Best long lasting feeder food help

TheBeard9789 said:

Hey guys I use sweet potatoes when I get crickets and/or roaches for my 2 girls and it only lasts a few days at most. I sorta have this thing that if the sweet potato looks dried and/or discolored I throw my feeders out.

I worry if the sweet potato would give anything i.e disease bugs mold etc to the feeders in question and then those feeders would pass it on to my girls. In the long run this is a terrible waste of feeders especially if the sweet potato goes bad fast due to heat (summer).

I have tried greens veggies sweet potatoes regular potatoes (haven't used regular potatoes since I was a kid) but it all goes bad and doesn't last long.

I have thought of buying zoo med thirst quenchers or diced food from them would that be better or just stick with sweet potatoes?

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KarrieRee said:

You can use carrots for hydration if that is what you using the sweet potatos for- I feed my roaches shredded sweet potato and it does not last long usually over night and the potato is gone- carrots last a couple of days and the potatos and carrots are rotated -- I do not feed carrots to my dragons tho - you can also feed oranges for hydration as well --

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TheBeard9789 said:

I have tried using oranges but I heard citrus wasn't good for beardies something like a upset stomach or something like that.

I use the sweet potatoes for both hydration and nutrients and occasionally put them on top of their salads (butternut squash is preferred daily).

Haven't tried carrots in a long while now but that is a serious option for the feeders good to rotate like you said.

I wonder if I use shredded potatoes/carrots if the feeders will eat them up faster than 4-5 chunks of sweet potatoes.

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KarrieRee said:

Yes the shredded are easier to eat- I feed my roaches oranges and haven't seen any side effects in the dragons

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TheBeard9789 said:

Any particular type of orange? I think now that I remember it that it wasn't easily taken with dubia roaches but then again I'm not sure what animal they fed the roaches too . I'll try the shredded see how that goes if anything I'll be vigilant and swap out feeder foods more regularly to keep everything fresh and clean.

I get only get a dozen crickets or so in case the food goes bad fairly fast but that's easier with crickets than roaches (roaches are only available online)

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KarrieRee said:

yes and easier to take care of and last longer and they dont stink-- I keep mine in a 10 gallon aquarium feed dubia food and dubia dew for hydration along w/ fresh zucchini squash oranges carrots sweet potatos other fruit like grapes apples strawberries they arent hot on but like grapes - naval oranges is what I get -- roaches are cheaper on line I get mine from www.dubiaroaches.com

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TheBeard9789 said:

I'll have to try the dubia dew and dubia food I get all my bugs (except crickets) from Josh's Frogs

I haven't tried zucchini squash yet I have tried sweet potatoes butternut squash yellow and summer squash cucumbers and bunch of greens.

The first time I ordered 1,000 crickets and gave them a entire thing of greens and lets just say that was a terrible mistake but you live and learn from your mistakes .

I'll try some fruits as well my only question is is will the roaches/crickets/feeders get too much sugar from the fruit and then be loaded with sugar and pass it onto my beardies?? I'm wary when it comes to fruits and stay away from them but I can see what they like and if it's ok I'll gutload them (feeders) with fruits also.

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KarrieRee said:

Its not going to hurt them to feed occasionally - I dont feed fruits all the time -- the only thing I heard about the dubias is to not feed them a lot of protein because the gout issues w/ the dragons- the dubias hold in that protein passed onto the dragon and it turns to uric acid causing gout---- I am diabetic and prone to gout myself so I haft to watch protein intake other wise my uric acid levels get too high causing gout-

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TheBeard9789 said:

That's true sorry I had to Google that just so I know what roaches can do I'll be watching out for this stuff.

My beardies are not particularly fond of fruit I have tried multiple times to give them fruits and Chubbs nibbled a banana but that's all.

Note: I know banana can bind calcium so it's more of a occasional treat (if they liked it lol)

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KarrieRee said:

Mine dont eat fruit either --- most go bonkers for blueberries not mine and they are very high in sugar content so those you definitely would not feed alot or too often

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