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dry food for bearded dragons

S

skaggszoo

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Hi I recently aquired a pair of bearded dragons approx. 9" long. I have been feeding them their dusted crickets and vegatables. I know there are dry foods on the market for them. Are these healthy? Should they be supplemented with veggies? Is it hard to get you dragons to make the switch?
Sacha Skaggs
 
You can talk to 10 different breeders  and they will tell you 10 different things and all will work for them..Dragons need their greens and veggies daily..I don't use dry food because my dragons show no interest..I have heard if you add water to the dry food some dragons go for it..From the time dragons are born until about 8 months old I feed them  crickets and salads everyday, such as collard green, mustard greens, turnip greens and romaine lettuse. I top this with thawed frozen mixed veggies, mexican squash,apples minus the seeds ,cantalope.blueberrys,raspberrys.watermelon minus the seeds, pumpkin, strawberries,ect..With all fruits remove seeds and tough skins. When my dragons turn 8 months and older they are on salads every day but instead of crickets I switch them to superking mealworms,pinky mice or small fuzzys. They get their meat about 2 times a week. make sure to dust all food with a good viataimn and calcium supplement daily. Hope this helps.
Lynn
 
I have been having trouble getting them to eat their veggies. All they want to do is munch on crickets. I offer a wide variety including mustard/turnip greens, squash, bean sprouts,mixed veggies, strawberries and grapes. They are in a clear shallow bowl. I make sure they are always fresh. Is there a secret to get them to munch on their veggies <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/confused.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt='???'>
Sacha Skaggs
 
~I attempted to go the route of the comercial dry foods...a long time ago.  Last year, when I had 30+ hatchlings, I would soak the dry food in apple juice and toss it in with their veggies.  Some ate it, some didn't....most couldn't be bothered.  So, I ended up feeding it to my crickets....they loved it!  I figured that was one way of getting the ingredients into my dragons.

~Some breeders, though very few, call their lizards "Bug Free"..meaning they are started out with the dry stuff.  I have had many, many types of lizards and none of them preferred the dry food to the "Real Thing"...so, I stick to the tried and true.  Yes, it is more work and makes for higher maintenence, but the results have been worth it.  Anyone who has purchased any of my dragons can tell you they are healthy and do well.  I suppose it would be like always eating everything except a good home-cooked meal.

~As far as getting dragons, etc. to eat veggies, I chop the greens up very fine, throw in some finely chopped up fruits and toss in some "hobbled" crickets and mealworms.  In the act of grabbing at the live food, my dragons, inadvertently, would get some salad in the deal.  Eventually, they caught on that it wasn't so bad. I also found that ALL the dragons I have ever owned were crazy about prickly pear fruit.  They also looked kind of cute with "lipstick" on from the stain of the fruit.
~Up to about 10 weeks old, I found something a little quirky with alot of my dragons. They would wait until the greens were dry and crispy...and THEN they would eat them.  I haven't a clue why, but I have heard of others doing it.


Good Luck,
 
Getting babies to eat green is a job sometimes.I am lucky I get to  stay home and care for my dragons while my husband works so what I do is feed the salads first then later I give them crickets. Try differnt toppings on the greens. Remember their favorite colors are red, yellow, and orange. You may try picking up some of the salad and sprinkle it back in the bowl in front of them to make it look alive and catch their intrest.
Sometimes differnt juices draw their attention or some times dragons don't like greens until they get older. Keep giving them the salads and they will come around I believe. <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'>
 
Dry food?

my beardies knosh on it occasionally, but like out of the 20 repcal pellets about 5 1/2 of um will get eaten lol, the stuff stinks when its wet too.

good to have in emergencys, ESPECIALLY when the local petstore is out of feeders...

P.S. kinda on another subject, my iggys get the dry food everyother day soaked ina ALOT of water...but they do eat alot of it and get constipated so we are cutting down on it..its like feeding a human chid a bunch of cereal lol...just a breakfast thing occasionally <img src="http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=';)'>
 
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