hi all, me again. mike (the bf) has been worried about feeding Bill too much a day (beyond 3 crickets a day). he said he noticed that some of the feces has been "curiously shaped like crickets" and is worried that peraps we are feeding him in excess, and the extra is just passing through. Is this the case? he is about 3 inches snout to vent length, and eats almost immediately after anything goes in his tank. we don'tt want to feed him excessively, as I dont want Bill to become obese or to waste the crickets. i wonder if maybe its just the exoskeleton of the cricket he's seeing? its only happened a couple times. we'd be grateful for any answers as to why this might be.

thanks!

most waterdragons will fee duntill there full. then sometimes go for a day or so without eating. a waterdragon the size of yours I wouldnt worry to much about over feeding. he is growing.

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What size crickets are you feeding?

Are you supplementing with anything, (dusting the crix)

I dont keep WD myself but...I shall share with you what I think

I see cricket bits in my beardes poo, especially if they do it in water, if your WD is looking healthy, I wouldnt worry, and if he eats more than 3, I would give him more than 3, I wouldnt limit him to a set amount, my Leopard Geckos can eat 12 crix a night each and they are only small..

I think with any small lizard you should feed them as much as they will eat, if any are left over you can take them out, thats what I do, I go cricket hunting for the ones that havent been eaten.

crickets are quite easy to digest thats why they are a good staple, they dont have a exoskeleton like mealworms...

Also here is a great caresheet that might have some answers. It sounds like he is not properly digesting his food also. http://www.herpcenter.com/showthread.php?t=2732

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Cody: thanks. that's kinda what I thought, but being new at this, i thought I would check and see. thanks!!

Steel Rip: he's eating medium to large crickets, dusted with calcium supplement (and with vitamins twice a week). he does seem pretty healthy other than that.

venus: thanks for the link. i've been through that a couple times since I got him. just went through it again now. if it persists, i'll run him into the vets.

Firstly, you need to feed your WD more! - it is a growing animal and will not get obese at this stage. Do not limit its food intake to 3 crickets per day. The general rule to follow is feed as much as it will eat in the first five minutes of feeding.

Second, get rid of the large crickets and feed baby ones. Your WD is still a baby at 3" snout to vent length, and the large food items can cause many problems such as hind leg extension (paralysis from too-large food items). At his size you should be feeding small- small/medium and plenty of them. Also a varied diet is better so try other things like wax worms, silk worms, locusts and mealies as occasional treats, even offering pinkie mice every so often when it gets bigger.

Sounds like it is not digesting food properly - 1) because you are feeding it too big food items, and possibly 2) your temps are not correct? What are your temps? What UV bulb are you using? What is his enclosure like?

For now, I would give him a bath - this will help him if he has mild constipation so he will clear his system out, then leave him alone in his tank and go buy some smaller crickets to feed to him in abundance tomorrow. Good luck.

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My bearded dragon likes to chew his food a few times before swallowing it but nevertheless it's not the first time I see a poo with antennas =)

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I agree, I have a Chinese Water Dragon, see it all the time, and the first time I did, I was concerned, also.

Not like this has anything to do with what you're all talking about here, but I just to point this out cause I'm twitchy like that. Crickets, like all insects, do have an exoskeleton. However, theirs just contains less chitin than mealworms. If you took away a cricket's exoskeleton you'd have a pile of cricket innards. Hope I didn't come across as rude, but this was gonna bug me unless I pointed that out.

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Matt THAT was really bad!

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