Baby Beardie and Phx Worms

[xavice]

My baby beardie doesn't seem to be eating his crickets that much, takes him about 30min to eat about 5, and I've begun to grow tiresome of having to watch him eat them to make sure they don't nip at him. I was wondering if i could begin feeding him phx worms as his main staple of food in replacment of crickets?

 

[LJean]

Phoenix worms are a good staple to feed. They are softbodied and have a good amount of calcium. They are perfect for small reptiles/baby beardies.

 

[sunkist]

I prefer them. Just don't get the small or xsmall. They are just WAYYYYYYYYYY too small.

 

[LJean]

I prefer them. Just don't get the small or xsmall. They are just WAYYYYYYYYYY too small.

Yeah, they are tiny critters. I used medium most of the time.

 

[xavice]

GREAT, just what i wanted to hear, how do you gut load phx worms though? and how should i store them? what's their life span?

 

[VEGASLIZARD]

They say not to feed them anything. They can be left out or put in the fridge. I keep mine in the wine frige at 55 degrees and have never had any die offs. 400 usually last me about 3 wks. Scorch eats Phoenix worms every day for the last several months and I enjoy not having to dust food with calcium since they are naturally high calcium feeders. She is currently eating phx, supers, and butters. I personally don't like crix, but that is probably because they are the one feeder I have no luck keeping alive :roll: plus they are the most difficult to catch. phx are good for babies that are used to chasing their food cause they wiggle allot. Just keep an eye on them cause these little escape artists are faster than they look and will climb right out of the dish!

 

[xavice]

HAHA, yeah I noticed but boris does a good job about hunting the little guys down. He seems to take to the worms alot more then the crix.... he ate at lease a dozen this morning alone ... he chomped them down in the span of 5min. I felt bad, he ate them soo fast someone would think I was starving the little guy, but he ate about 10 last night before his bedtime bath.

 

[chewybd]

My baby was stubborn and didnt want to chase them crickets down too.

i had to handfeed my baby crix at first so that it would even eat crickets.

Then i decided to pull off the jumping legs off each cricket i gave it (each took 30 seconds to catch and pull off their jumping legs without killing it), then i threw them into his food bowl which has smooth sides so there was like 20-30 crickets in a bowl, all legless, and they were eaten within 2 minutes. :lol:

I did that for a few days and now he is use to eating them and will now chase 80% of the crix i give it.

Just an idea if you ever use crix again, chop off them jumping legs and chuck them into a bowl and they look like worms

 

[Freeie]

My baby was stubborn and didnt want to chase them crickets down too.

i had to handfeed my baby crix at first so that it would even eat crickets.

Then i decided to pull off the jumping legs off each cricket i gave it (each took 30 seconds to catch and pull off their jumping legs without killing it), then i threw them into his food bowl which has smooth sides so there was like 20-30 crickets in a bowl, all legless, and they were eaten within 2 minutes.

I did that for a few days and now he is use to eating them and will now chase 80% of the crix i give it.

Just an idea if you ever use crix again, chop off them jumping legs and chuck them into a bowl and they look like worms

You sound like me.. Ive been having to do that for Lexi so we are going to buy her some worms this next week.. Even tho i place her in a small dish to eat them if she can't get them the first try... she refuses to eat them and hops out but if i pull off the legs and set them down she gobbles them up...Im wore out form catchen them yanking legs and feeding them to her.. So Phoenix worms here we come!!

 

[xavice]

yeah boris loves them, never seen him eat so much, i'm really happy that he's got a better appetite now, but man he sure poops alot now.

 

[xavice]

what do you guys thing of zoomed reptivite/w D3?

 

[coachrachel]

I got my Jarjar some phoenix worms and the shipment came today. Tried feeding him them tonight and the little poot only ate 2 and then had to feed him crix. He doesn't seem to poo a whole lot. Wondering if it should be soft, runny like a bird or more solid like something else? I know that's gross but this is my first beardie and you just gotta know those kinda things!

 

[xavice]

I got my Jarjar some phoenix worms and the shipment came today. Tried feeding him them tonight and the little poot only ate 2 and then had to feed him crix. He doesn't seem to poo a whole lot. Wondering if it should be soft, runny like a bird or more solid like something else? I know that's gross but this is my first beardie and you just gotta know those kinda things!

Coachrachel, I noticed when I first started to feed Boris the Phoenix Worms he was just eating like they were candy or something. Now he is abit more hesitant about eating them, he'll only eat them if I set him on his rock and then set a worm on it in front of him. As for their poo it should compe out a bit soft at first, not too runny though. When beardies do go poo they also tinkle at the same time, kind of like birds. The dark part is the poo and the white part is the pee. If you notice your beardies poo to be more brown and not so white or no white at all, be weary as they may be dehydrated or on their way to it. I've yet to see or catch Boris dropping a deuce so by the time I see it it has hardened. One thing i have noticed though since I started him on Phoenix Worms is his poos kind of look like the worms, I have heard from others that beardies have a hard time digesting them and they poo them out whole again. Any input on that? I'm going to test this out and fee him just crix for the next few days and keep an eye on his poo see if it changes.

 

[coachrachel]

I did read in another post on here about the worms that they sometimes have a hard time digesting them so if you prick them with a pin, not an easy task as I tried this last night, it will help the digestive juices get into them and they are easier to digest. I dropped a mix of crix and worms in this morning before I left for work and we will see what he has eaten. He wasn't quite awake when I left this morning.

As for the poo, by the time I get home in the afternoon it has already hardened but by your description all looks well. He gets a bath every night and then we mist him throughout the day plus he has a dish with water in it to help with his hydration. I just need to get him eating more as he doesn't eat near what they say on here he should but he has only been with me for a week and a half and we are still working on our lighting but have it figured out and are waiting on our new bulb to come in and that should help bunches. :mrgreen:

 

[xavice]

Yeah the bulbs do make a huge difference, i think i might try cutting them in half and feeding them to him ... they should still wiggle abit. I bath mine everyday for 15min in luke warm water and from what i've read his should drop a duece in the water, but i've yet to see him do so.