hi :) an intro & a few questions from new beardie owners

[LilytheBeardie]

Hi guys, just joined this forum, seems like a good place for much needed info for new beardie owners. My boyfrined and I just picked up our first beardie, Lily, who is 4 months old. We got her from a very reputable local exotic pet store who has been breeding and caring for generations of beardies. I'm attaching some pics of our cute little girl, she's already pretty used to us and loves to be held (she does the "cage dance" when we put her back lol). Although iv been doing a tonnn of research on bearded dragons so far I keep finding lots of contradicting info on things like feeding and behavior. So I wanted to ask a few questions to get things straightened out. First, the pet store said to feed her crickets only every other day as they can get very used to and bored of crickets which can become problematic later on. They said she's also been eating greens so to conti nue with feeding her things like romaine lettuce and collard, mustard and dandelion greens. So here's the age old question, is it fine for her to supplement her diet with romaine lettuce? Based on the info they gave me, how should I develop her feeding schedule? Crickets every other day and salad daily? Second question is: she sometimes will rub her head on our clothes or arms, does this mean she's shedding and uncomfortable or is a little rubbing normal? I guess any advice you guys can give to new owners would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Hi there, and welcome to your new addiction.
Stick to collard, mustard, turnip, and dandelion greens.
Go here to check out this nutrition page, its very informative.
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

 

[KrisWithaK1225]

Congrats on the new beardie and welcome to the forums!
Personally, I believe that lettuce is fine as long as your beardie gets all of the other necessary veggies like the things that you listed. In fact, since lettuce is mostly water, it's good for beardies if they're dehydrated. Supplementing your beardie's diet with lettuce should be fine. Just don't over supplement.
For a 4 month old beardie, you should feed her crickets everyday and salad every other day.
The rubbing sounds like your beardie does need to shed. Have you tried soaking your beardie in luke warm water yet? That would help out with the shedding.

 

[LilytheBeardie]

Thanks for the replies, guys. So it sounds like I should be feeding her daily; should I still be following the "two crickets per inch of body length not counting tail" rule that I heard about? or do you have other recommendations?
And Kris, no I haven't tried bathing her yet. I bought a large shallow dish accesory at the pet store that looks basically like a little pond sorrounded by rocks; can I use that as a "bathtub" for her and just fill it with lukewarm water as well as cover her body with some water?

Thanks again for all the help its greatly appreciated!!

 

[KrisWithaK1225]

My recomendation is to feed her as many as she can eat in about 15 minutes. That would be the best way to know if she's getting enough food.
Also, that dish will work fine. As long as her whole body can fit inside of it.

 

[Bill]

Try to change up the food there are other bugs that are better than crickets If you do feed it lettuce make sure you are using a supplement to add to it and feed greens every day with your bugs give him a variety he is young and needs all he can get to be strong and healthy.This is just my opinion

 

[Fliehigh]

although I do not recommend lettuce, as it sdoes not offer any nutrictional benefit to the dragon, if you decide to feed her this be aware that it will make for VERY runny poop.

 

[LilytheBeardie]

I went back to the store yesteday and bought some meal worms, the guy there said that its perfect for her since she's young and growing. They are thin but kind of long (around an inch) in comparison to how small she is but the pet store guy said it would be fine, digestion-wise lol.

 

[LilytheBeardie]

im just torn because the whole lettuce thing is such a gray area. Some say yes its fine others say no don't. Do collard greens/mustard greens/etc. cause runny poop or any other issues like that? Also, at my local grocery store they sell cleaned off cactus pads, would that be a good "salad" option?

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Mealworms are NOT a good food for babys, or young dragons. To much shell not enough meat. I dont reccomend it as a staple.
Cactus pads are good, Greens do not cause runny poop. To much lettuce will tho.

 

[LilytheBeardie]

crap... I wonder if there's a return policy on untouched live food lol

 

[KrisWithaK1225]

im just torn because the whole lettuce thing is such a gray area. Some say yes its fine others say no don't.

It all depends on what other things you feed your beardie. Just don't use only lettuce at each feeding. If you give your beardie all of the other greens, lettuce should be fine, but again, you don't have to use it.

 

[LilytheBeardie]

Thanks again guys for all of the really good info.. it's helping me be a better beardie parent lol. One last thing, can anyone thats really experienced tell why species of BD Lily is based on the pictures I provided?

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

98% of the dragons in this country are pagona vitticeps. That is the species of even the crazy morphs.
This is a simple explanation on the diff morphs of the same species. http://www.mbdragons.eu/en/genetica.html
Anything else is just a fancy name for color.

 

[Jerin Zorb]

Congrats on the new beardie! They are very addicting... I just bought mine some crickets and hornworms and he is in paradise.

 

[drgnfly2265]

I feed my beardies Reptiworms and some superworms. As a treat they get waxworms. I stopped feeding crickets because they were a pain in the rear for me, lol.

 

[Dante's Mom]

I recently adopted a 2 yr old male. He likes to eat super worms and crickets and I can tell he has eaten some carrot but have never seen him eat anything else. How do you serve the vegies? I have been cutting it up small and shredding carrots but think maybe he just doesn't like my cooking. Any advise? I am not a reptile person but the moment he came into my home I became responsible for his welfare and I want to do this right. Also, how often do you bath them? I have read some posts where the owners bath them daily. I don't want him to get dehydrated. Thanks.

 

[Bill]

Dont feed carrots no good feed collard greens ,turip greens, mustard greens we soak them 1 time a week for adults

 

[Dante's Mom]

Could it be the carrots? The pet store feeds them carrots and the prior owner said they were his fav. :-( Poor Dante/

 

[Fliehigh]

Carrots are OK for them occasionaly: but should not be fed on a regular basis (maybe once a week).
Collards can be fed everyday.


Collard Greens
14.5:1
2.5%
.4%
3.6%
91% Great staple, high calcium, moderate oxalates


Carrots (raw)
1:1.7
.8%
.5%
1.8%
6.6%
90% High vit. A (150 IU/g), moderate oxalates