Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Lately I have noticed my baby having alot more interest in the pellets so I started leaving a small bowl of dry in for her to *snack* on when I'm at work or something and I kept offering her greens 3 times a day.. Now I can hear her chomping on them all day and night long and she she shows less interest in the greens.. I know that the pellets can be fed as a primary food, but it says that they should be wet with water or fruit juice.. basicly is it ok for her to eat them dry like this or should I take her *snack* away from her and only feed them at her regular eating times? I plan on still offering greens no matter what because she still does grab a few pieces every now and then and its not like its that big of a deal to make her a small bowl while I'm feeding the rest of *the kids* Should I still put the calci powder on her regular greens every day still or is there a possibility that I am going to overload her since the rep-cal has everything it already needs? Also when she gets older, will she just loose interest in these or am I going to have to ween her off, or is it ok to feed them to even an adult? Please help me with this stuff!

I think Bennett said that he feeds these primarily to his babies and she really seems to like them so I just want to make sure I'm doing it all right as far as this new food goes. Thanks in advance for any replys!

The pellets should be nutritionally well rounded but are no substitute for regular salads and insects. I would still soak them in water before offering them to your dragon, being dry they will dehydrate your dragon, unless she has a dish of fresh water handy in her cage. You certainly can keep offering them during the day, or spinkle them ontop of her salad (or mix them in if she just picks out the pellets and leaves the salad behind).

I would also avoid feeding her anything at night, she needs at least two hours of light to digest her food before lights out at night.
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PHLdyPayne

All my babies get salad

and pellets daily.

While the pellets are a complete meal, I would still dust crix once a day with calcium for indoor animals since the amount of UVB is low (unless you use reptileUV). Dusting crix is also to balance the Ca ratio. I use T-Rex Dragon Dust VGF & ICB rather than calcium since overdosing is less likely. I also hose down or bathe babies at least once a day. Let me clarify, this is not misting, it is way more. They get hosed down for 5 minutes or more so they get plenty of opertunity to drink from the walls floor and direct spray.

The pellets are soaked well before serving but they do dry out during the day. There is ALWAYS food in the cage, ALWAYS. As for feeding close to lights out or after dark, pellets and salad can be left in the cage but do not put in fresh food. Food left in their bellies without heat will rot and not digest properly. Keep in mind that it takes DAYS for food to completely digest however. This was best demonstrated to me at Daytona this year. The babies I brought were fed lightly Friday morning before the trip. They were not fed again until monday afternoon yet they all pooped Saturday, Sunday and even Monday morning before being fed even without direct heat. Some of them had loose stools and Cheri explained that they can get car sick (motion sickness) from the drive up.

My adults get pellets too. I used to use it just as a topper but now I give them pellets alone once a week and as a topper occationally. I also give my adults the T-Rex dust.

So to sum up, start with the pellets wet but if they dry out don't worry. Pellets are a complete meal and there have been BDs raised only on pellets by Dr. Wentz DVM (pretty sure that's his name) and they did fine.
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Bennett

beardiedragon.com
Home of the Florida Orange

I've been offering rep cal pellets to all my dragons for years now. they all love them. It is important to still offer dusted crickets and salad. I leave the pellets in over night, thats if they dont eat them all, and often times I hear a few easting them even before the lights go on. The early bird gets the worm or in this case the pellet!

I have to say that I have never soaked the pellets. Some of my dragons have been eating them this way for years now. With no problems. But they do get greens, mistings and or soaks and crickets daily as well. So they get plents of water. My adults also love pellets. But they still eat everything else in sight.

peace,
nate