1 bearded dragon; feeder colony?

Hey, I have just got a bearded dragon about a month ago. He/she is about 2 months old if I were to guess. This is my first beardie so I'm new to this. Im beginning to think it may be a good idea to start a colony of dubia roaches. I have never feed him a roach yet. Just mostly crickets, he doest seem to like his salad. But these crickets stink, die often, and just suck to buy often from a pet store. Is this a good idea? And does any have basic information on how to?

I think there are problems with your cricket care , can you tell us how you look after them , and what you keep them in, and what you feed them ?

You will need to have a few colonies so you will aways have roaches the right size to use.Probably more bother than it's worth for JUST ONE lizard.

Similarly you don't have the scale to gain much by buying large numbers of bugs by mailorder (in bulk) since you only have one beardie to feed.

You could try phoenix worms as an alternative staple feeder.

re crickets
I take it you are buying your bugs in small qualities from a pet shop, I'd ask them what day they take delivery of their bulk bug supply (each week) and schedule your purchases so you are there within a few hours of the delivery and perhaps even call them that day and ask they set aside a bunch of freshly delivered bugs (in tubs) for you and keep them behind the counter for when you arrive ( it's likely they'll be happy to do this for a good regular customer - so get to know the shop staff).
Lot of pet shops will keep even disgusting tubs of bugs on the shelves in the hope a buyer will take them without checking them before buying and lots will not even feed the bugs.

Then when you arrive visually inspect the tubs (if you see dead bugs in a tub - don't buy it).

When you get you "fresh" bugs home , replace the food in the tub (ie replace the slice of potato or apple or carrot with a fresh cut chunk of carrot - this will supply food and water to the bugs).

I feed my crickets repcal adult beardie pellets (about 8 pellets per tub of 80 medium crickets).

Next , if it's hot , check your crickets each other day, replace carrot chunk if it's starting to feel slimmy (will make the bugs sick) , remove any dead or sick bugs (they go outside for the birds, wild frogs and lizards and the ants), top up the pellets if needed (if the pellets go "fluffy" that's OK).
In cooler weather - OK to let the checks be every 3rd or 4th day, keep the bugs about 24 - 25 degCelsius and in a well ventilated but dark place.

About 2 days prior to using a tub of bugs, put some washed green leafy salad stuff in ( I use either buk or puk choi , the green leafty bit ) , this will help fill the bugs guts with a calcium rich food.

Also save some of the empty bug tubs so you have a stock of these on hand - clean them thoroughly and if a tub with bugs in it gets to nasty, remove the surviving bugs and place them in a clean reused tub .... this can be an issue especially in hot weather .... I've had some really maggoty tubs on occasion in summer.

Yeah i have only one beardie, 1 year old, and im swarmed with dubia at the moment (couple thousand) it'll be easier if you can find someone that already has a colony and just get some from them every so often. I never liked crickets either, roaches cost me about 100 bucks total to get going, buying a few hundred at a time, and i havent had to buy any since like December. they are easy to raise and cost effective in the long run but if you have just one guy to feed you'll be overpopulated quick if you are not careful. (its a blessing and a curse)

I buy 40 at a time and just have them in a somewhat small tuber ware container thats vented. Since my dragon is not really involved in his salad, I put the "left overs" in there, carrots and collard greens usually. It varies. This usually last me about 3 or 4 days. I've read that a beardie can eat 30 to 40 crickets in a day, but honestly feededing him 2 or 3 times a day (depending on my work schedule) he eats only usually 5 at a time.

Dankomite":3l2g36jp said:

I buy 40 at a time and just have them in a somewhat small tuber ware container thats vented. Since my dragon is not really involved in his salad, I put the "left overs" in there, carrots and collard greens usually. It varies. This usually last me about 3 or 4 days. I've read that a beardie can eat 30 to 40 crickets in a day, but honestly feededing him 2 or 3 times a day (depending on my work schedule) he eats only usually 5 at a time.

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The reports of beardies polishing off huge numbers of bugs per day are always situations where the bugs being offered are too small.

My two 11 month olds are each putting away 14 medium crickets in the am and 8 in the pm each day.