Balancing diet between live and commercial

Hey guys... so, is there anyway that I can get my beardie to eat her commercial food? Buying crickets every week gets very expensive :roll: , but Bodhi just won't eat her pellets! Any suggestions?

Gut load the crickets with the pellets.
Yes, crickets can get quite expensive if you buy them a few at a time. It is better to buy them online 1000 at a time. I stopped feeding crickets and switched to Dubai roaches about two months ago, my dragon gets fuller faster, is puting on good weight and loves them. After reading so many stories about dragons getting parasites from crickets, I changed up. She's 2 1/2+ yrs old and is shedding again as we speak, her last shed was in November through mid January.

I agree, other than raising your own dubia roaches you should buy crickets in bulk. For a super price on 1,000 crickets try Millbrook cricket farm. They require you to order overnight shipping but that is the best way to get them quickly + they survive the trip more easily. The overnight shipping is expensive but 1,000 crix will last you a about a month.

Hi there!

I agree with Gormagon. Buying in bulk will save lots in the long run, especially if your dragon is younger and blowing through those crickets. Roaches can be bought in bulk, as well. Pellet foods are not that great in the first place, especially if she is younger, since she'll need lots of live protein to help her grow. You'd do much better with fresh vegetables. Try a bunch of different things to see what she likes! Turnip, mustard, and dandelion greens are awesome as staples, as well as butternut and kobucha squash, green beans, bell peppers, even some fruits for an occasional treat... Plus, a nice colorful salad might entice her to eat!

Good luck!

You could breed dubia and crickets (or many other bugs)....just order 1000 crickets to collect eggs from. Crickets are more difficult than dubia, but still easy enough to make it worth it.
I have 3 different roach species and use to breed approx 10,000 crickets each month. I stopped breeding crickets because it does take a bit of room. Need several bins going at the same time.
I consider the pellet commercial food a waste of money...it's unnecessary. It might work for some people though...just look closely at ingredients. Some commercial diets are not even healthy for the dragon.

Best to only have pellets as an emergency backstop . Mostly as feed for the bugs, my crickets LOVE repcal adult beardie pellets (they argue about them and often drag a whole pellet away to eat in privacy).

I think a combination of commercial food and live can be done , ie Repashi BugPie and live crickets / roaches + silkworms for even little hatchlings. I don't do it, but my online bulk cricket supplier is very reliable and their crickets usually top quality , and I grow my own silkworms (hatch from eggs and let some go full life cycle so I always have some silkworm eggs handy chilled in the fridge door.

If you have some good quality commercial food handy, and for some reason beyond you control the latest expected shipment of bugs is running late , you can at least use the commercial stuff to tie you over until you can buy an emergency batch from the local pet shop or til the bulk order arrives.

It also gives you the option to give a bit of food variety to the pet lizards too.

So, will the crickets just eat the dry beardie pellets, or do I have to moisten them?

You can grind up the pellets in a coffee grinder or dampen them for the crickets. If you powder the pellets you can even sprinkle them on the dragons greens.

Agreed -- our beardie doesn't seem to recognize the pellets as food either. We also ended up using them for cricket food. :roll:

KittyLovesDragons":2tjpp6hf said:

So, will the crickets just eat the dry beardie pellets, or do I have to moisten them?

Click to expand...

I grab 6 - 8 pellets from the bottle for each 50 - 60ish crickets.... they like them bone dry

I don't throw out uneaten , stale or even mouldy pellets either, they go to the superworms and mealworms.
As does the cricket poo.

I now buy repcal adult beardie pellets ONLY for the crickets.

Thank you all so much!!! :wave: