I'm newly registered to this forum, although I have viewed quite a few threads here. The reason I am posting is because I am a bit scared for my yearling sulcata.
Some background on Bowser is, that he is a bit over a year old, I personally have owned him for a year and he was extremely tiny when I first got him. He is now 155 grams on average although it ranges day to day based on whether he takes a poop or not lol. He lived in a 20 gallon long tank up until recently when he outgrew it, and is now in a 40 gallon breeder, he is quite comfy in there. About two months ago my roommate got a baby bearded dragon to live with Bowser and they get along great, but recently my friend decided to switch feeding the bearded dragon crickets to meal worms. I stressed that the meal worms can't be accessible to Bowser, although he always left the crickets alone and never attempted to eat any, but the mealworms have been crawling around the tank now and this morning i saw him eat two of them. It hasn't been a problem for long with the meal worms, and they are small, but I saw him eat one, frantically tried to open the top of the tank and stopped him from eating a third.
I feel pretty crappy about this and I don't know what to do. I don't have room for another tank so thats not an option and the meal worm problem will be solved within a few days.. my roommate isn't home now and hasn't answered my texts so theres not much I really can do.
Tonight I noticed that Bowser is a bit sluggish, and thinking back on it, has been for a few days. So now I'm scared that he likes the meal worms and has been munching on them for a week or so. I'm not certain that he is extra sluggish or if he is just enjoying a new backing light that I have for him, but he sure has been laying under the light and taking a nap more often than he usually would have.
I'm just wondering what anyone with more knowledge thinks about this. I know sulcatas are not supposed to eat any type of animal or insect protein, however they of course come across insects in their wild habitat. He has been eating plenty of the food that I give him so its not like he's surviving off of meal worms. Is this a serious problem that could kill him short term? is his sluggishness from loving the new basking lamp or from eating too much protein? Is this normal considering it could happen in the wild?
Some background on Bowser is, that he is a bit over a year old, I personally have owned him for a year and he was extremely tiny when I first got him. He is now 155 grams on average although it ranges day to day based on whether he takes a poop or not lol. He lived in a 20 gallon long tank up until recently when he outgrew it, and is now in a 40 gallon breeder, he is quite comfy in there. About two months ago my roommate got a baby bearded dragon to live with Bowser and they get along great, but recently my friend decided to switch feeding the bearded dragon crickets to meal worms. I stressed that the meal worms can't be accessible to Bowser, although he always left the crickets alone and never attempted to eat any, but the mealworms have been crawling around the tank now and this morning i saw him eat two of them. It hasn't been a problem for long with the meal worms, and they are small, but I saw him eat one, frantically tried to open the top of the tank and stopped him from eating a third.
I feel pretty crappy about this and I don't know what to do. I don't have room for another tank so thats not an option and the meal worm problem will be solved within a few days.. my roommate isn't home now and hasn't answered my texts so theres not much I really can do.
Tonight I noticed that Bowser is a bit sluggish, and thinking back on it, has been for a few days. So now I'm scared that he likes the meal worms and has been munching on them for a week or so. I'm not certain that he is extra sluggish or if he is just enjoying a new backing light that I have for him, but he sure has been laying under the light and taking a nap more often than he usually would have.
I'm just wondering what anyone with more knowledge thinks about this. I know sulcatas are not supposed to eat any type of animal or insect protein, however they of course come across insects in their wild habitat. He has been eating plenty of the food that I give him so its not like he's surviving off of meal worms. Is this a serious problem that could kill him short term? is his sluggishness from loving the new basking lamp or from eating too much protein? Is this normal considering it could happen in the wild?