Background info obtained - YEAH

[Pogie]

OK, where to start......

Like I mentioned numerous times before, I estimated Pogies age according to what I knew.

Today I spoke to her previous owners to find out as much as I could as her recent eating behavior has me really worried.
She went from 30-40 crickets daily to an average of 10 (some days 15, most days 10 and two or three times she ate NOTHING for a whole day) and very little salad.

Her pooping ritual has also changed from daily (every second day during a shed) to going anywhere from 3-5 days with NO POOP . So I soaked her and she left me a nice present when I got home (5 days worth LOL)
All seems OK with it, no smell, firmish with urates and fecal matter. Not really any undigested parts.

Anyways to get back to today.... They bought her during the first week of December 2009, she was (according to the pet shop owner - and this is one of the better pet shops we have here) 4 months at the time.
They sold her to me on 1 March 2010 (I thought she was 5 months then... but this was incorrect) That made her 7 months when I got her.
Thus she is then officially 1 year old today give or take one week. But Ill stick to the 1st of each month as I got her on the 1st of March. An adult which would explain her eating less crickets. Just the salad that still needs some work. She never finishes her bowl

So I went and read up the care sheet again on the ADULT part. And I have some questions.
Crickets - can I continue with about 10 daily as the care sheet states approx 7?
Roaches - she eats 5-7 a day when available , is this OK as the care sheet states 2.5 daily
Salads - She gets leafy greens daily with veg sometimes as she wont eat it anyways.
I have never given her fruits except apple and kiwi. Kiwi she absolutely loves. The care sheet states fruit can be given once a week as a treat.....
Does this mean 1 fruit 1x week, or can I give her a different kind of fruit each day of the week, like apples on monday . . . kiwi tuesday . . . pawpaw wednesday etc.........?
So shell have variety. I am also thinking fruits may get her to eat more salad.

So there . . . . My baby isnt a bay anymore . . . .

Happy Birthday Pogie

 

[staylor]

Happy Birthday Pogie

 

[clh321]

happy b-day pogie!

 

[beardie_love]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POGIE!!!!!!!!

Wish I could answer your questions, but I'd like to know that stuff myself. ;D

 

[renich]

Hey, Monique. See answers below. And it sure explains the changes you have been noticing:

Crickets - can I continue with about 10 daily as the care sheet states approx 7? 10 for now won't cause any harm with an overweight dragon. You'll notice her slowing down over the next couple of months. 18 months is the real key for decreasing her diet.
Roaches - she eats 5-7 a day when available , is this OK as the care sheet states 2.5 daily You may want to consider decreasing the number of roaches.
Salads - She gets leafy greens daily with veg sometimes as she wont eat it anyways.
I have never given her fruits except apple and kiwi. Kiwi she absolutely loves. The care sheet states fruit can be given once a week as a treat.....
Does this mean 1 fruit 1x week, or can I give her a different kind of fruit each day of the week, like apples on monday . . . kiwi tuesday . . . pawpaw wednesday etc.........?
So shell have variety. I am also thinking fruits may get her to eat more salad. Fruits should not be offered daily. Offer them in the salad once a week. Experiment with different veggies if available. A lot of dragons love red peppers and butternut squash. you can try sweet potato.

Hope this helps!

 

[Jiffy]

Happy Birthday Pogie!
I am glad you posted that. That just made me remember that today is Brady (my 3rd beardie) assigned birthday, since I dont know his exact birth date either.

 

[pscaulkins]

Happy Birthday Pogie!!

As for the cricket question, I don't feed crickets so can't answer that one. I think Pogie is filling up on feeders is why she isn't eating salads. I have two 5 y/o's and one 2 y/o beardie. I have two beardies that love salads and one that won't eat them. I make greens pudding and feed to the one that doesn't like salads as he loves eating from a plastic spoon.

Fruits should only be given as treats once a week. Mine love mango, papaya and berries of all kinds. I don't feed mine apples as apples has an appetite suppressant affect in humans so I assume it's the same with beardies but this is my opinion. The sugar content in fruit is not good for them. Mine get a couple of bites of fruit once a week.

An adult dragon should eat 80% greens/salads and 20% protein.

 

[hanfon]

Happy Birthday Pogie !!

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Happy Birthday!

 

[Pogie]

Hey, Monique. See answers below. And it sure explains the changes you have been noticing:

Crickets - can I continue with about 10 daily as the care sheet states approx 7? 10 for now won't cause any harm with an overweight dragon. You'll notice her slowing down over the next couple of months. 18 months is the real key for decreasing her diet.
Roaches - she eats 5-7 a day when available , is this OK as the care sheet states 2.5 daily You may want to consider decreasing the number of roaches.
Salads - She gets leafy greens daily with veg sometimes as she wont eat it anyways.
I have never given her fruits except apple and kiwi. Kiwi she absolutely loves. The care sheet states fruit can be given once a week as a treat.....
Does this mean 1 fruit 1x week, or can I give her a different kind of fruit each day of the week, like apples on monday . . . kiwi tuesday . . . pawpaw wednesday etc.........?
So shell have variety. I am also thinking fruits may get her to eat more salad. Fruits should not be offered daily. Offer them in the salad once a week. Experiment with different veggies if available. A lot of dragons love red peppers and butternut squash. you can try sweet potato.

Hope this helps!

Thanx Renee, yes it helps to some extent. She used to LOVE butternut, but now wont touch it, basically she wont eat anything except rocket and swiss chard...... and kiwi. Thats why I thought to trick her by adding fruit that she likes daily for a while to get her back into the salad eating mode....
She used to eat: green beans / snap peas / butternut / sweet potato / endive
The peppers she wont touch at all (None of the colors, have tried red/green and yellow).
My mustard greens / rocket / turnip and alfalfa seedlings are now approx 3 inches tall and Im hoping once they are big she will at least eat them. But all I can find in the shops here are the veggies and really rarely rocket and swiss chard

Maybe I should get some purity sweet potato baby food and see if she will eat it from a plastic spoon ???

Also she isnt all that fat yet.... approx 350 gramms at 19+ inches, so can I give her the rooaches till she fattens up a bit and then alternate. Like 2-4 days crics and the other days roaches. She also wont touch worms....... ANY WORMS (Geez I have a fussy one here)

 

[zebraflavencs]

Interesting...

I'd first like to say...Happy Hatch Day, Pogie !

Now....
Over the last 3-4 months Yardley (around 2 years of age) and Orion (around 20 months of age) have seriously slowed down on everything... No weight loss, just not interested in greens or roaches...

I think both will eat perhaps 8 roaches a week, and one or two whole salads a week.. Both are healthy, just slowing down... I'd imagine this is what is going on with not only Pogie but many other dragons...

Just my opinion, for what it is worth...

 

[Pogie]

Yes Janie, thats a good way to describe it . . . . slowing down.
Just wondered why? Winter is coming to an end (3.5 weeks left) and temps are rising slowly but surely. So it cant be the brumation thing.
So basically I shouldnt be too concerned unless other symptoms appear right? Her poop schedule is also haywire like I mentioned in the original post. Do dragons poop less errrrr.... less frequent as they get older?

Im thinking they are more and more like kids all the time.
My one son we have to basically threaten him with death its self one week to get him to eat, and the next we have to threaten him to STOP eating LOL. One week he likes cheese, the next "Its gross". I seriously cant keep track of their likes and dislikes either. And they change like the weather, abruptly.

 

[renich]

Some friendly reminders here. And they were expressed to me by my herp vet when I had the same concerns...

They are desert animals. They are used to food coming and going. So, at times, they will gorge themselves. And then turn around and go on a food strike. It is their instinct for survival. It made sense to me, so I tended not to worry when Bernie would skip a day or two of not eating.

It sounds like Pogie is a finicky one. Will eat one thing and then tire of it and refuse to eat it again. Just keep mixing up the veggies. She'll come back around.

 

[ladyknite]

Just wondered why? Winter is coming to an end (3.5 weeks left) and temps are rising slowly but surely. So it cant be the brumation thing.

I'm curious. Why could it not be? You equate brumation to season. But what are you missing in that?

Although you're in SA, your proximity to Australia runs more along the same wind channels and barometric channels than that of the US.

and...........Renee is correct. ;D

 

[Pogie]

Never thought of the proximity point. Always thought brumation has to do with the temperatures/seasons where you live thats why the times different dragons do it (what Ive read) at different times.

I know Ive asked this 2 times in this post.... but am gonna again.

Do dragons poop schedule change as they age?
P used to go daily except when she was getting ready for a shed when it would be every 2 days.
NOW she goes every 4-5 days (Based on time lapses between last 3 poops). Is this normal ???

 

[renich]

Yes, their poop schedules can decrease as they age. Bernie used to be 1-2 times per day. Then he reached that 1 year mark and started 2-3 times per week. Then he decreased to once per week and only in his bath. Kept the viv clean!