feeder ideas??

So I fed my juvenile bearded dragon a bunch of meal worms because that's what the vet said I could do, and now I am dealing with what i think is an impaction issue. My beardie looks very bloated and I have been giving him a warm bath and olive oil. I have done it twice so far since I realized something was wrong. He is acting totally normal but he looks very bloated. I am doing what I can to help him through this, but given that I do...what feeders can I give besides crickets? I live in Florida and dubia roaches are illegal here.

I don't want to ever give meal worms/superworms to him again, so I am looking for more options that are good for a 3 month old juvenile bearded dragon? I have the repashy grub pie but my dude really prefers live feeders he can hunt. I just am so afraid of dealing with this impaction issue again. He is on calci sand right now, which I know is awful but the vet told me it was fine and that she has raised her beardies on sand their whole life. I will be moving him off of it when I put him in his permanent forever home in the next month or so, but to cut down on any sand being ingested, I have been feeding him the crickets with tongs.

I think hornworms are too big for him, and silk worms are so hard to find and expensive. If anyone has any ideas on any other insects, please let me know!!

You can try Discoid roaches, which you can get in Florida, silkworms are an amazing option, butterworms, black soldier fly larvae, small hornworms. There is actually a good source for silkworms in Jacksonville, FL called coastal silkworms. They seem expensive, but if you buy eggs and raise them they are actually very cheap. This is my little guys diet right now: Dubias, silkworms, black soldier fly larvae, small hornworms and butterworms. My adult eats the same but I also give him superworms and he gets full grown hornworms. I too avoid crickets because they are the devil.

Kyle

How many mealworms did you feed at once?
How old/big is your dragon?

Honestly I'd say it's pretty rare for mealworms to cause a full blown impaction unless there were already other issues at hand such as improper lighting or temperatures.

How long has it been since hes gone poo?

To answer your question,

In Florida I believe you can still get discoid roaches.
Other options would be
silkworms (try hatching the eggs its cheaper)
Butterworms
BSFL
Appropriate sized hornworms occasionally
Buffalo worms or lesser worms (I find them annoyingly small)
Crickets are still a good choice if you dont mind them.

EDIT: Posted at the same time as Kyle

-Brandon

How many mealworms did you feed at once?
How old/big is your dragon?

- I put like 15-20 in his bowl and left it and I’m sure he ate them all at once. He is 3 months old and about 7-8 inches.

Honestly I'd say it's pretty rare for mealworms to cause a full blown impaction unless there were already other issues at hand such as improper lighting or temperatures.

How long has it been since hes gone poo?

- I noticed he hadn’t gone in a day or so and then I fed him the meal worms and when I woke up this morning he was super bloated. I’ve been doing the olive oil and soaking trick and he finally Passed almost everything. I soaked him this morning being I went to work and when I came home I saw he finally pooped, then I soaked him again and about an hour after that he passed a ton of meal worm chunks so I will literally never be doing that again. I’m gonna soak him again tonight and olive oil again because he still looks a little bloated but hopefully he got most of it out.

To answer your question,

In Florida I believe you can still get discoid roaches.
Other options would be
silkworms (try hatching the eggs its cheaper)
Butterworms
BSFL
Appropriate sized hornworms occasionally
Buffalo worms or lesser worms (I find them annoyingly small)
Crickets are still a good choice if you dont mind them.

EDIT: Posted at the same time as Kyle

-Brandon[/quote]

Are Phoenix worms and the black soldier fly larva the same thing?

yup, phoenix, reptiworms, and calciworms are all branded black solider fly larva.

Sometimes dragons get irregular just like us. You don't need to worry about only few days passing in between Poos :mrgreen:
However, the mealworms coming out undigested would make me double check that my temperatures are proper.

-Brandon

Dubiaroaches.com and Symton BSF have good prices on BSF

Kyle

They also call them nutrigrubs sometimes.....

For discoids, you can get them online in-state from Luna Roaches - I've gotten all different sizes from them, and they've been in excellent condition. If you live near any reptile specialty shop you may find them there as well. There are sone other reputable in-state shops as well, but I prefer Luna Roaches. There are also out of state shops you can order discoids from. ReptileReady feeders is one, and there are others. :0)

gothmads":zlgtoj04 said:

Are Phoenix worms and the black soldier fly larva the same thing?

Click to expand...

They are EXACTLY the same insect.

A similar sized maggot that's nearly as good nutritionally is the blow fly maggot. (but these don't stay in the laval stage as long).

BSFL and blowfly maggots , pupae and flies are all excellent feeders for a young dragon.

abdragons has good prices as well
Karrie