Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.

Click here to visit Classifieds
Click for ZooMed
Click for 65% off Shipping with Reptiles 2 You
tool_u2 Jun 27, 2011 02:12 PM

McDonald's is out of the question.

My beardie (adult male) goes into brumation/dormancy about once a year (sometimes twice per year). He may stay in a dormant state for up to 3 months. When he emerges from brumation I try to give him some foods with higher fat content in order to put some more "meat" on his bones around his hips and at the base of his tail (where most reserves are located). Over the course of about 2 weeks, I give him about 4 pinky mice and as many wax worms as he will eat. I really don't offer pinkies at any other time of the year. He usually eats greans, other plants, and the occasional superworm/wax worm during the other parts of the year. This diet seems to work for my beardie (he's now over 6 years old) but I just now started wondering if there's a better way. What kind of diet do others provide their beardie coming out of brumation?

Replies (1)

PHLdyPayne Jun 29, 2011 12:09 AM

For males coming out of brumation I would just feed mixed healthy greens and superworms, butterworms, silkworms or hornworms. I wouldn't bother at all with waxworms or pinky mice, a these are just high fat. Better to feed healthy food than too fatty foods.

Weigh your male before he goes into brumation and weigh when he comes out...its fine if he looses some weight, maybe 10% of total body weight..or less. feeding too much fatty foods will just get him fat..regular weigh ins will better show if he's loosing much while dormant and if he quickly regains what he losses with a regular diet.

Egg laying females on the other hand, do need extra food and could do well with the odd pinky mouse or two after brumation and maybe one after each clutch. But since you have a male, no need for this extra boost of fat and calcium.
-----
PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

Site Tools