What diet?

[Alex Jimenez]

My BD is about 6 inches long (age unknown). Any suggestions on the best diet for him? I am seeing too many contradictions from different sources.
For example; one suggested 80 percent live food and 20 percent veg. Is this correct?
One suggested red leaf lettuce for babies, but this forum's diet guide says that red lettuce has little to no nutricional value!
By the way; the only live food I can get where I am is crickets and meal worms.
Also exotic veg and fruit is hard to come by.
Suggestions on diet and quantities welcome.
Thank You

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

These links will be very helpful in giving you the answers to you questions:

Basic BD Care Sheet- A Place to Start

Beautiful Dragons Food Chart

Read through all of the material and if you still have questions we are here to help

Enjoy!!

 

[Alex Jimenez]

Thanks. I guess it's all really a matter of experimenting between different foods. Pasqual ate some butternut squash, prickly pear and some cucumber today. Not a lot but he is shedding his skin so I guess he is growing.

 

[Aleena]

If you can get hold of them, Alex... try the greens on carrot tops. Since you can't find exotic fruits and veg. Depending on where you're located, you should be able to find collard greens easy and they're great. Also, mustard greens are usually pretty easy to find and I can find them in wal mart. Just a few ideas on some leafy greens you should be able to get ahold of almost anywhere that are chalk full of good nutrition. Too many juicy veggies will give them the runs and you probably don't wanna clean that up lol.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Thanks. I guess it's all really a matter of experimenting between different foods...

You are right...it does take a bit of experimentation but usually not a whole lot. What you want to find is two or three good staple greens such as the collards and mustard greens that Aleena already mentioned that your dragon will consistently nibble on and that are available where you are located. Make those your base and everything else is treats and occasional for variety. If you look at that Beautiful Dragons Nutritional Chart look for the ones highlighted in green. Dandelion Greens and Turnip Greens are also good ones, commonly found in many grocery stores.

Those four besides being great staple greens are also the ones that more dragons will eat readily.

When you experiment don't be surprised if your dragon initially turns his nose up. Most are leery when it comes to new foods in their dish so try offering several times before you cross something off your list.

Also keep in mind that many young dragons such as yours won't touch greens or they will just nibble them. As they get older they tend to show more interest though in most cases. Even if your dragon doesn't show interest it is important that you offer fresh greens daily to them along with their live feeders.

And when offering veggies it is best to offer them in the morning about an hour after they wake once they have a chance to warm up. I have found this to work best for me. Then an hour or two later offer their live feeders. You may also want to freshen up their veggies later in the day because alot of reptiles that are veggie eaters will graze and nibble on them throughout the day instead of just eating a lot in one sitting

Enjoy!!

 

[Alex Jimenez]

Thanks guys. I will venture to the grocery shops in town because the supermarkets tend to remove foliage from most veg like carrots and I have never seen mustard greens there. Thanks again.

 

[Augie]

Yours is already eating prickly pear and butternut squash? Lucky, mine is critter crazy. No worries though, because his food is full of that stuff.