Couple dragon questions

I'm looking to get 1 / a few of these guys. I had one before for 6 years and he was awesome.

One of the ones I'm looking to buy has a tail nip. How will I know if it's fully healed or if it still has a chance to become infected? Do they ever heal to a point where you don't have to worry about it anymore? Do they breed OK with this issue?

Can brother to sister pairings be done like other reptiles or do they have genetic issues that discourage such a practice?

Can dubia roaches be substituted for crickets? Can a full grown beardie take down a full grown dubia?

I know varied diets are best, but have they formulated any kind of 'one shoe fits all' food source? How about something that can at least replace the insect portion of the diet to be supplemented with greens and veggies?


Thanks!

I'm not too sure of the other questions, but I feed my dragon only dubia roaches when it comes to insects. I breed my own and search through the colony to find a right sized roach for him. But yes a full grown dragon can eat a full grown dubia.

I'm looking into Mazuri Insectivore as a replacement for bugs, but need to do more research on it.

Dubai roaches are great because they don't make noise, don't stink, and it takes less to fill up my dragon. Instead of 20+ crickets I can give him 3-4 properly sized roaches and he's nice and full.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MrLang

I'm looking to get 1 / a few of these guys. I had one before for 6 years and he was awesome.

One of the ones I'm looking to buy has a tail nip. How will I know if it's fully healed or if it still has a chance to become infected? Do they ever heal to a point where you don't have to worry about it anymore? Do they breed OK with this issue?

Can brother to sister pairings be done like other reptiles or do they have genetic issues that discourage such a practice?

Can dubia roaches be substituted for crickets? Can a full grown beardie take down a full grown dubia?

I know varied diets are best, but have they formulated any kind of 'one shoe fits all' food source? How about something that can at least replace the insect portion of the diet to be supplemented with greens and veggies?


Thanks!

---

Tail nips heal and you'll see them look a little darker but other than that, they look normal. They don't need any specialized care or anything like that after they have fully healed.

Not sure about the pairings though outcrossing is generally recommended anyways unless you have a particular reason to inbreed or line-breed.

As for the varied diet, I'm one that goes against the crowd with this one. It's almost impossible to get a 100% nutritionally complete diet by offering insects, greens, and supplements. Because of this, I have always and only fed RepCal beardie food with veggies, fruit, and insects as treats. They have a juvenile for youngsters and an adult formula for adults. My 'little' girl is 12 years young, still chases the cats (and wins), and has had no problems with MBD, or any other issues from the time she was a hatchling. There are breeders out there that do this as well because of the same issues mentioned above. Granted, dragons will pick and choose to try to obtain vitamins/minerals they are lacking but I don't like to take chances with my girl that she's missing something crucial. If you're willing to take the time, however, you can get a pretty stable diet for them. It does take measuring out exactly what they are getting through the food (you'll start seeing calcium to phosphorus ratios in your head while shopping...) and knowing what additives to top it off with. The catch then is getting them to eat it all. If you've ever tried making a raw meat diet for your cat, you'll understand what I mean. This is the same only there is less research on exactly what they need which is what makes me wary of it.

The other thing with any diet you'll need to watch out for is them getting overweight. Sounds silly with all the pictures of fat beardies running around on the internet but if you wouldn't let your dog have 3 chins and 5 thighs, why allow that in a reptile? Unfortunately, my brother had a beardie (actually a brother to my own girl) and when he went to college, he asked me to take care of Draco. When I saw him, he was too fat to actually lift himself off the ground and chasing crickets was out of the question. This came down to my brother feeding him lots of treats and as much of the RepCal as he would eat. Sadly, he passed away before he could get back down to a healthy weight and a vet I spoke with said he's been seeing beardies living shorter and shorter lives and the majority that are dying young are the overweight ones. :(

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dracoluna

If you're willing to take the time, however, you can get a pretty stable diet for them. It does take measuring out exactly what they are getting through the food (you'll start seeing calcium to phosphorus ratios in your head while shopping...) and knowing what additives to top it off with. The catch then is getting them to eat it all. If you've ever tried making a raw meat diet for your cat, you'll understand what I mean. This is the same only there is less research on exactly what they need which is what makes me wary of it.

---

Care to go into more detail on this or do you have any resources you recommend?

I currently have 2 males both over 2 years old. They get a regular diet id dubia roaches, fresh collard and mustard greens, mango, and squash. For treats I give then super worms and raspberries. I have.tried to supplement with the adult blend of food but.they dont seem to care for it. So I just make sure they get ample fresh stuff.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dracoluna

he asked me to take care of Draco.

---

That's funny, our beardie is named Draco too!

OP, our beardie gets dubias and crickets for insects and we feed him collard/mustard/kale greens and squash for his veggies.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MrLang

Care to go into more detail on this or do you have any resources you recommend?

---

Sure. At the moment, I'm on phone internet only as the regular net is acting up. Once I get that back up and running, I'll get you the links to some of the tables and such for various greens, veggies, fruits, etc. It is very beneficial to have those so you don't end up feeding too much phosphorous and too little calcium.

Alright, sorry about taking so long. My internet finally decided to start working last night again (thank goodness!!!). Here are just a few charts I've found but like with anything where diet is concerned, I'd recommend looking up multiples and comparing. Get a chart together of your own that you're going to use. Make sure that you offer a wide variety. This will allow them to grab what they need. Note: they will go after anything bright red/orange/yellow first (as my finger can attest to after this morning as I'm wearing bright pink nail polish which now has dragon teeth marks in it...) so try to keep the main diet mixed with mostly green items. That way, they will get the good stuff and you can use fruit and such as treats.

http://www.parrottalk.com/calcium-ph...us-content.htm
http://www.lowchensaustralia.com/health/calphos.htm
http://blackninjakitty.com/herps/car...reeniglist.htm