How many Crickets to feed Beardie?
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MelShaw
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I bought a book recently and it was very thorough.
About $40.00 in pet stores much cheaper online, it is from the US but our dollar is very strong.
Amazon.com: The Bearded Dragon Manual (Advanced Vivarium Systems): Books: Philippe De Vosjoli
Well, the vet said that they both look in pretty good health and are active and alert so that's good. He advised me to increase the temps in the tank and to also increase the amount of UV light, which I did. The next day (Thursday), Ted seemed to perk up enormously! He ate his crix and was generally looking a lot better and now looks like he has put on a fair bit of weight. Unfortunately though, Bill has taken a turn for the worse over the weekend and is looking quite a bit skinnier than Ted and very lethargic 
. My friend who was looking after them for me over the weekend due to me having to go to Sydney said that Bill ate three crix on Friday and she's pretty sure he's eaten none since. He wasn't at all interested when I offered them to him this morning. Ted has been eating pretty well all weekend and certainly was running around after the crix when I fed him this morning.
I don't really know what to do now. I have stopped feeding them outside the tank as they both just seem to get distressed when I do that and ignore all the crix so I am feeding them in the tank, but then all the crix hop away pretty quickly so I'm not sure exactly how many they eat and that also means I have keep clearing the tank of the excess crix. Is there anyway I can force feed Bill? I don't want to hurt him as he's still so small, but I obviously don't want him to die either.
The vet also mentioned that if I had spoken to him before buying Bill and Ted that he would have advised me to buy 4 if I wanted to end up with two as there would be a strong possibility that two wouldn't make it. Obviously, I wasn't too happy on hearing that .
Any advice is, as always, greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the book recommendations too.
. My friend who was looking after them for me over the weekend due to me having to go to Sydney said that Bill ate three crix on Friday and she's pretty sure he's eaten none since. He wasn't at all interested when I offered them to him this morning. Ted has been eating pretty well all weekend and certainly was running around after the crix when I fed him this morning.I don't really know what to do now. I have stopped feeding them outside the tank as they both just seem to get distressed when I do that and ignore all the crix so I am feeding them in the tank, but then all the crix hop away pretty quickly so I'm not sure exactly how many they eat and that also means I have keep clearing the tank of the excess crix. Is there anyway I can force feed Bill? I don't want to hurt him as he's still so small, but I obviously don't want him to die either.
The vet also mentioned that if I had spoken to him before buying Bill and Ted that he would have advised me to buy 4 if I wanted to end up with two as there would be a strong possibility that two wouldn't make it. Obviously, I wasn't too happy on hearing that
. Any advice is, as always, greatly appreciated.
Thanks for the book recommendations too.
try hand feeding to save teh crix escaping.
try the syringe feeding mushed up pellets, or pressing the point of a diagonally sliced bit of bean between his lips to see if he takes that.
my Bug would have died if she hadnt been force fed as a kid...teh guy who i got them off was surprised how big and healthy they were when he came over a year later. he said he didnt expect them to survive. (i wasnt very happy about that either)
or put a drop of the mush on his lips, and press the bean in to make him taste it, then he should lap it up quite willingly.
try the syringe feeding mushed up pellets, or pressing the point of a diagonally sliced bit of bean between his lips to see if he takes that.
my Bug would have died if she hadnt been force fed as a kid...teh guy who i got them off was surprised how big and healthy they were when he came over a year later. he said he didnt expect them to survive. (i wasnt very happy about that either)
or put a drop of the mush on his lips, and press the bean in to make him taste it, then he should lap it up quite willingly.
Dragoness
Active Member
Hi Bigbird,
Sorry to hear your little guy isnt eating, Ive bombarded Chris1 with questions, as one of mine is the same. Ime halfway through a worming course with him, and Im currently just forcefeeding him every day. I got 2 at once as well, then discovered at about the 3 month mark that one was being very dominant and had to seperate them. I thought this would fix my non eating problem, but nope, Caesar still wont eat. Is more than happy to be force fed though, happily laps away off the spoon. As chris said, you mash up pellets, I mix in a little chicken and veg baby food and add a tiny amount of calcium and vitamins. He gets this once a day (in the morning so he has all day to digest) and while hes not growing like his brother (who is 3 times the weight!) he seems happy and healthy. So hard to know what they want/need, I guess you just keep trying until something works. Good luck, keep us up to date.
Chris1 - how long do you microwave the rice for? I know thats a strange question, but Ive never microwaved rice before (Im assuming its raw rice, not cooked!)
Cheers
Sorry to hear your little guy isnt eating, Ive bombarded Chris1 with questions, as one of mine is the same. Ime halfway through a worming course with him, and Im currently just forcefeeding him every day. I got 2 at once as well, then discovered at about the 3 month mark that one was being very dominant and had to seperate them. I thought this would fix my non eating problem, but nope, Caesar still wont eat. Is more than happy to be force fed though, happily laps away off the spoon. As chris said, you mash up pellets, I mix in a little chicken and veg baby food and add a tiny amount of calcium and vitamins. He gets this once a day (in the morning so he has all day to digest) and while hes not growing like his brother (who is 3 times the weight!) he seems happy and healthy. So hard to know what they want/need, I guess you just keep trying until something works. Good luck, keep us up to date.
Chris1 - how long do you microwave the rice for? I know thats a strange question, but Ive never microwaved rice before (Im assuming its raw rice, not cooked!)
Cheers
Dragoness
Active Member
Cheers Dude
Hi Dragoness
Yes, I remembered that you were having dramas with yours too. It's just so weird because when I first got them it was the complete opposite! Ted was the lethargic, non-eating one and Bill ate everything in sight! Now they have swapped.
I read somewhere (think it might have been one of Chris1's posts) that beardies don't eat when they are about to shed. How long does this last for? I think that Bill has just started shedding so I'm hoping that might have something to do with it.
Yes, I remembered that you were having dramas with yours too. It's just so weird because when I first got them it was the complete opposite! Ted was the lethargic, non-eating one and Bill ate everything in sight! Now they have swapped.
I read somewhere (think it might have been one of Chris1's posts) that beardies don't eat when they are about to shed. How long does this last for? I think that Bill has just started shedding so I'm hoping that might have something to do with it.
Update
Well, they both ate last night. Bill ate about three crix and Ted about five I think. I also fed them both some mashed up pellets with vitamins and calcium, which they ate and got all around their faces !
This morning they ate too. Bill had two or three crix and Ted had four or five. I am back to feeding them out of their cage, but now I am shining a light on them while they are in the feeding box and this seems to have helped. Bill still doesn't seem quite right though. He just sits on the log with his eyes closed and that's about it :? . He is definitley shedding though so maybe this has something to do with it. Ted seems to be ok. Running around and pretty alert.
I weighed them both last night too and neither one of them has put on any weight since last week, which is a bit of a concern.
Well, they both ate last night. Bill ate about three crix and Ted about five I think. I also fed them both some mashed up pellets with vitamins and calcium, which they ate and got all around their faces
!This morning they ate too. Bill had two or three crix and Ted had four or five. I am back to feeding them out of their cage, but now I am shining a light on them while they are in the feeding box and this seems to have helped. Bill still doesn't seem quite right though. He just sits on the log with his eyes closed and that's about it :? . He is definitley shedding though so maybe this has something to do with it. Ted seems to be ok. Running around and pretty alert.
I weighed them both last night too and neither one of them has put on any weight since last week, which is a bit of a concern.
haha, how cute are they with mush all over their faces,..
try giving him a warm bath, (not hot) to help with the shedding.
put a face washer in the bottom of the bathroom sink so he has somethign to grip to.
baths are good fro them
try giving him a warm bath, (not hot) to help with the shedding.
put a face washer in the bottom of the bathroom sink so he has somethign to grip to.
baths are good fro them
Yeah, I think I will bath them tomorrow.
I gave them a bath last week, but I don't think they liked it very much. I think that may have been because I didn't give them anything to grip to though so they were kind of sliding all over the place! I will remember the face washer this time!
And yes they were very cute with green mush all over their faces!
I gave them a bath last week, but I don't think they liked it very much. I think that may have been because I didn't give them anything to grip to though so they were kind of sliding all over the place! I will remember the face washer this time!
And yes they were very cute with green mush all over their faces!
Just thought I'd update you all.
Well, things have improved a lot! They are both eating twice a day and having about 5-6 crix at each meal. I know some of you said to let them eat as much as they want in a 10-15 minute period, but the vet said not to let them overeat so I am limiting it to the 5-6 twice a day for now. Yesterday was good too as they both started eating the veges from the dish in their cage (Chris1 - it was the first time that I gave them the asian salad mix that you recommended and they seem to really like it so thanks for that!).
They both are pretty active and run around a fair bit, although one of them does like to spend a lot of time sitting in the plant! They are both pooing well too so that's good. Hopefully all will continue to go well.
I have attached a couple of pictures - sorry a couple of them are a bit blurry.
Well, things have improved a lot!
They are both eating twice a day and having about 5-6 crix at each meal. I know some of you said to let them eat as much as they want in a 10-15 minute period, but the vet said not to let them overeat so I am limiting it to the 5-6 twice a day for now. Yesterday was good too as they both started eating the veges from the dish in their cage (Chris1 - it was the first time that I gave them the asian salad mix that you recommended and they seem to really like it so thanks for that!).They both are pretty active and run around a fair bit, although one of them does like to spend a lot of time sitting in the plant! They are both pooing well too so that's good. Hopefully all will continue to go well.
I have attached a couple of pictures - sorry a couple of them are a bit blurry.
I wouldn't concern myself about them over-eating at that age - they will just grow into it, they won't become obese at that age...but 5-6 each meal seems like a reasonable amount regardless...
Try sprinkly some ground up Beardie pellets onto their greens - it's a good way to get them onto pellets and basically makes a good nutritional supplement regardless even if just sprinkled on their salad regularly...
Great look youngsters too
Try sprinkly some ground up Beardie pellets onto their greens - it's a good way to get them onto pellets and basically makes a good nutritional supplement regardless even if just sprinkled on their salad regularly...
Great look youngsters too
Great idea! I will do this tomorrow! Thanks Aslan!
Also, at the moment I am dusting the crix with a mixture of calcium and vitamins (4:1 calcium:vits) once a day.
It certainly is!
I am going to leave them on the asian salad mix for awhile until they are used to eating from the dish and then I will try them on some other fruits and veges. I bought some dandelion, endive and red mustard seed the other day so hopefully I can grow them out the back and then there is no need to keep buying them. That's if they grow. I'm not very good with plants (much better with animals!) and managed to kill a cactus that was given to me the other day! :lol:
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