I am a new reptile owner, and I recently (2 days ago) picked up a juvenile bearded dragon from petco. I am unsure of exactly what to feed it, how much to feed it, and how frequently. Since yesterday evening, I have fed it a full container of dusted crickets, and around 12 or so dusted mealworms. The employees at petco were very vague on feeding, and I am not sure if I am feeding it too much or too little. Any help would be appreciated, thanks!
Juvenile Bearded Dragon Feeding?! Help!
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What I did with mine:
Small crickets, small superworms, vegetables,flowers and fruits.
Now, how I feed it:
Waking up in the morning, my lights are always weaker, cause they have a potency regulator, so the pogona knows its time to rise and shine. I feed the vegetables and fruits. After 2 hours, depending on how much they eat, i drop 25 crickets, 2 hpurs later i drop 25 more and once monthly i give superworms with the crickets.
There will be more pages saying u have to be able to give them 120 crickets daily plus vegetables. I never did that and even with my routine, my pogona got HUGE.
What kind of vegetables?
Zuccinni, kale, parsley, collard green, broccoli, bell peppers, green beans, swiss chard, cilantro, mint and others.
What kind of fruits?
Remembering that fruits are about 5%of their diet. And even with little portions, banana for example, is not a good treat to give every month.
Banana (increases chances for metabolic bone diseases, so give just as a rare treat pls)
Pineapple
Apple
Blueberry
Pear
Papaya
Grapes
Peaches
What flowers do i use today? (Adult pogona)
Impatients, hibiscus and petunia.
I attached a picture of mine with her identification and DOB.
Hope it can help you, PLEASE FELL FREE TO CORRECT ME, the sources from these informations comes from good friends veterinarians from brazil and from north america, from the internet and from personal experience in regards to the question made.
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Don't know if it is the camera angle but she looks massive.
120 crickets a day? Surely 50 is far too many?
120 crickets a day? Surely 50 is far too many?
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I would divide 25 crickets 3 times daily so...
Do not, NEVER, forget to feed vegetables in the morning, woth a few fruits. Juvenile bearded dragon needs 3 constants, good heat sources, nice water juicy vegetables and A LOT of protein, carbs and fat from crickets, superworms, small roaches and other insects. Even if you want, i can use pellets food sold in petstores with a lot of vitamins.
THEY NEED CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTATION AND UVB LAMP.
NEVER FEED YOUR BEARDIE 3 HOURS BEFORE NIGHT TIME.
The last picture with some rules is not totally accurate, it depends on your beardie routine and stimulation, i dont follow those rules, i use small portions once a week or so as a booster for my adult pogona
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Also i want to highlight that u cant feed your beardie anything bigger than the eye to eye distance.
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I wouldnt recommend feed 50 crickets a day for an adult bearded dragon. She looks massive right? Lmao.
This angle is killing her reputation dude hahahahahaha, she is sleeping and she always look super fat when laying down like that. She is currently eating vegetables almost everyday and 20 crickets every 2 weeks. 3 hornworks each 2 months or so. But this routine vary, it depends on my beardie mood. She is a female. She was digging everywhere at a certain time, she made the cabe in the picture and removed some dirt from the rocks. She is all active and weird.
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I can't make head or tail of your posts - you say you feed 50 crickets in two 25 sessions, but now say 20 every two weeks and advise someone to feed 25 three times a day!
The dried food you linked to says to only feed fresh greens and crickets as a treat.
The dried food you linked to says to only feed fresh greens and crickets as a treat.
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The thread was posted in the forum, how to feed a juvenile pogona vitticeps. I answered in paragraphs and different posts, offering my advices on the subject and pointing the fact that my pogona is adult, when necessary.
What did I miss?
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Hi, your dragon IS badly overweight, it is not only showing in the body but also in the legs, you are offering advise to other keepers, but from what I read in your posts indicates you do not have that much experience, almost everything you say seems to be taken from caresheets (often written by people with not much experience, either)...
I think you need to start asking advise yourself, adjustments clearly need to be made in your husbandry. Do you know why she was digging a lot?
Everything I have said is in an effort to help you help your dragon!
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Why dont you answer the thread question then? U spend a whole post not to give us information needed...
My pogona is weighting 483g. Just took some pictures of her waking up. Tell me what is wrong, if i treat mine in such way you describe, she would have signs of malnutrition.
Around 480g is the middle ground weight for adult females, varying from 300g to 550g depending on the age.
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I have not given advise on food types or amount to feed, why are you saying your dragon will be suffering from malnutrition if you follow my advise (which advise)?
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Please, read the whole thread again. You are frustrating me with your stupidity.
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She’s not overweight, She’s a bit of a chunk and the first pic does make her look massive and your others don’t at all, but as you said in your other post about her digging may indicate she will lay soon. So probably why she’s big and chunky.
You have said multiple different things in this thread regarding food, just Make sure to not over feed her as I swear they don’t know when to stop!
When I had them main diet fruit and veg with crickets weekly also or locust ours loved.
Our friend breeds them and his female are obviously chunky especially when they lay. They can lay around 40 eggs so will gain weight of them. Has yours got eggs?
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No eggs, she usually digs before sleep and during basking time. She was, once, digging a lot but no eggs.She’s not overweight, She’s a bit of a chunk and the first pic does make her look massive and your others don’t at all, but as you said in your other post about her digging may indicate she will lay soon. So probably why she’s big and chunky.
You have said multiple different things in this thread regarding food, just Make sure to not over feed her as I swear they don’t know when to stop!
When I had them main diet fruit and veg with crickets weekly also or locust ours loved.
Our friend breeds them and his female are obviously chunky especially when they lay. They can lay around 40 eggs so will gain weight of them. Has yours got eggs?
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She only eats 20 crickets a week, with vegetables all days, if she eats them. Sometimes she just dont care about food and i use water drops on her head for water source.
I always get scared of her laying infertile eggs and develop issues.
Juvenile bearded dragons needs WAY more food than adult ones. Respectively changing quantities during aging.
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Ah right, usually they’re fine laying infertile.
Assuming she has a water bowl also?
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The photos show an overweight beardie.... you need only look at its arms, shoulders and general shape.
Should also make the point that a juvenile beardie is a wide age bracket, and feeding advice is different for 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-12 months... juvenile is often used to describe anything from 4 months to a year...
Back to the OP's question, for starters, i would get it checked out by a vet if youve got it from Petco, notoriously bad store and very, very common to find sick animals for sale.
If you need feeding advice, first step is to get a more accurate idea of age.
Theres a stickied thread that covers pretty much all the basics, including feeding, read through that.
And next time, NEVER get a reptile without knowing how it should be housed, fed and cared for (bare minimum).
Should also make the point that a juvenile beardie is a wide age bracket, and feeding advice is different for 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-12 months... juvenile is often used to describe anything from 4 months to a year...
Back to the OP's question, for starters, i would get it checked out by a vet if youve got it from Petco, notoriously bad store and very, very common to find sick animals for sale.
If you need feeding advice, first step is to get a more accurate idea of age.
Theres a stickied thread that covers pretty much all the basics, including feeding, read through that.
And next time, NEVER get a reptile without knowing how it should be housed, fed and cared for (bare minimum).
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I took it out. She doesnt know what to do with it, i left a small one when juvenile and she didnt touch it. I bought a bigger one as soon as she started to grow up and never touched it.
The water dish was doing 2 things....increasing humidity and accumulating dirt. She actually was using it as her restroom before i made a place for her to do necessities.
There are some beardies that will use it but some will not. I dont feel co fortable leaving the water dosh inside. All my sources says not to leave water bowl inside the cage.
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Im not sure who your "sources" are, but they're bad ones.
There should ALWAYS be a water bowl in, whether you think they use it or not. It helps with the humidity gradient and there should always be water available, even if you supply water by hand too.
You should also be changing the water on a daily basis, every other day as an absolute minimum.
There should ALWAYS be a water bowl in, whether you think they use it or not. It helps with the humidity gradient and there should always be water available, even if you supply water by hand too.
You should also be changing the water on a daily basis, every other day as an absolute minimum.
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Sorry but agree with above. Should always have a water bowl.
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