New Beardie! Figuring out feeding schedule!

[Michael-Dean]

Hey everyone! I finally got my lovely bearded dragon (red leatherback morph. sex:to young to tell. age: almost 3 months. ) and I wanted to know if the feeding schedule I am trying is ok. So I have an 8-5 job and I leave my house at 7:30 every morning. I originally had its lights turn on at 6 and then tried feeding crickets at 7 before I got to work so it has time to heat up before the meal. But I have noticed the little guy isn't basking in the hour the lights turn on because it is hiding and sleeping in (I guess it takes after me and my wife haha). So yesterday I gave little beardie some collard greens in the morning (it won't eat a lot but the little one is still young and is at least eating the greens) and then fed beardie about 15 crickets covered with calcium powder when I got home from work around 5:30(I offered more bugs but only ate the 15). Is this an ok feeding schedule? just greens for breakfast and then bugs in the evening? Lights go off at 9:00 so I feel like there is enough time to digest between 5:30 and 9. I am willing to change the lighting times and getting up earlier to feed crickets if need be but I wanted to know if this is ok.

I want to eventually start incorporating more greens like mustard greens and sweet potatoes to make a dragon salad but I just got the little one on Saturday and I am starting simple. I am also open to getting more bugs rather than just crickets but I am also on a budget so I don't want to go overboard. I heard Dubia roaches are great but can get pricey. Maybe I should incorporate phoenix worms? Right now I am just using a calcium powder for food but I keep reading about multi-V supplements as well. Are those necessary or more optional because the dragon is getting vitamins from the veggies.

I appreciate the help from you guys! I want to be the best parent I can be to the little one. I will post pictures eventually but the dragon is in the process of shedding (at least I am 90% sure) and her back has turned slightly white so I am waiting for it to finish so everyone can see its wonderful color

 

[Janelle]

At three months, they really should be eating insects at least twice a day, ideally 3x. What I would recommend doing is putting a glass bowl with phoenix worms (aka bsfl, calciworms, etc) in the morning before you leave, that way the beardie can eat them once he's warmed up and has an appetite. The bsfl won't bite the beardie like crickets and roaches may, so even if they escape the bowl, it's not a huge deal. Then you can feed another round of insects in the evening, once you're home.
If you're using separate calcium and multi, they need calcium 5x a week and multivitamin 1x a week, if I remember right. Hopefully somebody will correct me if I'm wrong. I use repashy calcium plus daily. It's an all-in-one, so it keeps things simpler.
Beardies love a variety, so it's great if you mix up what you offer. They can get bored with their diet and turn finicky. Drives me crazy when Jayne looks at what I offer and looks back at me like, "Really? You expect me to eat that two days in a row? What else ya got?"

 

[Michael-Dean]

At three months, they really should be eating insects at least twice a day, ideally 3x. What I would recommend doing is putting a glass bowl with phoenix worms (aka bsfl, calciworms, etc) in the morning before you leave, that way the beardie can eat them once he's warmed up and has an appetite. The bsfl won't bite the beardie like crickets and roaches may, so even if they escape the bowl, it's not a huge deal. Then you can feed another round of insects in the evening, once you're home.
If you're using separate calcium and multi, they need calcium 5x a week and multivitamin 1x a week, if I remember right. Hopefully somebody will correct me if I'm wrong. I use repashy calcium plus daily. It's an all-in-one, so it keeps things simpler.
Beardies love a variety, so it's great if you mix up what you offer. They can get bored with their diet and turn finicky. Drives me crazy when Jayne looks at what I offer and looks back at me like, "Really? You expect me to eat that two days in a row? What else ya got?"

Thanks for the reply, Janelle! I will look into the bsfl. Do you get them from a pet store or do you have a personal favorite online place to order? If I remember correctly, they are high in calcium. Do I still need to dust the evening crickets with calcium if I introduce the worms? I believe the calcium powder I use has D3 as well (not sure if that makes a difference). I will get a multivitamin to go along with it then. I know you said you used the repashy but do you have any recommendations for just a multi vitamin? Also, for the veggies, I know at a young age their diet is mainly the bugs (80% bugs 20% veg) but how can you tell they are eating enough veggies? My little guy has only eaten collard greens from my hand so far and not a lot (just a little bit in the morning). Thanks for your help again! I feel nervous of doing the wrong thing for my beardie by accident. Definitely feeling the new parent anxiety haha.

 

[Janelle]

I have had good experience getting bsfl from fluker's. They're among the cheapest. They were recently out of stock (they're back in stock now), so I purchased from a local guy on ebay. He was great, so I'll keep ordering them locally. Here's Fluker's website, if you want to try them out:
https://flukerfarms.com/black-soldier-fly-larvae-soldier-worms/

I've also heard great things about Symton:
https://symtonbsf.com/

I still dust them. You never know for sure what kind of diet they've been on and what their calcium levels are.

For the multi, I think Rep Cal Herptivite is the one I've heard recommended most often.

As babies, it's extremely common for them to eat very little veggies. Make sure the veggies are in there all day every day, so your baby can keep trying them and realize they're yummy. You can even throw a few bsfl into the salad to wiggle around and draw attention to it. The fact that your beardie ate some from your hand is good. He knows it's something yummy. So just keep offering a variety. I've noticed Jayne eating more and more of her salad the older she gets (I'm guessing she's 5-6 months). She definitely has her favorite foods and goes crazy for anything red, which she can only have on occasion. She also likes kale and eats more salad when kale is mixed in. She hates cilantro and won't eat anything on the plate if there's any cilantro present. So as your beardie gets older and eats more and more, you'll see what it likes and what it doesn't.

We all get new parent anxiety. They like to keep us on our toes!

 

[PatsyB]

As long as the tank warms up before you feed him, he will go and bask after he eats. I would also turn the lights off at 8pm instead of 9. They really should have 10-12 hours of darkness to rest.

When mine were little, the lights were on from 6-8pm. They woke up a little before 6 since my boyfriend has to get up at 5 to go to work and then I fed them around 7am. I don't remember if they were basking before they ate but they at least had a warm tank. I was lucky enough to be able to come home during the day so they got lunch but then their last meal 5-5:30. They had enough time for me to play with them a little bit and for them to digest their food before bed.

 

[Michael-Dean]

As long as the tank warms up before you feed him, he will go and bask after he eats. I would also turn the lights off at 8pm instead of 9. They really should have 10-12 hours of darkness to rest.

When mine were little, the lights were on from 6-8pm. They woke up a little before 6 since my boyfriend has to get up at 5 to go to work and then I fed them around 7am. I don't remember if they were basking before they ate but they at least had a warm tank. I was lucky enough to be able to come home during the day so they got lunch but then their last meal 5-5:30. They had enough time for me to play with them a little bit and for them to digest their food before bed.

Thank you for the advice! I switched the lights off to 8pm instead of 9. And because the cage is in the the living room (we have a small apartment), I put a blanket over the front glass so our lights won't shine in. I also started making a salad with collard greens, carrots, and shredded sweet potato. She has been picky about veggies the last couple of days before the weekend. But, I caught the little one eating carrots on Saturday out of the bowl! Maybe this is lame but I was straight up celebrating because my little one was eating veggies haha. I also ordered some BSFL to give in the mornings. They have not arrived yet but I am excited for my beardie to try it.

I can't say thank you enough for your's and Janelle's quick advice. Definitely helped relief some new parent anxiety.

 

[Michael-Dean]

I was also curious about the calcium I am giving with the crickets. Mine does contain D3 and I didn't know if that was right or wrong with my set-up. I am using the Repti 10.0 bulb. I have read people saying don't do D3 and some who do recommend it. Can I get some more insight on this? I have yet to get the multivitamin yet (I will be getting soon). And then I will be doing the calcium 5x a week and 1x multi.

 

[Janelle]

Yay for eating veggies! It’s always exciting to see them eating it and figuring you might not be one of the ones who struggles to get them to eat their salads!

I’ll let someone else respond about the vitamins. I get so confused on them.

 

[Michael-Dean]

I was also curious about the calcium I am giving with the crickets. Mine does contain D3 and I didn't know if that was right or wrong with my set-up. I am using the Repti 10.0 bulb. I have read people saying don't do D3 and some who do recommend it. Can I get some more insight on this? I have yet to get the multivitamin yet (I will be getting soon). And then I will be doing the calcium 5x a week and 1x multi.

Another question I wanted to add to this. Can the BSFL replace crickets altogether? Since they are calcium enriched, I am guessing I wouldn't need to dust them as often? Or is it better to have both and to make sure to gut load the crickets?

 

[Janelle]

I still dust my BSFL. You never know what, exactly they were eating before you got them, so you can't be sure of their exact calcium levels. But yes, the BSFL can be used as a staple in place of the crickets. Though it's good to mix it up sometimes, too.

 

[PatsyB]

Vitamins are always the confusing thing. When mine were little I believed that if you have a good UVB bulb then you don't need the added D3 all the time. I used just calcium without D3 for one feeding a day and then on the weekends I used a multivitamin with D3. I'm in a group that recommends swapping every other day calcium with D3, calcium without and a multivitamin then one day off of everything completely. I switched to Repashy Calcium Plus, it has everything in it that they need and it's okay to use every day.

You want to provide a varied diet for them. So I would still feed crickets with the BSFL and mix in other things too. They can sometimes get bored with one thing so it's good to mix it up.

It's always fun when you see them doing something for the first time or something they don't usually do that they are supposed to do. Whenever I see my older girl even looking at her salad I get excited. She's 6 and I've tried everything, she won't eat it on her own. When she was a baby she ate it all the time. She drove me nuts because she would switch up by liking the color red one week at the color green the next. I could buy her dandelion greens with red veins and she would stick her nose up at them, but give her ones with green and she would eat them up. Try the next week and she'd eat the red ones. They are like toddlers!

 

[Michael-Dean]

Vitamins are always the confusing thing. When mine were little I believed that if you have a good UVB bulb then you don't need the added D3 all the time. I used just calcium without D3 for one feeding a day and then on the weekends I used a multivitamin with D3. I'm in a group that recommends swapping every other day calcium with D3, calcium without and a multivitamin then one day off of everything completely. I switched to Repashy Calcium Plus, it has everything in it that they need and it's okay to use every day.

You want to provide a varied diet for them. So I would still feed crickets with the BSFL and mix in other things too. They can sometimes get bored with one thing so it's good to mix it up.

It's always fun when you see them doing something for the first time or something they don't usually do that they are supposed to do. Whenever I see my older girl even looking at her salad I get excited. She's 6 and I've tried everything, she won't eat it on her own. When she was a baby she ate it all the time. She drove me nuts because she would switch up by liking the color red one week at the color green the next. I could buy her dandelion greens with red veins and she would stick her nose up at them, but give her ones with green and she would eat them up. Try the next week and she'd eat the red ones. They are like toddlers!

So for the Repashy Calcium Plus, instead of doing calcium and vitamins separate (5x and 1x a week), you can do the Repashy 7x a week without any harm to the dragon? Like there won't be too much vitamin A or D3?

 

[PatsyB]

They say it’s not too much. If you have a good UVB bulb you can even get a LoD one that doesn’t have as much D3 in it.

 

[Janelle]

I also use the Repashy Calcium Plus. I love its simplicity.

 

[Michael-Dean]

They say it’s not too much. If you have a good UVB bulb you can even get a LoD one that doesn’t have as much D3 in it.

LoD? I have the Repit 10.0 tube.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Another question I wanted to add to this. Can the BSFL replace crickets altogether? Since they are calcium enriched, I am guessing I wouldn't need to dust them as often? Or is it better to have both and to make sure to gut load the crickets?

Yes you can get rid of the crickets all together..If you feed the BSFL you don't need to do additional calcium. I use the Repashy Calcium plus and I will dust their salad on the days they don't get bugs.

 

[Michael-Dean]

Yes you can get rid of the crickets all together..If you feed the BSFL you don't need to do additional calcium. I use the Repashy Calcium plus and I will dust their salad on the days they don't get bugs.

What do you feed BSFL? Do I need to keep them in a certain container or is the container they come in sufficient?

 

[Janelle]

The container they come in is fine, though you want to sift all the substrate they come in off of them. You can feed them, and they will grow, but they get stinky and gross really quickly. So I believe most of us don’t feed them anything. You can gutload them the last day before you feed them with soft fruits and veggies, if you want to.

 

[Michael-Dean]

The container they come in is fine, though you want to sift all the substrate they come in off of them. You can feed them, and they will grow, but they get stinky and gross really quickly. So I believe most of us don’t feed them anything. You can gutload them the last day before you feed them with soft fruits and veggies, if you want to.

Do you use a sifter or just use your hands? Do you rinse them with water before feeding time?

 

[Janelle]

I do a sifter and then knock off the rest with my fingers. I have rinsed them when they were particularly coated for whatever reason, but as soon as they are wet they are EVERYWHERE! They can climb glass or anything when they’re wet, and it makes them harder to deal with. So I avoid that when I can.