Beardie Newbie

[Sammimic]

We purchased our beardie, Gomez about 7 weeks ago. He wasn't a super tiny baby when we got him from Petsmart, but he was a baby. Currently, we feed him the following daily.

In the morning:
- fresh water
- fresh cut up Mustard Greens, carrots and peppers
- 10 mealworms
- 10 crickets

In the evening:
- 10 mealworms
- 10 crickets

We just recently switched him to large crickets and he hasn't been eating quite as many and I have to remove them from the tank. I think we may cut down to 5 or 6 twice a day. He seems to be growing nicely. He catches the crickets easily. We put calcium on his food about 5-6x/week, but it looks like we may need to do that daily? I also just ordered a multi vitamin spray to add to his food. He doesn't eat all his fresh greens/veggies every day and we just dump the old stuff daily and give him fresh food. But he will sit and munch on them happily. He poops normally about once/day, sometimes twice.

Here's my dilemma. The crickets are super gross. I'm totally fine with them in the summer as we keep them in our garage, but not sure I want that in my house in the winter. They smell so horrible. I live in Wisconsin so the cold months outnumber the warm ones. I've talked to several people who think I'm crazy to feed live crickets as they either freeze their crickets and just thaw some and feed daily, or they buy freeze dried crickets. But online it seems that most of the info leans towards feeding live crickets.

Does anyone else freeze their crickets? Does anyone else feed freeze dried crickets?

Wanting to hear some thoughts regarding this! Thanks in advance!

 

[Claudiusx]

As far as your question goes, I dont freeze crickets. I've been here for a long time and I've never heard of someone freezing their crickets and then defrosting them.

The dehydrated crickets and other insects you can buy aren't as healthy as live feeders. And in my experience, aren't eaten as readily.

Have you looked into dubia roaches? They are great feeders and don't stink.
Other options for your dragon would be silkworms, butterworms, black soilder fly larva, hornworms, and small superworms.
The best you could do is offer all of these to create a varied diet. But if you can offer 2 or 3 different types of feeders you're doing pretty well.

What you can do to help the cricket smell, is to make sure you remove the dead ones every day.

As far has how you're feeding, you're doing great offering the salads daily and that's awesome that he will eat some!
For a growing baby you should let them eat as many live feeders as they want, 1,2, or 3 times a day. 2 is the number most people go with. And if you're offering larger crickets, it's to be expected that he will he less. As long as they are appropriately sized for him, it's ok. But I wouldn't push the cricket size especially on a baby.

-Brandon

 

[KarrieRee]

I would recommend the dubia roaches here is some info on them
Dubias
• Wide range of sizes
• Long life span
• Excellent nutrition
• Easy to digest
• High in protein
Convenient for you
• Odorless and soundless
• Will not infest your home
• Can be stored out of sight
• Easy to care for
• Cannot jump, fly or climb
they are easy to keep in a tote or 10 gallon aquarium-- feed them dubia food along w/ carrots apples squash ---
I would cut out the mealworms --- they are too harsh on a babys stomach --- and you dont want him addicted to them- and then they wont any thing else---
Karrie

 

[Sammimic]

OK, I looked online a bit on the dubia roaches. I could try that. The ones I've seen at Petco look very big so I wasn't sure if our dragon could eat them yet as they seemed bigger than the space between his eyes. Also, I'll have to check if Petsmart has them.

They are considerably more expensive than crickets. Does it seem as though your dragon eats less of them? And everyone so far has told me to feed my dragon meal worms. Should I not be? Some of the other worms offered at the stores are very large. I thought they'd be too big for him.

I have to say. I bought this dragon for my son and I have fallen for him myself. I'm more of a furry animal person, but Gomez is so sweet. We want the best for him. But he definitely takes more care, research and moola than both of our dogs! And everyone has such different opinions on what to do. It is a bit overwhelming.

 

[Sammimic]

Also...thanks for all the info! I love these forums. I've learned a lot.

 

[KarrieRee]

He will eat less dubias as they are more filling and they are more healthful than crickets-- make sure your dusting w/ calcium D3 5 x per week and vitamins 2 x per week - mealworms are more for adult dragons-- your better off getting butterworms-- silk worms super worms and limit them - please don't listen to the pet store people they give bad advice and sell the wrong husbandry more often than none-- please ask your questions here - we can help
Karrie

 

[Sammimic]

Do you buy the dubia roaches online or from the pet store?

 

[KarrieRee]

I get them on line from dubiaroaches com-- Amazon has them suppliers ship free-- shop around--- rainbowmealworms.com but last I looked they were out---
Karrie

 

[KarrieRee]

I get mine on line dubiaroaches.com-- Amazon has suppliers that ship free-- rainbowmealworms.com-- last I looked they were out--- I keep mine in a 10 gallon aquarium and feed them dubia food carrots squash apples
Karrie