Alternative staples to roaches and crickets.

[KeirTuS]

Hey guys,

I'm planning on getting a bearded dragon, but my parents don't like crickets because they make noise, and from what I've noticed from my friends crickets (he has a beardie) they smell horrible. I'm not a fan of roaches and I highly doubt my mom is either.

I was wondering what are some alternatives to those staple feeders?

I've looked at phoenix worms but I read that baby beardies can finish a whole tub of 100 in one sitting. That's a lot of money down the drain. I also read that silkworms can be good staple feeders as well. But what about the quantity to cost ratio? Is it the same as phoenix worms?

If perhaps the cost is too high for these feeders, I might reconsider not getting a beardie. It's not worth making its life miserable

 

[Claudiusx]

How big of a beardie are you planning to get? An adult or a baby

Why aren't you a fan of roaches? They don't stink, they are great feeders, they breed like crazy so you won't have to buy insects again, they will save you a ton of money by not having to buy different insects, and beardies go crazy for them.

You could feed hornworms, butterworms, Phoenix worms, Reptiworms, and uh... can't really think of anything else but those worms are expensive compared to having a dubia colony.

If you buy an adult dragon that is over 16 inches you can feed superworms. Superworms are pretty cheap, about 1000 for 30ish dollars shipped. Sometimes you can find them cheaper.

-Brandon

 

[Beardednoob]

Hey guys,

I'm planning on getting a bearded dragon, but my parents don't like crickets because they make noise, and from what I've noticed from my friends crickets (he has a beardie) they smell horrible. I'm not a fan of roaches and I highly doubt my mom is either.

I was wondering what are some alternatives to those staple feeders?

I've looked at phoenix worms but I read that baby beardies can finish a whole tub of 100 in one sitting. That's a lot of money down the drain. I also read that silkworms can be good staple feeders as well. But what about the quantity to cost ratio? Is it the same as phoenix worms?

If perhaps the cost is too high for these feeders, I might reconsider not getting a beardie. It's not worth making its life miserable

Silkworms can be fed as a staple feeder. Actually crickets only chirp after they are full grown. If you get a baby bearded dragon you wouldn't be feeding full grown crickets. Just the small ones (pinheads). Silkworms can be quite spendy though. I would look into getting reptiworms/phoenix worms/nutriworms (all the same thing) and filling in here and there with silkworms.

It is a great plan but, keep in mind I spend about 40$ a week feeding my baby dragon and that is just what it takes to keep him with crickets. I know the store or shop will not tell you this. I am not trying to detour you from getting one, I just want you to have the knowledge up front. As a baby/juvenile dragon eats a lot. They are growing at a rapid rate and require a lot of feeders. Once they get to be sub-adults to adults this will change up a lot and they are not as spendy. You may want to looking into getting an adult if you think you might have trouble swinging the dollars for feeders on a baby.

 

[KeirTuS]

I'm just not a fan of the way roaches look

hehe :3

Wow $40 a week is pretty pricey.. Thanks for the worm suggestion guys!

Also, brandon, i see you have a uro. I heard they are herbivorous? Perhaps a uro is better for me? What do you think

 

[Claudiusx]

They are easier to take care of, and IMO much more heardy, if thats the word... im basically trying to say durable lol.

But, they are much harder to tame than bearded dragons are.
I would compare it to being like, Bearded dragons are like pets, Uros are like display lizards.
Now, you can make a uro as tame as a dragon, but its much more work. I really think you should go with a Beardie, they get attached to you like dogs and I have not seen that with my Uro, yet.

-Brandon

 

[KeirTuS]

i believe the word you are looking for is hardy

okay so assuming I go with a beardie,

about how much worms would a baby eat? I plan on getting a baby one and raising it to adult hood.

 

[Gail]

I've seen a baby eat 30 or more appropriate sized silkworms in one day. That can get pretty expensive unless you are hatching the worms yourself but even that costs a lot ot first, the special silk food is quite pricey. Really, roaches are the cheapest way to go, especially with a baby.

 

[ash0587]

my 2 month old ate about 40 medium reptiworms a day, but that was during her adjustment period so if offered again I'm betting she would have eaten closer to 50-60 worms a day.
also the dubia roaches look like pill bugs. I HATE bugs and am able to reach in and grab a toilet paper roll to shake into a tupperware to dust them and then dump them into yoshi's feeding box. I don't breed them, I'm just buying nymphs when I find them on the boards here cheap. It may be beneficial to you to see if you have a local reptile group where you could met someone that could split the costs of ordering insects, or maybe even has their own colonies of stuff going that you could buy off of.
good luck and definitely keep doing more research here. if it weren't for the people on these boards and their help I would still think that mealworms were an acceptable staple, and that a 20 gal long tank is more than enough room for a beardie.

 

[Claudiusx]

Yeah Hardy was the word I was looking for lol. All the above posts are spot on, they will eat a ton of worms a day.

-Brandon

 

[KeirTuS]

Wow that's pretty much one tub a day D:

If I do breed dubia's, can I pick them up with tweezers? They just look so disturbing :shock:

 

[Claudiusx]

You could... but its not really necessary.

I actually like just holding them and looking at them. If you do it long enough you think of them as pets kinda lol. They really aren't as bad as you think. They don't bite, they don't feel all creepy when they walk on your hand, I think the fact that they have the word "roach" in their name, gives them a bad rep, but they really are cool bugs.

-Brandon

 

[Gail]

You could use plastic tweezers but its easier to shake them off into a container for dusting then into the feeding dish. They really aren't that bad and you would probably get used to touching them.

 

[danab]

Wow that's pretty much one tub a day D:

If I do breed dubia's, can I pick them up with tweezers? They just look so disturbing :shock:

Babies and smaller sized dubias just look like rollie pollies and are actually kind of cute. I can handle them all with no squeemishness except for the large full sized adults. For them I just wear a special set of gardening gloves to pick them up LOL.

IMO crickets are little demons. I hates them!.

 

[MrWhite]

Wow that's pretty much one tub a day D:

If I do breed dubia's, can I pick them up with tweezers? They just look so disturbing :shock:

You get used to them. When I first got them, they would really give me the creeps. I hate bugs :silent:

Just imagine a grown man with an adult roach in his hand going ewwww, ewwwww, eeeekkk, ... :roll:

now I kind of feel bad feeding them to my beardie, like Brandon said, they are kind of pets themselves :mrgreen:

 

[KeirTuS]

ahaha all you guys gave me a good laugh

if i breed them, would i eventually have a lot, and i mean a lot for what my beardie would eat? I wouldn't know what to do with them if that happened and that would be really freaky if they got out