Deciding on Live Feeders

[Mirrorakay]

Zeke has left me in a rather tight spot. Recently he had to go to the vet for his second infestation of parasites. The last time he was treated was roughly six months ago. The vet told me he was probably getting reinfected due to his cricket source (the only pet store within a reasonable distance of my house). This has me trying to figure out what my options are, which are pretty restricted. I currently live at home and my mother is adamant that I cannot order crickets online and keep them in the house; her rule has always been I can only purchase what he will eat, leaving me running back to the pet store constantly to feed Zeke. I was able to talk her into allowing me to keep worms so long as they don't go anywhere near the refridgerator and stay confined in one of the small cabinets under Zeke's tank. Since I'm used to paying roughly $46 a month in gas and crickets, I have roughly the same budget for worms.

Mind you, up until now Zeke has been fed solely on crickets so I'm not terribly familiar with the worm feeders. I've done some reading on phoenix worms, hornworms, and silkies. My question is which worm would be the most effective feeder money-wise? Any which one makes the best staple?

I've also got a pretty stupid question : I know silkies and hornworms can get quite big. At what point are they too big to feed a dragon roughly 16-19" who is 1.5 years old?

 

[Seiryu]

Well, silkworms are very expensive but really good feeders. If your dragon is 1.5 years old, he can take down the biggest silkworms and hornworms no problem. I wouldn't consider either of these the most cost effective feeders though. Hornworms also have a lot of water in them (I think 83-87%) and I've noticed with mine if they are fed hornworms too many days in a row, their poops are watery. Not like diarrhea but lot's of extra water all over the place.

I don't have experience with phoenix worms (i've fed them sparingly in the past). I think these can also be quite costly especially if your dragon is an adult.

Cost wise, crickets will always be one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest. Dubia cockroaches are one of the better options considering they won't die off like crickets and are much healthier (one of the best). Your adult can take down the 1-2" dubias no problem. My 1-2 year olds tend to eat 1-2 a day of the 2" dubia and their greens with no problems. So dubias with an adult dragon actually isn't too expensive considering you can get 60-70 a month (large 1-2" guys) and pretty much be set. Of course in your case, your mom probably won't let you get those if she hates crickets lol!

The other option would be supers. But compared to silkworms or dubias, their nutrition is not nearly as good on top of higher risk of impaction. I only order supers once a year myself.

 

[Mirrorakay]

You're definately right about the dubia. My mother would flip if I so much as suggested them. Out of curiousity, how do you store your dubia? Do they smell or make noise? I might be able to talk her into them if I'm able to store them in Zeke's cabinet, but it would take A LOT of convincing. I'm also pretty sure I'm going to freak out when I first try and feed them

Zeke is pretty good about eating his salad, and I always feed him his salad several hours before I put his live feeders in. This has always helped me keep the number of live feeders I'm buying down. I know with wax worms he can eat about 15-20 in a sitting, which isn't too outragous I don't think (I know these are no means a staple, but I'm basing my worm experience off of them). I have an order of 100 phoenix worms coming in the mail tomorrow, if for nothing more than a snack, but I can figure out what type of appetite he's going to have with those.

Thanks for the information on the two worm sizes. Zeke may be seeing these two worms sometime in the future as a new treat!

 

[Mirrorakay]

Also, one more quick question about dubia-- do they need to be the size between the beardie's eyes or smaller, or do they not follow that rule?

 

[Seiryu]

Dubias makes no noise and hardly have any odor to them. Can't climb smooth surfaces and you hardly have to clean their bin, especially if you're just buying feeders. Dark areas are good. 75-100 degrees and they'll be fine. The only way you really smell them is if you stick your nose right in the bin and even then, compared to crickets it's like night and day.

You still need to follow the eye rule yes, but dubias that are 2" long are usually 3/4-1" wide. My dragons chew them up really good (actually a softer shell than crickets). My 9 month old was taking down the 1.5" dubia and I've yet to have any problems. Now she's 12 months and eating the 2".

With the silks/hornworms yes they can get to be 2-4" long but being so squishy you don't run into problems.

 

[Mirrorakay]

If I were to buy enough to feed him for a month, what sized bin would I be looking at for them?

Okay, so it isn't necessarily how long they are, but how wide?

I'm starting to like the idea of dubias more and more. I'm going to talk sense to my dad and if I can sway him to my side (which I THINK I can), maybe we can bully my mom into accepting the idea :lol: With the crickets she was really grossed out at the start, but now she loves watching Zeke chow down on them. I think her main issue with them was all the noise they made and their particular aroma. Since dubia aren't like that, maybe I'll get lucky and she'll find she enjoy watching Zeke eat those too!

 

[Mirrorakay]

I can't believe I'm saying this, but the dubia are a go! I'm going to set up a tub to put them in and then we'll give them a go!

 

[keen77]

Dubia are great and easy! you can get a non shut off heating pad on amazon. When your dragon gets around 16 inches Super Worms are really easy too

 

[omahadragon]

Roaches are the best! Plus they cannot infest your house, this is an entirely different specie than your typical house cockroach. I find the easiest way to feed roaches is to tap the egg crate in a deep bowl, like a cleaned cottage cheese bowl and toss em in the freezer for around 2 minutes. It stuns them enough to where they slow down dramatically and don't run off and hide. Makes them much easier to feed