Number of Bugs per Meal

Hi, all...

Figment is about 11/12 months old now, and I've been continually trying to focus on getting him to eat more greens and fewer insect feeders. When he was younger, he'd get pretty much as many insects as he wanted in a 10-15 minute window; he could easily chow down on 20+ dubia roaches at a sitting, but would usually ignore most of his salad (he'll eat the squash, which is pretty much a staple for him, but only pick at his greens, whatever type I offer. Even freshly picked dandelion greens - he turns his nose up at them.)

I'm now rationing out the number of dubias each afternoon, and he only gets them if he's eaten some of his salad, which he's starting to eat with a bit more enthusiasm. For those of you with adult dragons, how many insects would you say is a fair amount to offer each day? I've been doing 10 of the 1 inch dubias, and if he still seems really hungry, adding in 5 more. I don't want to skimp on his protein, but I also don't want him filling up on insects at the expense of his greens. (And yes, I do vary the feeder insects, but we're on the last of our dubia stock right now before I change over to supers for a little bit.)

I don't have a specific number, never have. It's all kind of dragon dependant. There is no right answer, and the only wrong answers are those that are too far right and too far left.

That being said, 10 1" dubia sounds more than enough. Personally I don't like feeding that many dubia because of their UA content. But at 10, Figment definitely won't be missing out on any protein.

Remember, protein isn't the only thing required for growth

If I had to give you a number of what I would do, I'd probably do 5-8 dubia that size. And if it was obvious he was still hungry for bugs I'd give him a few worms in addition, as opposed to more dubia. However, at this age my dragons are already and have been massive salad eaters too, so they would only be getting those worms if they were also eating their salad completely.

-Brandon

Thanks, Brandion - I’ll cut him back to 5-8, and keep extra worms on hand just in case. I forgot about dubias and UA, and I definitely don’t want to run any risks with gout. I think he IS eating more salad since I dropped him to 10; maybe this will kick his appetite for veggies up a bit.

-Chris