Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Just got a new bearded dragon. He is about 5-6 weeks old. I thought I new exactly what to give him as far as vitamins and calcium supplements but upon further reading I am now not so sure. There are SO many varying and conflicting ideas about this. I was told at my pet store all I needed was herptivite a couple times a week and that had everything I need as far as supplements. Is this true? I was also told that the more we handle him the tamer he will be but then I read that when they are babies they should be left alone as much as possible. He seems to like being held and will fall asleep on my hand but I don't want to be mistaking that for him being stressed.

I know from my experience if they are stressed, they will usually turn darker in color and will have dark spots appear on their underneath, they also may not eat...usually you shouldn't handle them much when they are young or when you first bring them home...
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1.0.1 Bearded Dragons - Smaug and Little One (for now, till I know the sex for sure)
3.1 Bettas - Jason, Ori, Fishy Fishy Fishy, Faith (R.I.P.)
1.0 3 Legged Bullfrog - Jeremiah Sim Choy
1.0 Leopard Gecko - Spike
0.1 Guinea Pig- Oreo

Here are a few basic rules about the herpetoculture industry: nobody knows exactly the nutritional requirements of reptiles and amphibians. That is why it is so important to offer a variety in their diet so that hopefully one of those food items will contain an essential vitamin that the animal is not getting anywhere else.

The same goes for supplements. How can the pet store say that only one supplement is all that is needed for this particular reptile?? To make such a generalization about the nutrition of herps only displays their complete ignorance about the subject. Will this supplement adequately supply a woodland salamander from the Appalachian Mountains equally as well as a lizard from the deserts Australia? Reptiles are more closely related to mammals, and yet they don't require anything different from an amphibian? I doubt this company has invested the hundreds of thousands of dollars to research herp nutrition, but they can guarantee it with different ingredients and seasonal variations of the ingredients included? I believe strongly that you should use more than just one type of vitamin supplement, simply by rotating through them frequently. At different times, I may have in my collection every single supplement that the pet store has on its shelves.

The bottom line is, diversity in the supplements is just as important as diversity in the diet.

Here are some older discussions about supplements:
http://forum.kingsnake.com/newt/messages/32445.html
http://forum.kingsnake.com/frog/messages/46980.html
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"I know the human being and fish can coexist peacefully."
Governor George W. Bush, Jr.

"Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us."
Calvin and Hobbes (Scientific Progress Goes 'Boink', 1991)