30+ crickets a day really necessary?

[gocougs18]

I have a hard time thinking that a baby dragon can eat 30 to 100 crickets a day. It would seem like it'll just poop out the remains and they wont even get the nutrients absorbed from them? Then again i could be wrong.

 

[beardiebro]

Yes, a bearded dragon can and will eat between 30-100 crickets a day. I thought the same thing you did but I soon found out once I got my own bearded dragon that bearded dragons will eat over 50 crickets a day as a baby. That is why I am getting a blaptica dubia colony going. Until that is established I order bulk crickets online which is much cheaper and more time consuming than always going to the pet store. As they get older however they do eat less of insects and more vegetables. i hope this helped

 

[Ragebees]

In my opinion go with phoenix worms, they are generally cheaper in bulk than crickets, and much MUCH better for them as a source of protein/calcium. My dragons all LOVE them, they are quiet, and don't stink. Just my two cents, I would give them a shot and see how you like them. You can buy them by the 100's or 1000's. I personally buy 1000 at a time, generally every 2 weeks and they live 2-3 weeks at room temperature.

 

[wes]

Remember, too, the crickets a baby should be eating are pretty small. The length of the cricket should be no longer than the width between the beardie's eyes.

 

[deh05001]

also a baby is anywhere from just born to 5-7 months (I think, correct me if I'm wrong). I got baby bearded dragons and for their first month , they only ate 5-15 crickets day (they were about 4-5 inches long). The second month they were eating more like 30-40 a day (about 7-8 inches long). If you just got them and their picky about their eating , it seems like eating 30-50 crickets is impossible, but give them some time to get comfortable and they will start eating more.

good luck!

 

[keen77]

These little guys can eat you out of house and home! Breeding is the way to go for sure. I have Dubia going and am about to start Supers. I hope to get to the point that I dont have to buy feeders

 

[YBS0502]

i have a spoiled 20"dragon who can eat 30 a day easy if not more and they are large crickets she loves the females their really juicy to her

 

[gocougs18]

Alright so say i buy 500 small crickets (1/4 inch), how can i take care of them to keep them alive? also will they grow too big so that i cant feed my 2 month old them?

 

[beardiebro]

They won't get too big because out of every cricket order I have ever placed atleast 100 of the 1000 were dead. But yet again I live in a cold climate right now. To keep them alive you just need a tubberware that has good ventilation, food, water source(I prefer water crystals), egg crates, and they need to be kept at room temperature.

 

[Seiryu]

I'd say the amount really depends on the dragon. If you're feeding a decent amount of veggies, then hitting 30 a day might not be reached. I think a lot of the people that say their dragons are eating 40+ a day, are being fed smaller crickets than the dragon can eat.

For instance, feeding a dragon 1/4" crickets, that has a width between the eyes of 3/4" is going to eat a heck of a lot of crickets, since they are small for it.

For my own two. They eat between 18-25 a day. They are approx 4 and 6 months old. They eat crickets that are slightly smaller than the width between their eyes.

As far as their weight gains. At this point, with the 18-25 a day, they are gaining anywhere between 15-25 grams a week.

So I agree, 30+ crickets a day is probably overkill, for the fact that the people doing this are likely feeding their dragons smaller crickets than they can eat.

 

[ziggy23]

I'd say the amount really depends on the dragon. If you're feeding a decent amount of veggies, then hitting 30 a day might not be reached. I think a lot of the people that say their dragons are eating 40+ a day, are being fed smaller crickets than the dragon can eat.

For instance, feeding a dragon 1/4" crickets, that has a width between the eyes of 3/4" is going to eat a heck of a lot of crickets, since they are small for it.

For my own two. They eat between 18-25 a day. They are approx 4 and 6 months old. They eat crickets that are slightly smaller than the width between their eyes.

As far as their weight gains. At this point, with the 18-25 a day, they are gaining anywhere between 15-25 grams a week.

So I agree, 30+ crickets a day is probably overkill, for the fact that the people doing this are likely feeding their dragons smaller crickets than they can eat.

That might be true in some cases, but not all. Some really do eat that much and more of the max size.

 

[fluffpuffgerbil]

When my boy was two/three months, he ate about 100 crix a day. DX I counted.... He had about 50 crix two times a day...

However he was growing 1/2" everyweek.... Now he only eats about 45 +/- a day(two sittings) and doesn't grow as fast.

 

[Seiryu]

That might be true in some cases, but not all. Some really do eat that much and more of the max size.

That also might be the case. But from what I've seen. If mine ate 30-40+ appropriate sized crickets (slightly less than the width between their eyes), they would be gaining 40-50+ grams a week, which I can't believe would be healthy for a growing dragon.

 

[gocougs18]

Yeah mine has been eating around 15 appropriately sized ones 2x a day, plus i hand feed him veggies which he eats like 5 little pieces. the crickets are just a hair under the width between the eyes.

 

[ziggy23]

That might be true in some cases, but not all. Some really do eat that much and more of the max size.

That also might be the case. But from what I've seen. If mine ate 30-40+ appropriate sized crickets (slightly less than the width between their eyes), they would be gaining 40-50+ grams a week, which I can't believe would be healthy for a growing dragon.

growing dragons burn more than they store, so they don't necessarily gain a lot of weight. They average 1/2 inch growth a week, and can gain as much as a full inch a week. My dragons ate close to a hundred every day, and 1 year later they are not overweight.