Best Feeders For Juvenile Beardies?

[Apollo_the_Dragon]

Hey all! I have a 6ish month old beardie who has been briefly on crickets and now on dubias, and now that he’s a little older, I would like to add some variety to his diet and maybe try some worms. In you guy’s experience, what bugs work best for juvenile beardies? Thanks!

 

[KarrieRee]

Hey all! I have a 6ish month old beardie who has been briefly on crickets and now on dubias, and now that he’s a little older, I would like to add some variety to his diet and maybe try some worms. In you guy’s experience, what bugs work best for juvenile beardies? Thanks!

Treat worms supers horn butter or meal worms- you can feed another staple like silk

 

[Hazel_Basil10]

Treat worms supers horn butter or meal worms- you can feed another staple like silk

You can also feed them waxworms as well. I heard meal worms aren't the best bugs because of their shell from when I was first on here but I could be wrong.

 

[KarrieRee]

You can also feed them waxworms as well. I heard meal worms aren't the best bugs because of their shell from when I was first on here but I could be wrong.

For babies

 

[J4ckdaw-]

Hey all! I have a 6ish month old beardie who has been briefly on crickets and now on dubias, and now that he’s a little older, I would like to add some variety to his diet and maybe try some worms. In you guy’s experience, what bugs work best for juvenile beardies? Thanks!

Hi there

Crickets, roaches, or silkworms are wildly known as the best feeder bug for a bearded dragon of any age. So you’d like to introduce worms to his diet? Let’s take a look at some potential feeders items you could use…

Pheonix worms;

Pheonix worms (otherwise known as BSFL) are one of the most popular staple reptile feeders at the moment. There is one big misconception you should be aware of if you chose to use this feeder bug:

Pheonix worms are praised for their naturally high calcium content and that they don’t need to be supplemented with calcium, the majority of their calcium content is actually in the indigestible skins.

Silkworms;

Silkworms are an amazing feeder but can be quite pricy in the long term, I don’t know about you but the silkworms sold in my area are 1.5 CAD per worm. If you choose to use this feeder, it’s best to buy eggs to hatch.

Hornworms;

Hornworms are another popular choice, the only issue is the price and the water content. They are 1.5 CAD per worm, just like silkworms. They can be fed as a hydration boosting treat, fed once or twice a week.

Superworms;

Superworms are a good choice for a juvenile or adult bearded dragon but should be fed with caution as they do have a hard exoskeleton that can easily cause impaction (which should not be taken lightly).

I personally feed 3-5 worms per day to my boy, he’s only one month older than yours (7 months) but monitor him while he eats and I keep a close eye on his bowel movement schedule. They can be a staple.

What to avoid?

Mealworms;

Mealworms… the worm with little to no nutritional content and a hard exoskeleton, commonly fed at chain petstores… just don’t even consider it, these things are a big no-no. They aren’t nutritional at all.

Waxworms, and butterworms;

These things are basically lizard twinkies, their fat content is so high it’s almost guaranteed obesity. They can be fed as a rare treat in very minimal numbers.

 

[Claudiusx]

Mealworms… the worm with little to no nutritional content and a hard exoskeleton, commonly fed at chain petstores… just don’t even consider it, these things are a big no-no. They aren’t nutritional at all.

Mealworms - Have they been demonized unjustly? | Dietary Needs

I will start off with full disclosure, I used to demonize them too. My thoughts have changed, based off my experiences. I no longer feel that mealworms deserve the reputation they have with some dragon owners. I believe they can very easily fit into a healthy varied diet for our dragons...

www.beardeddragon.org

Remember, lets not put hard and fast rules/"facts" out there, that's how misinformation spreads.

-Brandon

 

[Claudiusx]

I would like to add some variety to his diet

Better late than never

Variety is a major key to proper health. Just like we can't get all of our nutritional needs from one or two "good" food items, neither can dragons. A varied diet should be offered from day one. The more feeder insects you can offer, the more salad items you can offer, the better.

Dubias and crickets are good choices. To add on, superworms, mealworms, BSFL, and silkworms are other good choices. Remember, appropriately sized feeder insects. You can buy superworms in smaller stages that are more than an appropriate size for a young dragon. Same with mealworms and silkworms.

-Brandon

 

[J4ckdaw-]

Mealworms - Have they been demonized unjustly? | Dietary Needs

I will start off with full disclosure, I used to demonize them too. My thoughts have changed, based off my experiences. I no longer feel that mealworms deserve the reputation they have with some dragon owners. I believe they can very easily fit into a healthy varied diet for our dragons...

www.beardeddragon.org

Remember, lets not put hard and fast rules/"facts" out there, that's how misinformation spreads.

-Brandon

True- I could take my own advice there, thanks for pointing that out.

 

[Chris.]

Also worth mentioning is that beardies seem to love all kind of worms. At least mine does and I've read that a few times here also. Somedays my boy just eats maybe one dubia and lets the remaining ones be but if I add five superworms in, he picks them out between the roaches.
He also goes mad for waxworms even if he doesen't want to eat anything initially, but as J4ckdaw- mentioned, those are like candy for dragons. I feed maybe 4 of them per week until the box is empty and then pause them for a while. Those are not all that disgusting to handfeed as well, if you want to bond with your dragon.

 

[Axil]

Every source I've been able to find puts mealworms macro-wise (Protein/Fat/Carbs) as very similar to BSFL. They don't have as much calcium, even after subtracting the ~60% of the undigestible calcium, as BSFL.

I'm sure there are other differences in micronutrients and exactly what sorts of protein make up the insect but the mealworms fed at the same weight as you would BSFL shouldn't be any more fattening.

I will say that once Dragon's realize different kinds of good exsist they can become very opinionated about which ones they feel like eating. At least Beebz did, so don't be surprised if your little buddy shows less enthusiasm eating Roaches once he's learned more than one type of bug exists.

 

[Chris.]

If you are in Europe you can give locusts a try. They have a softer shell than crickets, make no sounds and don't die easy at all.

Also I don't think fat is AS mutch of an issue with younger dragons. Nature programmed them to put their energy into growing firstly so they get larger faster and are not as easy prey in the wild. Hence you feeding a baby three times a day with live food and an adult twice a week.

 

[Apollo_the_Dragon]

Hi there

Crickets, roaches, or silkworms are wildly known as the best feeder bug for a bearded dragon of any age. So you’d like to introduce worms to his diet? Let’s take a look at some potential feeders items you could use…

Pheonix worms;

Pheonix worms (otherwise known as BSFL) are one of the most popular staple reptile feeders at the moment. There is one big misconception you should be aware of if you chose to use this feeder bug:

Pheonix worms are praised for their naturally high calcium content and that they don’t need to be supplemented with calcium, the majority of their calcium content is actually in the indigestible skins.

Silkworms;

Silkworms are an amazing feeder but can be quite pricy in the long term, I don’t know about you but the silkworms sold in my area are 1.5 CAD per worm. If you choose to use this feeder, it’s best to buy eggs to hatch.

Hornworms;

Hornworms are another popular choice, the only issue is the price and the water content. They are 1.5 CAD per worm, just like silkworms. They can be fed as a hydration boosting treat, fed once or twice a week.

Superworms;

Superworms are a good choice for a juvenile or adult bearded dragon but should be fed with caution as they do have a hard exoskeleton that can easily cause impaction (which should not be taken lightly).

I personally feed 3-5 worms per day to my boy, he’s only one month older than yours (7 months) but monitor him while he eats and I keep a close eye on his bowel movement schedule. They can be a staple.

What to avoid?

Mealworms;

Mealworms… the worm with little to no nutritional content and a hard exoskeleton, commonly fed at chain petstores… just don’t even consider it, these things are a big no-no. They aren’t nutritional at all.

Waxworms, and butterworms;

These things are basically lizard twinkies, their fat content is so high it’s almost guaranteed obesity. They can be fed as a rare treat in very minimal numbers.

This was super helpful! Thank you so much!

 

[ChileanTaco]

I give my dragon dubias, mealworms, superworms.
I avoid crickets.
I also feed small (!) hissing cockroaches - the size of a small to large dubia, never larger. (They can get super large, almost like a mouse... Would never feed them at that size.)

Many of the other insects listed above are not available here in Chile as keeping reptiles is quite unusual here. Especially, I cannot get BSFL/ Phoenix worms, silkworms, hornworms, locusts and also no similar species. There is "just no market for it". They seem to sell only what can be fed to a variety of species, like mealworms and superworms also be fed to poultry.

I will say that once Dragon's realize different kinds of good exsist they can become very opinionated about which ones they feel like eating. At least Beebz did, so don't be surprised if your little buddy shows less enthusiasm eating Roaches once he's learned more than one type of bug exists.

I have also seen that: I give him food A - no interest in it, I give him B - eats it with great appetite. But it's not always in the same direction: It's not that he likes roaches less - I've seen him often preferring roaches over worms (mealworms, superworms). Another day it might be different.

I always "gut load" the feeder insects. I keep them on oatmeal and bran, add vegetables (raw kitchen scraps, such as the peel and end of carrots, the hard part of a broccoli stem, piece of bell pepper, kale stems... whatever). Then they go into another box where there are only veggies. The bowl in which I put the insects in to feed them my dragon also always has a piece of vegetable in it.
And of course, to not forget that, I use the calcium powder.

(Result: My dragon is reasonable large, but not fat, and is healthy, including no poop problems. I would like to offer more variety if it would exist, but I think he's doing fine with what I can get.)

 

[matojack]

Better late than never

Variety is a major key to proper health. Just like we can't get all of our nutritional needs from one or two "good" food items, neither can dragons. A varied diet should be offered from day one. The more feeder insects you can offer, the more salad items you can offer, the better.

Dubias and crickets are good choices. To add on, superworms, mealworms, BSFL, and silkworms are other good choices. Remember, appropriately sized feeder insects. You can buy superworms in smaller stages that are more than an appropriate size for a young dragon. Same with mealworms and silkworms.

-Brandon

My baby ate a couple of Dubias that were a little large for it. Will it be okay as long as this is the exception and NOT the rule? What are signs of impaction so I can be on the lookout just in case?

 

[KarrieRee]

My baby ate a couple of Dubias that were a little large for it. Will it be okay as long as this is the exception and NOT the rule? What are signs of impaction so I can be on the lookout just in case?

Straining to poop- the vent is swollen- if the dragon is having issues please post a pic and we can help you get the poop passed