Separate feeding tank

Hi! I am a new bearded dragon owner, and he is around 2 months old. I’m trying to instill the habit of him (or her) eating in a separate place than his own enclosure. My reasoning for this goes as follows: I have read up on the dangers of straggler crickets and would hate for him to get bit by one during the night, many of them hide under his basking spot (it has a hide in it and then my bearded dragon just won’t go after them unless they’re right in front of his face and he doesn’t have to work for it) and when i remove his basking spot, he freaks out and pays no attention to the crickets, and finally the calcium mess on the carpets is not ideal. Unfortunately, he also will not eat for
me in an separate tub or tank. I’m somewhat at a loss here! I always watch when he eats, but it’s nearly impossible to keep track of the crickets and then remove them all without startling my bearded dragon or stressing him out by removing all of his furniture to pick them out one by one. If anyone has any advice they would like to extent, I would be so grateful!

How many do you put in his tank at a time? You could try putting less in, say 5 or so that way it's easier to keep track and just add more as they get eaten. Another thing you can do that will slow them down is shake them sort of hard in the container you use to coat them with calcium. It'll make them dizzy and disoriented.

Yes to the above and feed them to him one at a time will work as well --- the easiest thing to avoid the whole thing is to switch over to dubia roaches and you wont haft to worry about it ------------ you can use a glass or ceramic dish that bugs and worms cant get out of and feed them w/ his salads he needs to be getting every day -------- if you need more help or websites to order dubias and worms let me know
Karrie

SandP":38yzafrk said:

How many do you put in his tank at a time? You could try putting less in, say 5 or so that way it's easier to keep track and just add more as they get eaten. Another thing you can do that will slow them down is shake them sort of hard in the container you use to coat them with calcium. It'll make them dizzy and disoriented.

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Thank you for responding! I will try both of those things, thanks again.

KarrieRee":1cjseeh1 said:

Yes to the above and feed them to him one at a time will work as well --- the easiest thing to avoid the whole thing is to switch over to dubia roaches and you wont haft to worry about it ------------ you can use a glass or ceramic dish that bugs and worms cant get out of and feed them w/ his salads he needs to be getting every day -------- if you need more help or websites to order dubias and worms let me know
Karrie

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Thank you, Karrie! I have been a bit hesitant to switch over to dubia roaches as I fear one getting loose way more than a cricket, but I will keep that in mind! I was actually thinking about it because they have them at the PetSmart near my house. Thank you again for responding, I so appreciate it.

Dubias are wonderful --- they dont stink they dont chirp and they last longer not to mention they are way better nutritional wise ---- you can get them cheaper on line but that is wonderful that your pet store carries them --- get him some super worms and add them to the top of his salad to lure him to the bowl -- use like 3 of them --- the movement will lure him there to get him to eat his salads and then after he has eaten from that bowl for like an hr take a little of the salad out put your dubias in there and like around 8-10 see if he eats them all add more if you need to ---
Karrie

KarrieRee":1n2mkb5s said:

Dubias are wonderful --- they dont stink they dont chirp and they last longer not to mention they are way better nutritional wise ---- you can get them cheaper on line but that is wonderful that your pet store carries them --- get him some super worms and add them to the top of his salad to lure him to the bowl -- use like 3 of them --- the movement will lure him there to get him to eat his salads and then after he has eaten from that bowl for like an hr take a little of the salad out put your dubias in there and like around 8-10 see if he eats them all add more if you need to ---
Karrie

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Thank you so much! You have been so helpful

KarrieRee":z30eygq7 said:

Dubias are wonderful --- they dont stink they dont chirp and they last longer not to mention they are way better nutritional wise ---- you can get them cheaper on line but that is wonderful that your pet store carries them --- get him some super worms and add them to the top of his salad to lure him to the bowl -- use like 3 of them --- the movement will lure him there to get him to eat his salads and then after he has eaten from that bowl for like an hr take a little of the salad out put your dubias in there and like around 8-10 see if he eats them all add more if you need to ---
Karrie

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KarrieRee":z30eygq7 said:

Dubias are wonderful --- they dont stink they dont chirp and they last longer not to mention they are way better

nutritional wise ---- you can get them cheaper on line but that is wonderful that your pet store carries them --- get him some super worms and add them to the top of his salad to lure him to the bowl -- use like 3 of them --- the movement will lure him there to get him to eat his salads and then after he has eaten from that bowl for like an hr take a little of the salad out put your dubias in there and like around 8-10 see if he eats them all add more if you need to ---
Karrie

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Thank you so much! You have been so helpful. Here is the man of the hour, by the way

They are so cute when they are little --- we got Blaze in Sept and he was so little and such a little devil --- he was so feisty for months --- run hiss try to bite and did bite -- he was terrible took us months to get him to calm down -- working w/ him every day giving him his space -- he is now letting us pick him up no more biting or hissing -- or running away -- he is now 10 months old -- -- keep us posted on how he is doing --- but the dubias are going to work better for you
Karrie

KarrieRee":3gmw7g4a said:

They are so cute when they are little --- we got Blaze in Sept and he was so little and such a little devil --- he was so feisty for months --- run hiss try to bite and did bite -- he was terrible took us months to get him to calm down -- working w/ him every day giving him his space -- he is now letting us pick him up no more biting or hissing -- or running away -- he is now 10 months old -- -- keep us posted on how he is doing --- but the dubias are going to work better for you
Karrie

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Thank you! That's good to hear about Blaze, because Felix is still a little fidgety around me. I'm sure we will get there though. I will for sure keep you updated!