how do you start hand feeding?

[AshleyMac]

how do you start hand feeding your beardie at 3 weeks old? i have tweezers to pick up the critters but everytime i show my beardie it just sits there and closes it's eyes. any suggestions?

 

[renich]

Why do you need to hand feed your dragon?

 

[bearded.sean]

i whould wait until he is a bit older and more placid if you really want to hand feed your beardie

 

[crypticdragons]

yeah im still confused as to why you feel the need to hand feed?

 

[AshleyMac]

im just anxious lol

 

[renich]

What are you anxious about? Is your beardie not eating?

We have a couple of breeders on our forum, and I'm sure they will give you some insight on what such a young beardie's eating habits are like. 3 weeks if very young. Where did you get your beardie?

 

[crypticdragons]

at 3 weeks of age a dragon has not found their appetite yet. also at 3 weeks of age relocation stress is having a huge affect on her. how long have you had her? I would honestly keep offering live feeders every day and she will probably start eating within a week. Be sure to leave some nice chopped collards or mustard greens in her tank with her so she has something to munch on if she gets hungry. They are very finiky at that age you just have to hold out. Who sold you a dragon at 3 weeks old? That was very careless of whomever the breeder was even wholesale dragons arent sold until 4 weeks old.

 

[AshleyMac]

my girlfriend has a friend who breeds beardies and sold it to her for 45$ i thought it was a bit odd that 3 weeks old was a little young to give away.

tomorrow will be a weeks mark that i've had the lil one. it's gotten into a daily schedule of eating 1 or 3 crickets a day at 10:30 in the morning & eating some greens, it's pooping regulary everyday, gets a bath every other day and has started shedding a little on its tail. the crickets are dusted with the calcium and so are the greens and has fresh water everyday that gets 2 drops of "reptisafe" water conditioner which removes any toxics in the water and makes it pure.

 

[crypticdragons]

yeah if you have only had her a week she is still "freaked" out at the moment. itll probably take another week and then her appetite is going to sky rocket and she is going to eat you out of house and home. And by the way they grow about an inch to so a week for the first 2-3 months. The bigger she gets the more she will eat. Soon she will be between 30-100 properly sized crix a day.

 

[renich]

I've read that it is best to not get your beardie younger than 6 weeks of age.

Poop is a good thing. I just want to ensure the crickets and greens are no larger than the space between your beardie's eyes.

Not sure about all the calcium. It may be overkill. But I'm not an expert on caring for a beardie that young. Brian, what are you thoughts on daily dusting crickets and salad?

 

[crypticdragons]

I supplement my babies one feeding a day 5 days a week with calcium. now this is only on their live feeders. i do not like to put powder on their salads as i have a hard enough time getting them to eat their veggies.

i also give a vitamin supplement 2 feedings a week.

 

[crypticdragons]

I've read that it is best to not get your beardie younger than 6 weeks of age.

Poop is a good thing. I just want to ensure the crickets and greens are no larger than the space between your beardie's eyes.

Not sure about all the calcium. It may be overkill. But I'm not an expert on caring for a beardie that young. Brian, what are you thoughts on daily dusting crickets and salad?

and yes 6 weeks/6 inches whichever comes last is the industry standard
(ie most breeders will not sell a dragon that is 6 weeks but 5 inches or a dragon that is 6 inche but 5 weeks)
i personally prefer waiting out that extra two weeks before offering. (i wait till the 8 week mark)

 

[AshleyMac]

i measured the lil one and it's 5 inches long. it's 4 weeks old today.

as far as the calcium powder what do you recommend i do as far as giving it? the greens are cut very small and the crickets are small aswell.
i'm sorry i'm very new to all of this.

here's a pic i took today, loves to sleep on the vine and bask :]

 

[crypticdragons]

the way i do it is i have a "shake" bin lol
I put the live feeders in something high enough they cant hop out of it. put some calcium powder in and shake the feeders around until they are well coated. than i feed them to the baby.that way each feeder is coated with the powder.

 

[AshleyMac]

that's what i've been doing haha. i put two crickets in a bag with some powder, shake'em up a lil and put them in a large bin so they wont hop out and then i put the lil one in there and it goes right for them!

 

[crypticdragons]

good way to do it
though you may want to do more than 2 feeders at a time
specially once she finds her appetite

 

[AshleyMac]

i've put more in before but after one maybe wont eat anymore just closes its eyes.

im keeping a journal of everyday what it's doing.. like monday he/she ate 3 crickets, tuesday only one cricket and today so far only one cricket. but like you said could still be stressed out. i'll put a lot of crickets in there & i let her descide how many to eat

 

[corrine]

I've read that it is best to not get your beardie younger than 6 weeks of age.

I was just wondering why not to get a beardie that young. I got YoYo when he was 1 week old and he is thriving. I was just curious about it. I am starting the search for a new beardie.

 

[crypticdragons]

They are extremely fragile under a month of age. Many things can and do go wrong that yound such as severe dehydration, choking, impaction, broken limbs, shedding problems, etc.
The 6 week age is where they have reached a length of 6 inches as a rule, gone through at least 1 if not 2 sheds, started eating on a regular basis, and their bone has solidified some.

 

[corrine]

that's good to know. So i pretty much got lucky that YoYo is doing so well. Now i know not to get one that young