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First pet bearded dragon with conflicting work schedule

JStephens658

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
4
Location
Houston Tx
Good evening guys/ girls.
My name is Jamie. I just bought a bearded dragon and hes pretty awesome. He's the first pet I've ever owned and I very much want to be a good father. So I'm trying to figure out best way to get his feeding schedule down for best health and growth. Only downside is my work schedule has me leaving at 5 in the am and returning at 5ish in the afternoon on Monday Friday. Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday I have class so I don't return til 8 to 9ish. Usually off Saturday and Sunday. So at the moment im just giving him about 8 crickets and a pinch of collard greens, mustard greens, and carrots all cut up small at about 430 am. I have his lights set to come on at 7 am and turn off at about 9pm. When I return from work he's eaten his greens but most crickets are still not eaten. Last night I put him in front of some crickets and he ate 4 more out of the 7 left so he ate 5 total yday. But last night I didn't have school so I had time to make him eat more before bedtime. Tonight will be different and im not sure how long before bed he should eat more crickets. Basically my question is what should I do to keep him on a healthy diet whilst maintaining a 80% cricket to 20% greens diet.
Experienced input would be most welcomed.
Also I do apologize for the novel I hope it isn't unbearable to read.
O and btw hes 5in long and I've had him since Friday night.
 

blazedragon

Hatchling Dragon
3 Year Member
Messages
96
Location
northern indiana
Welcome to BDF! Please allow a minimum of 14 days for your beardie to get used to its new environment, after that his/her appetite will pick up and he/she will be eating crickets like there is no tomorrow. Do you have a roommate or trusted friend you can ask to feed on tues,wed, and thur?

my suggestion:
Always leave greens in the cage, gives the crickets something more desirable to eat.
everyday: feed in the morning fresh greens and crickets
Fri,Sat,Sun,Mon: i read somewhere that they really should not eat within roughly 90mins of lights out time, i suggest 2 hours with current light schedule. so try to remove all crickets by 7pm.

Tues,Wed,Thur pay/ask someone trustworthy to do this task. feeding really only takes a few minutes.

Maybe Germ or Gillie will have other suggestions for Tues,Wed,Thur afternoon feedings.
 

JStephens658

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
4
Location
Houston Tx
Welcome to BDF! Please allow a minimum of 14 days for your beardie to get used to its new environment, after that his/her appetite will pick up and he/she will be eating crickets like there is no tomorrow. Do you have a roommate or trusted friend you can ask to feed on tues,wed, and thur?

my suggestion:
Always leave greens in the cage, gives the crickets something more desirable to eat.
everyday: feed in the morning fresh greens and crickets
Fri,Sat,Sun,Mon: i read somewhere that they really should not eat within roughly 90mins of lights out time, i suggest 2 hours with current light schedule. so try to remove all crickets by 7pm.

Tues,Wed,Thur pay/ask someone trustworthy to do this task. feeding really only takes a few minutes.

Maybe Germ or Gillie will have other suggestions for Tues,Wed,Thur afternoon feedings.



Thanks I do have room mate. So just continue what I'm doing and just ask roommate if he can come in and take out the excess food on those days basically? Much appreciate your input btw.
 

gilliesexotics

Super Moderator
Staff member
Messages
833
Location
Indiana
Hi, welcome to the forums.

I have a few questions.
What are the temps?
Are the feeders no bigger than the distance between the eyes?

He may need a little more time to acclimate before his appetite goes beastly.

Best case for a dragon that size is to be fed at least twice a day once his appetite is supporting. It is important to have proper temps and appropriate sized feeders.
 

JStephens658

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
4
Location
Houston Tx
Hi, welcome to the forums.

I have a few questions.
What are the temps?
Are the feeders no bigger than the distance between the eyes?

He may need a little more time to acclimate before his appetite goes beastly.

Best case for a dragon that size is to be fed at least twice a day once his appetite is supporting. It is important to have proper temps and appropriate sized feeders.

Good evening and thank you for the welcome.

The temps are 110 on the hot side and 80- 85 on the cool side. And the crickets are the small ones from pet smart some might be a little bit bigger but not by to much. Majority are distance between eyes though.
 

JStephens658

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
4
Location
Houston Tx
Also new question.... he just had a runny stool all on my bed :( other than it being on my bed aren't most of his stools supposed to be I guess... not watery???
 

Zen ReptileZ

Juvenile Dragon
Messages
118
Location
Minneapolis, MN
Also new question.... he just had a runny stool all on my bed :( other than it being on my bed aren't most of his stools supposed to be I guess... not watery???
Hi Jamie! Congrats on already being an awesome dragon dad!

You will get the routines down soon enough and your beardie will be forgiving as that settles into place. The runny poo may just be excess water or just its stomach getting used to its healthy diet. A 5 in. Dragon that is doing that well with eating their veggies, is thriving and the poops should firm up. If it continues or worsens over the next 5-7 days, I would visit the vet for a fecal test.

I hope you find great happiness from your first animal companion!

Erin
 

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