why do his colours change when hes in the bath tub as opposed to anywhere else?

3) How often should I be feeding veggies, hes about 5 months (i think) and around 11 inches (with a tail nip) and 130 grams. Crickets are so expensive, and he eats like a pig. I don;t want to do anything wrong, but I would like him to eat more greens. Just want to make sure its healthy for him.

4) I bought a bunch of silkworms, and they all died after 3 days. I fed them collards, and I'm thinking this was a bad idea. How do I keep them?

Sorry for all the questions, and the length of the post, but I'm curious.

Thanks for any replaies in advance!
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Christina

1) You can start trimming the nails at any age. Trimming a beardies nail is similar to clipping a cat or dogs nails. You dont want to cut the quik. When I cut my beardies nails i just trim the very tiny tip off, and i do it pretty frequently so i don't have to worry about them growing too long resulting in me needing to cut larger parts off, which gets more dangerous. You can just use a pair of regular toenail clippers, or you can buy the small ones for birds, ferrets, rabbits, or cats.

2) Color change in beardies means a few things. It can mean they are stressed out, or calm depending on the color. Or that they are heating up or cooling down. If he is dark in his cage it is probably because he is trying to soak up as much heat as possible. He could possibly be stressed, so check your husbandry, but if everything is good then he is just heating himself up. When you give him a bath it is probably kind of stressful so he changes color again...

3) You can feed veggies as often as you like as long as you are still feeding plenty of bugs. they need a TON of protein until they are about a year old. But it is also important they are used to veggies so the switch to veggies comes more easily to them as they are older. Many people provide a salad every day and allow their beardie to eat at will. As long as he is eating some veggies at this age, rest assured he will probably start to eat more as he gets older.

4) Sorry, i dont know anything about silkies, although i'd be interested to hear too....
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

Silkworms only eat mullberry leaves or silkworm chow--NOTHING else! I purchase the powdered chow and mix up 1/4 pound at a time. Follow the directions (I use microwave) and keep chow in a sealed container in fridge. Feed daily. The easiest way to feed is to cut a small cube of chow and 'grate' or crumble a thin layer over the tops of the worms--they are not the smartest creature and will not move far looking for food. Feed them 2 times a day if you want them to grow faster.

Read the care sheets on www.mullberryfarms.com or www.californiasilkworms.com

They usually have good prices on the 'worms and chow' packages--it is still a good idea to purchase additional powdered chow.

Hi Christina,

I recently wrote an article for ChamNews on silkworms. It is not the final copy (not sure why they have the old copy up), but for the most part is complete. Hope it helps! If you have other questions I can always be found on the chameleon forum. Currently lurking here as I research for my new beardie

lele
silkworms

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0.1 veiled - Luna
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Líta
1.0 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.5 Mad. Hissers
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula (no name yet)
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

I have only trimmed one of my beardies nails and hers seem to grow faster and longer now, is that weird? All of my other beardies keep their nails short. I try to feed veggies 4 days out of a week.