Best Everyday Feeder For A Juvenile Dragon?

[bkelley]

My dragon, Bane, is about 9 weeks old and just over 8". I have been feeding him small crickets from Petsmart, about 9 or 10 in morning and evening, and I also keep fresh greens and veggies (collard, mustard, sometimes carrots) in his cage, but he doesn't pay them much attention right now. I was planning on starting a small dubia colony for him, but I wasn't sure if he was ready for them or not. I would just like to get away from crickets. So, what would be the best everyday feeder insect for him right now?

 

[isabelleandpaul]

Dubias would be great. That's what I have to feed my 1 year old and my 1 month old. My colony has grown, and I can choose the size of roach to feed (adult for 1-year-old beadie, small ones for the baby). The baby has not been fed crickets and I have no intention of doing so! I also give him small silkworms, but my silkworms got too big in no time!

 

[jeschardies]

I am working on my dubia colony as well, can't wait! No more buying feeders is too exciting!

I wanted to suggest ordering crickets online if you do crickets. I know at Petco (not sure about Petsmart), crickets run $.10/cricket. If you feed him 10 crickets in the morning and 10 more in the evening, you are spending $2/ day and underfeeding him. Crickets online will come out to $.03/cricket if ordering a decent quantity. You need to be feeding him as many as he will eat in a 10 minute period per feeding. That can range from 20-100 crickets/day. As younger beardies, they will eat and eat a lot.
You can get a sterilite or rubbermaid bin, cut a hole in the lid and glue mesh over it for ventilation. Add some egg crates, TP rolls, Paper towel rolls or any other type of climbing surfaces for them, some chow, water crystals and ocassional fruit or veggie. This method can save you a lot of money and you would be able to supply your baby with plenty of feeders.

 

[bkelley]

Yeah, I was gonna get an order of 500 or 1000 crickets to have on hand while waiting for the dubias. There is actually a local breeder that I can get bulk orders from.

 

[jeschardies]

That's your best bet. My local breeder/reptile shop also does bulk orders for customers. It cuts down non shipping big time. I think I pay the cost of the bulk order + approx $1 shipping.
Its always good to supplement your feeders with a variety of treats as well. I ocassionally throw in supers, waxworms, butterworms and roaches. I am looking forward to trying hornworms soon.

 

[Bradleyv1714]

I started out with a 3 1/2 month old beardie and the breeder was feeding him crickets, supers, mealies and veggies(even though he never really paid attention to them). When I first got him I fed him the same as the breeder but... I got a roach colony going and that was the end for crickets! I bought some crickets a few days ago to change it up a bit and they all died because he wouldn't the darn annoying things. lol! I love my dubia colony sooooo much! I have constant feeders for a pretty cheap initial startup price, they reproduce pretty quickly and my bd's DEFINTELY LOVE them more than crickets...

The way that I calculated crickets to roaches was that I considered ok I will probably initially spend about $80-100 for a good amount of roaches to start a colony and to feed from to my 3 bd's. I spent $25/month on crickets... so I get roaches which will cost me 4 months of cricket orders but they will reproduce and reproduce and reproduce and reproduce and reproduce and reproduce and reproduce and reproduce while the crickets stink up the place, annoy everyone, and die quickly! I think you get my point.