Bearded dragon feeding question

DragonizedGlory

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 4, 2016
Messages
52
Hey guys. I just want to know if I can feed my bearded dragon spinach, mint, pineapple sage, pineapple, sage, spring onions, pumpkin leaves, marrow leaves, parsnip leaves, parsley, fennel, garlic, basil, creeping thyme, lavender, rosemary, marjoram, rose geranium, camomile, beetroot leaves, fever vew, yarrow, celery, green pepper, green beans, peas, oregano. Three leaf clovers,

I'd like to know about the roots, stems and leaves and on occasion fruits too. These are all the things I have in my garden.

Then also I want to know about their nails. Should I clip them? I know nothing about bearded dragons. He was dumped on me and I decided to care for him.
 

magicmed

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jun 4, 2016
Messages
404
Yay something I know well!!

Depending on age will affect his diet drastically, up to 18 months they're pure carnivores and ravenous eaters. 50 crickets or dubias a day for a young beardie is about normal. Once they hit about 18 months old they need to be switch to a diet of approximately 70% veggies, 10% fruit, 20% protein. They also appreciate a calcium dusting, and a vitamin dusting a couple times a week. Temps need to be about 105 during day time, with strong 10.0 uvb (often overlooked with 5.0, not enough)

Here is a list of safe foods..

http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/bearded-dragon-nutrition-data.php#veg

This is what mine usually gets...

A daily salad of mustard/collard greens, bok choy, a little alfalfa, acorn or yellow squash, snow peas, some bell pepper now and then. Topped with a strawberry, mashed carrot now and then

Then he gets about 10-15 superworms or dubias a couple times a week. Keep in mind mine is about 9 years old and his appetite is slowing down a lot lately.

Hope this helps :)
 

DragonizedGlory

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 4, 2016
Messages
52
Thanks for the info. But I don't know how old he is. I got him from a friend at work who's brothers kid didn't want it anymore so I just happened to shout out that I wanted it first. A lot of the things in my list isn't on that list.

I know the tank is too small. I'll be building a bigger one soon. 20160917_174543.jpg
 

magicmed

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jun 4, 2016
Messages
404
Thanks for the info. But I don't know how old he is. I got him from a friend at work who's brothers kid didn't want it anymore so I just happened to shout out that I wanted it first. A lot of the things in my list isn't on that list.

I know the tank is too small. I'll be building a bigger one soon. View attachment 220612
That's an old boy there! He should definitely be on his adult diet. I'd say he's a couple years old at least.

There's actually a massive list out there that has the nutritional value of thousands of items, I just couldn't find it with a quick Google search, I had it bookmarked for years but broke my phone a few months ago.

Another cool thing about beardies is their colors will actually tell you how happy and healthy they are. A darkened back like yours has indicates he's trying to absorb more heat or light. So he might want more heat or stronger uvb (uvb bulbs only last about 6 months before they don't produce uv light, just regular light)

If he darkens his chin, and shows it off, he's usually trying to tell you he's hungry, cold, or just bored. Mines flashed a black beard a few times just because he wanted to come out and run around, or wanted some pets. (Yes these animals really do actually seek out attention and affection from their owners, a healthy and happy beardie is a lot like a dog. Mine will sit on the coach or my leg and chill while we watch tv)
 

magicmed

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jun 4, 2016
Messages
404
Just realized I didn't answer your nail question, you can trim them but be very careful, they have a quik just like a dog that can bleed if cut too short, I use a cheap dremmel on low speed with a sanding wheel for mine, just give it a couple dashed and it's good. You can also put a few bricks as a hide in there for him and he will use the bricks to file them down if he's into that (mine has a big brick hide and doesn't file them at all, he leaves it to me lol.)
 

DragonizedGlory

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 4, 2016
Messages
52
Alright. Because my dragons nails are - in my opinion - way too long. They've curled over like a C

So their body language is very important. Interesting. I'm starting to like him already.
 

Trenor

Arachnoprince
Joined
Jan 28, 2016
Messages
1,896
Thanks for the info. But I don't know how old he is. I got him from a friend at work who's brothers kid didn't want it anymore so I just happened to shout out that I wanted it first. A lot of the things in my list isn't on that list.

I know the tank is too small. I'll be building a bigger one soon. View attachment 220612
I've raised Bearded Dragons for a while now and here are some things to note when starting out with a BD.

Here are some photos of my BD Ringo's enclosure.


Now for the notes:
1. I don't like loose substrate with BD. They will often miss when feeding and get a tounge full of substrate which they will eat. If they get enough sand it can cause compaction (they can't defecate). If they swallow pieces of bark it can cause internal injuries and compaction. I'd replace the sand with tile like I have done here. It's relatively inexpensive and can not be swallowed.

2. Place your heat lights so you have a gradient of temp. The left side of my enclosure is the cooler side. The right side is the warmer side. My BD con move to whichever side has the temperature he desires.

3. Have UVB lights on both sides of the enclosure. BD can not incorporate calcium into their bodies without UVB light. You can feed it to them and it will go right on through unless they have UBV light. Make sure your UVB light covers both sides of the enclosure and most bulbs require you to change them out every 4 to 6 months. If they don't get enough calcium they end up with Metabolic Bone Disease and you don't want to see that.

4. Give your BD a hide. It's a safe place for your BD to go when it is stressed. I place my hide directly under the basking lights on the warm side of the enclosure.

5. The tile will help fix you nail problem. The rough tile and hide outside will help your BD wear down it's nails in a safer manor than trimming.

6. I also give an elevated branch so the BD can move closer to the heat sources if he chooses. I keep the branch far enough from any hot bulbs that he can't burn himself.

If setup correctly BD are easy to care for. I spot clean the enclosure with wet paper towels when needed and take everything out twice a month to fully clean it. I feed a mixed green salad every day and feed Dubia roaches 2-3 times a week.

Hope this helps. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Bearded Dragons are very fun to own. I got Ringo much like you got your BD. I am known to raise exotic pets and a friend at work offered him to me once her son grew tired of caring for him.

Best of luck.
 

Trenor

Arachnoprince
Joined
Jan 28, 2016
Messages
1,896
@Trenor I didn't know you had a beardie, we're beardie buddies!
Yeah, I've had Ringo for a pretty good while now. I had him and Fred (Ball Python) long before I owned and Ts. Needing something else to feed Dubias to was one of the reasons I got into tarantula keeping. :D
 

magicmed

Arachnobaron
Joined
Jun 4, 2016
Messages
404
Yeah, I've had Ringo for a pretty good while now. I had him and Fred (Ball Python) long before I owned and Ts. Needing something else to feed Dubias to was one of the reasons I got into tarantula keeping. :D
Nice! I'm the same way actually. Been into reptiles for a looooong time. Bambam (beardie) and loki (ball python) have been with me a few years now. Been keeping ball python all my life though haha
 

DragonizedGlory

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 4, 2016
Messages
52
The only reptiles I have relative experience with are snakes. I own a Cape brown snake and regularly go out to catch wild snakes.
20160618_154906.jpg That's me removing a baby Black mamba from a game lodge.
Free of charge of course :>
 

Matttoadman

Arachnoknight
Joined
Aug 11, 2016
Messages
216
I love my Zaxby. He was like 4 inches in June. He's 13 inches now. Kale, mustard greens, squash, carrots and bell peppers are his favs. Not to mention roaches and more roaches.
 

Attachments

viper69

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 8, 2006
Messages
17,851
I would not feed your dragon a large amount of spinach. Spinach has the highest amount oxalic acid of all the leafy greens. This molecule binds calcium.
 

Trenor

Arachnoprince
Joined
Jan 28, 2016
Messages
1,896
As food goes here is what I normally do.

Salads 5-6 times per week.
Base: 2, 3 or all in a mix
Mustard Greens
Turnip Greens
Collard Greens
Dandelion Greens

Extras: 1 or 2 added to base
Red bell pepper
green beans
squash (yellow or butternut)
asparagus
parsnips
red cabbage
----------
Treats 1 every week
apples
strawberries
blueberries
grapes
honeydew melon
mangoes
----------
Feeder insects 3-6 times a week
dubias (Mostly what I feed)
crickets
horn worms
silk worms
super worms
phoenix worms
wax worms (one with a while in between)

I also add calcium and multivitamins to the food as indicated on the bottles.
 

DragonizedGlory

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 4, 2016
Messages
52
So I got him a friend a week or so ago and a bigger tank. They're both eating and doing fine but today I got a really cool idea. I put them in our old fish pond. And this is what happened.
20161007_180610.jpg 20161007_180624.jpg 20161007_180807.jpg 20161007_182001.jpg
They seemed way happy to climb and swim around a bit. I made sure I was close at all times to prevent a fall or drown. I'd definitely do it again.
 
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