Veggies for 2 month old

[nitrous12]

Hello,
First post here. Just got a 2 month old male 3 days ago from a local breeder. He has been breeding for a long time and I trusted going to him much more than getting one at a pet superstore. It's hard to question his success and experience but I do have a few things I am not sure about. So I will post my diet questions here and some enclosure/substrate questions in the appropriate forum.

So the recommended diet right now is romaine lettuce or kale as the staple greens. I was told to basically keep that as fresh and plentiful as I can all day. He had a few extra things he said I could try like peas, grapes, squash, mango, etc. but said it likely wouldn't develop a taste for most of that kind of stuff until he gets a little older.
He hasn't been eating much of that. Today he ate 12 pieces the size of a thumbnail or just a bit smaller. I looked at the link in the sticky thread in this forum and see romain isn't really a highly recommended staple. I also see people talking about salads. Should I be presenting him a mixture of different things say from that list?
I am starting to wonder if he is eating enough and the right thing(s)?

He then gets about 12 crickets in the evening and eats them up well.

I have an orange slice and fish food in the cricket bin. Is that what gut loading is?

Also, I fed him crickets in his enclosure the first few days but I got a deep bin to feed him separate without all the hides and stuff. Do many people feed in a separate bin or enclosure like that?

 

[Canicke]

Good questions!and congratulations on your new bud. Babies need more protein. Typically as many small crickets as he will eat in 15 minutes. Offer them three times a day. 12 crickets in the evening isn't enough. Feeding him in a separate enclosure is considerably easier than in his own viv. Hes a little young for greens yet _ he will grow into that. Romain has no nutritional value. Variety – is the spice of life. Gut loading is offering the feeder animals good nutrition. So - yes. Welcome to the forum. PS – we love pics

 

[PatsyB]

Welcome to the forum! There is a great nutritional chart at beautifulbeardies.com. It gives a good variety of veggies that are good to feed to your little guy. Some don't take to veggies right away so worry if he doesn't eat them. Salad is just the general term for the fruits and veggies you feed them. I usually do a mixture of 3 different things but sometimes in a pinch my "salad" just consists of a leafy green. You can gut load your crickets with whatever salad items you would feed your bearded dragon. There are also commercially available dry food and water crystals for crickets.

 

[nitrous12]

Is he too young for super worms as a treat?

I will get some pics posted here soon.

 

[PsycoMenace]

Super worms are fatty and not really good for your lil guy. Stay with Crickets and Dubia roaches. You could also get some Wax Worms they are fatty too. But not used as a staple more of a treat for them. The supers well there like meal worms and can do damage to your lil guy as I was told. EVen when eaten they can , start eating your lil guy from the inside.

 

[nitrous12]

What about those Phoenix worms?

 

[PatsyB]

Worms eating your dragon from the inside out is a myth! Watch as they eat a worm, their sharp little teeth and strong jaws are great at crushing anything they put in their mouth. Just ask Elemental Dragon Lord, his beardie crushed his kittens foot! Anything that is not crushed is going to die in the stomach acid.

I actually feed mine mostly super worms with crickets and horns and earthworms, but supers are a majority of the diet at the moment. Offering a variety of feeders is good.

Phoenix worms are good.

 

[Mushuandcricket]

Worms eating your dragon from the inside out is a myth! Watch as they eat a worm, their sharp little teeth and strong jaws are great at crushing anything they put in their mouth. Just ask Elemental Dragon Lord, his beardie crushed his kittens foot! Anything that is not crushed is going to die in the stomach acid.

I actually feed mine mostly super worms with crickets and horns and earthworms, but supers are a majority of the diet at the moment. Offering a variety of feeders is good.

Phoenix worms are good.

I didn't think about earthworms. Thanks!

 

[Mushuandcricket]

Weclome!!! My Mushu is also a baby too. He does eat his greens. The breeder I bought him from has them started on greens, crickets, mealworms, & roaches and recommends feeding a variety of greens & insects. I just put the crickets into his enclosure 5 or so at a time.If he eats them right away I add 5 more and repeat until he is done.Sometimes there may be 1 or 2 he might not eat when full but he will eventually get them in between meals. I do not have any hides just two branches one on the cool side & one on the hotside. This allows Mushu to see and find his food. He actually enjoys hunting the crickets. I use the Exo Terra Cricket Pen Large that has the black square tubes which makes it easy to add the crickets to the enclosure without them escaping.He knows the black tubes & his roach bowel so is ready to hunt or eat when he sees them.

 

[PatsyB]

I didn't think about earthworms. Thanks!

It's so fun to watch them eat them! I rinse all the dirt off of them and dry them real good. Dexter has a hard time picking them up because they are slimy, she usually gives up. She has a hard time picking a lot of things up I don't know if it's because she's lazy or because she has a giant head and she can't bend it down real far LOL! Luci loves the challenge though.

 

[Mushuandcricket]

It's so fun to watch them eat them! I rinse all the dirt off of them and dry them real good. Dexter has a hard time picking them up because they are slimy, she usually gives up. She has a hard time picking a lot of things up I don't know if it's because she's lazy or because she has a giant head and she can't bend it down real far LOL! Luci loves the challenge though.

lol I would love to see that. I can't wait to give one to Mushu to see what he does.

 

[Caitjinoy]

I used to breed beardies. I fed mustard greens and collard greens as staples. Romaine is a nice treat but has about zero nutritional values. Kale is good but, correct me if I'm wrong, not suitable as a staple either. Isn't it too high in the calcium binding mineral... What are they called oxalates? But anyways, yes keep veggies plentiful and fresh throughout the day. My babies always ate them up because I fed veggies in the morning and only gave crickets later in the day so whenever they were hungry before cricket time they would eat whatever was available which was the greens. Develops excellent eating habits so no picky lizards

 

[Caitjinoy]

Also don't give the crickets lots of citrus, it doesn't agree with the beardies at all. Fish food is ok but what you really want to gut load with is high calcium veggies and throw in some greens if the beardie is picky about those. I like to give the crickets carrots, squash, green beans, and potatoes. When I got my first beardie I gave the crickets oranges and she would sometimes act kind of sick so I took her to the vet and they said no oranges, they just don't agree with their tummies. She was fine after that for years.

 

[nitrous12]

Also don't give the crickets lots of citrus, it doesn't agree with the beardies at all. Fish food is ok but what you really want to gut load with is high calcium veggies and throw in some greens if the beardie is picky about those. I like to give the crickets carrots, squash, green beans, and potatoes. When I got my first beardie I gave the crickets oranges and she would sometimes act kind of sick so I took her to the vet and they said no oranges, they just don't agree with their tummies. She was fine after that for years.

That is interesting about the oranges. When I asked about water for the crickets he said use the orange slices. Don't they need something hydrating?

 

[PsycoMenace]

that is a interesting view about oranges, I guess that acidic is getting to there tummy. My crickets I gave some carrots and greens. THey enjoyed it.

 

[Caitjinoy]

Veggies should be hydration enough but you can also use water crystals or water pillows if you want.