Blue Tongues...

[DragonKeeper]

Hi, I am thinking of breeding Blue Tongues, as I figured that breeding Beardies would be too much work.

Firstly, I haven't kept Blue Tongues only one Bearded Dragon, so forgive me if I say something stupid.

I was on a website that said this:

diet can consist of insects, snails, pinkie mice, lean meat, tinned cat food, fish, eggs, cockles fruit and vegetables.

The ones in bold I have been told not to feed them, Which is right?

and:

The animals will require feeding 3 or 4 times a week.

I feed my beardie daily, is it safe to feed Blue Tongues only 3-4 times a week? If so am I overfeeding my Beardie?

What I need to know is:

Do they require UVB like dragons?

What is the recommended cage size for two breeding adults?

What is the best thing (money and health wise) to feed them? I think buying 5 boxes of crickets per week for them and my beardie would cost a fortune.

Thanks.

 

[Midol]

I wouldn't be feeding anything tinned cat food, that stuff is foul - I wouldn't even feed most brands to a cat...

 

[reece89]

i give mine a variety of food,but not pet food if i wana use meat i get chicken mince and mix it with vegies and a egg sprinkled with repti-cal they seem to love it.They also love there fruit especially apple lol......they dont go crazy for crickets and roaches but they eat them,as for pinkie mice well they love it like most of us guys love a hot women dipped in choclate and through in with a bunch of lesbians.And i give them uv i think they do need it.

 

[SamKlingner]

Hi, If you buy your crickets in bulk from Live Foods Unlimited you will save heaps they freight australia wide. I dont have there no. but hopefully someone else on this site does

 

[DragonKeeper]

Lol, Okay, does anyone have a caresheet? or recommended species?

 

[steve6610]

NO FISH OF ANY TYPE,

and blueys don't need crickets, just feed them fruit, vegies, some cat food, pink mice, mince,
just stay away from any fish products,

uvb is ok, i never used it, but it won't hurt them,

i kept a trio in a 4ft tank,

 

[DragonKeeper]

Cool, they seem easier to care for than Beardies.

What is the easiest species to care for? and best breeders? best temperament?

 

[Glider]

When I was a kid I had an outdoor pit with a colony of 13 northern blueys, which bred on their own every year.

Any kind of seafood in their diet is a no-no. Just don't do it.

Catfood is not a recommended staple in their diet as it can be very salty and is full of preservatives. It is very convienient though and they love it, so it's up to you how much you use it in their diet, personally I wouldnt recommend it more than once or twice a month. Only use non-fish varieties, mine LOVED Whiskas Jellymeat flavour so I usually had a couple of cans of that in the cupboard for when I couldnt get to the fruitmarket that week.

Young blueys will require more frequent feeding, but IMO adults are fine on being fed only once or twice per week. Most bluey's are gutses and are prone to becoming very fat in captivity as they will usually eat whenever you put food in there (especially if theres lots of tasty meat to eat), regardless of if they really need it.
Keep in mind that Beardies are completely different animals and have different metabolisms and requirements. I don't keep beardies so I don't know if you're feeding it too much, but a bluey really doesnt do much running around and is built like a brick *****house, so doesn't need to be fuelling up every day.

Yes they need UVA and UVA, and a basking area.

I had mine in pits, so I'm not sure what an appropriate indoor cage size would be. At a guess though, my largest specimens were a 50cm male and 40cm female, and if I were to keep them indoors I wouldnt want them to be in anything less than a 4foot tank for long periods of time. Other people may disagree on that though *shrug*.

IMO a good and affordable diet for your blueys would be 2 feeds fruit+ vegies to one feed meat, in a cycle.
I suspect that once they get older and fatter they may have trouble catching bouncy crickets all the time, so those might not be the best source of food for them. They'll provide good exercise though!

Variety is the key. I think lean mince is the best meat, and almost any kind of sweet fruit will be a winner with them (avoid citrus). IMO pinky mice, snails, eggs and catfood are great treats to add variety, but shouldn't be the bulk of every meal.

As for cost, it shouldn't cost too much. For the cost of a tub of crickets you could buy at least a weeks worth of vegies from the grocer or market and a handful of lean mince from the butcher.

 

[ace#74]

eastern blueys are pretty easy to care for iv also heard blotched blue tonges a easy to

 

[Tsubakai]

One of the problems with cat food is the additives for 'urinary tract health'. From memory (may be incorrect) the aim is to acidify the urine - not good if you don't need acidic urine.

 

[Khagan]

www.bluetongueskinks.net Is a great site, click caresheet up the top and it will tell you everything you need to know theres even some food charts for veggies etc. Some of the stuff might be in US crazyness like heat so becarefull with that.

 

[Helikaon]

One of the problems with cat food is the additives for 'urinary tract health'. From memory (may be incorrect) the aim is to acidify the urine - not good if you don't need acidic urine.

most tin cat foods wont have additives like that. the reason they say cat food is because cat food is much better quality then dog food. hence a cat that only eats dog food will get sick and die. while a dog that only eats cat food will get fat

 

[Rosemary]

Mine eat mainly cat food and they have never had any problems, 2 will be 10 this year and another 13 or 14, not really sure of her age. I have had babies every year from them one girl having her first litter at 2 yrs old.. Cat food has a lot of added minerals and vitamins in it so you dont have to add any extra. I also feed very lean mince occassionally, snails when I can get them and all the veges and fruit that I give my beardies. My bluies live outside and are doing just fine (altho I do have them inside at moment in a much too small enclosure due to the torrential rain we have had here during the past wee)