Baby Dragon Diet

[jeb]

Hi everyone. This is my first post here. I'm brand new to herps and only have experienced keeping rodents (gerbils and dwarf hamsters), but my wife just gave me the green light to try reptiles, which is something that I have wanted to get into for years.

I have a rough idea about how I would like to go about feeding my future baby dragon and I would like some feedback from more experienced keepers. From everything I've read, it seems that a diet of mostly small Dubia's and BSFL would be sufficient, while working in some greens. I was planning on adding wax worms to the diet on a regular basis (not as a staple, though), just to help them gain weight initially but I wasn't sure if that was a bad idea. I also read that babies shouldn't get as much fruit but I wasn't sure what the reasoning on that was?

My other question was regarding dusting. I've seen many places that there should be 5 days of calcium dusting and one day of multivitamin dusting for babies. If I mixed the calcium and vitamins together in a 5:1 ratio and dusted with that mixture 6 days/week, would that be okay or do you really need to leave it separated out? Just trying to be efficient and make sure its diet is balanced.

Finally, because BSFL have such a high calcium content, do I need to adjust the amount of calcium dusting I do?

Thanks!

 

[PatsyB]

Hi Jeb! Dubia are a great staple food along with BSFL. I've heard people say with the BSFL you should poke them in the head before you feed them off so that it helps them be digested better. None of my animals have ever been able to digest them properly. Wax worms are good as once a week treats and do help to put some fat on them but they are like candy and there is a possibility that once they had a wax worm they won't want to eat anything else. Other worms that are good are silk worms and hornworms, super worms are good for putting on weight too.

It's good to keep your supplements separated a multivitamin isn't needed as much as the calcium. I've seen different supplement schedules and you can decide what works for you. I always believe if you have good UVB then you don't need to supplement with D3 so I have always used calcium w/o D3 6 days and the multivitamin one day. Some people like to do calcium w/D3 one day without D3 the next, multivitamin, calcium w/D3, calcium without D3, multivitamin again and one day of nothing at all. It's up to you how you want to do it. Along with the calcium I also use some other supplements bee pollen helps with the immune system also helps get picky eaters to eat. I also use a probiotic to a few times a week.

I think in the beginning I would dust everything even the BSFL, just because you may not know the situation the beardie is coming from and how much supplements it's been given.

 

[jeb]

@PatsyB,

Thanks for all of that great information!

How will I be able to tell if my beardie is unable to digest something properly? Just consistency of their excrement?

Heh, and now I'm scared to feed wax worms!

Do you feed fruit to your babies?

 

[PatsyB]

For me the BSFL came out exactly like they went in! It's normal to see some pieces of bug in the feces if there is a lot of undigested particles it usually can be fixed by tweaking your lights.

It's okay to feed fruit in moderation. The concern is the sugar and acid content.

I use wax worms occasionally. I just introduced them to my chameleon and he is being stubborn about eating anything else now, although he did eat a big hornworm moth yesterday!

 

[Hdrydr31]

I feed my beardies mostly Dubia, supers, occas butterworm, occas waxworm, occas phoneix...You would see the bugs/worms in their poop mostly undigested if temps are not right or they are not digesting them well. I will throw in a bit of fruit like strawberries, blueberries, pear into their salads every couple of days (they don't eat much of it so far)

 

[Elders]

Hi Jeb! Dubia are a great staple food along with BSFL. I've heard people say with the BSFL you should poke them in the head before you feed them off so that it helps them be digested better. None of my animals have ever been able to digest them properly. Wax worms are good as once a week treats and do help to put some fat on them but they are like candy and there is a possibility that once they had a wax worm they won't want to eat anything else. Other worms that are good are silk worms and hornworms, super worms are good for putting on weight too.

It's good to keep your supplements separated a multivitamin isn't needed as much as the calcium. I've seen different supplement schedules and you can decide what works for you. I always believe if you have good UVB then you don't need to supplement with D3 so I have always used calcium w/o D3 6 days and the multivitamin one day. Some people like to do calcium w/D3 one day without D3 the next, multivitamin, calcium w/D3, calcium without D3, multivitamin again and one day of nothing at all. It's up to you how you want to do it. Along with the calcium I also use some other supplements bee pollen helps with the immune system also helps get picky eaters to eat. I also use a probiotic to a few times a week.

I think in the beginning I would dust everything even the BSFL, just because you may not know the situation the beardie is coming from and how much supplements it's been given.

Hornworms are good hydrator too

 

[firehawk0285]

Small dubias are great. I went with a 5:2 ratio on my supplements. If you are looking for a source, I highly suggest discountdubias.com/home.

 

[jeb]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. Good info!

I would like to breed my own Dubias. Something about breeding my feeder makes me feel like I'm taking extra care for my dragon's well being.

Should I begin breeding them at a certain time before or after I receive the dragon?

 

[Elders]

Small dubias are great. I went with a 5:2 ratio on my supplements. If you are looking for a source, I highly suggest discountdubias.com/home.

I like to use:

http://westcoastroaches.3dcartstores.com/

Still the best prices I've ever seen online.

~1k for $35

Always arrives alive and on time.

@jeb they sell start up kits if you're interested in breeding.

I would start before buy imo since the colonys take a few months to mature and start breeding/producing.

 

[Hdrydr31]

It will be cheaper for you to breed them. I would start your colony now as you need to leave the breeder tub alone for 6-8 weeks so they can settle in and start producing. You want to have a 3:1 ratio female to male a nymph takes 6 months to become a breeder. So get a small colony and some additional adults. then also get some to feed from so you leave the breeders alone...