Cheap feeding?

[TipsyTraveler]

I have a 2 year old dragon named keyori, he is rather large for his age. Recently financial issues have made it difficult to keep going out and purchasing crickets or worms, and my partner wont let me breed any worms or crickets so that is out of the question (along with ordering them in bulk online) so i was curious if anyone knew of a food that can replace crickets and worms in general, i can still feed kale he loves it. Something like this perhaps?:

http://tinyurl.com/m2htrk3

If that specific brand is not okay, does anyone know of something like it? I'm mainly just looking for a stable replacement for live insects, he loves to eat out of hand/bowl rather than chase them anyway.

Would freeze dried crickets or worms like these be okay as a base food?:
http://www.thatpetplace.com/can-o-crickets-1oz

 

[Nyxcgf]

I know freeze dried crickets and worms have way less nutritional value than live ones. I'm not too sure about the beardy bites, but i have tried pellets and Nyx has no intrest in them whatsoever. I assume the bites might have the same result, but if you can get your dragon to eat them they probably wouldn't be all that bad... Grown dragons do not absolutely need live food though. All veggies is okay for a while just make sure they get a few bites of protien every now and then.

 

[TipsyTraveler]

well the beardy bites i going to get today have protien and calcium nutrients added, and are supposed to hydrate them as well.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Do not feed kale as a staple. It binds calcium. Mustard greens, endive, collard, dandelion greens are all good. I don't know how the dry pellets can hydrate. So you'll still need to be sure he gets his baths. Good luck on the pellets hopefully he'll like them.

 

[Xplosiv]

I give mine the dried pellets. Just add water and the pellets soak it up. I've tried the bites and my beardie liked them. They do last a long time so give it a try.

 

[AllysonM]

I leave a bowl of the freeze dried stuff in the tank 24/7 just in case he feels like he's starving (ya know, cuz I'm not a slave to the beast or anything :roll: ) He's only ever eaten two bites of one of the pelleted diets and turned his nose up at the rest. I had to make those beardie bites stick to his greens to get him to even think about them. Hates those too. He will basically only eat things that are either 1. a bug 2. green or 3. the occasional pinky :roll: Will NOT eat fruit, Period. What kind of crazy lizard is he that he doesn't like sweet thing?!
I say give them a shot. My manager as the pet store I worked at had two geriatric beardies that ate almost exclusively the pelleted stuff with a little water in it.
I'm just not positive how much cheaper that'll end up being in the long run. :?