Does anyone use pellets or freeze-dried insects?

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Blitzjg

Member
Ive seen some people disparage the use of freeze-dried/frozenthawed insects for Bearded dragons, but rarely an explanation why, nor do people say "you could but its not best" at least.



I understand Beardies hunt/eat via sight, and that babies need live but i dont understand why they cant be switched to freeze dried. I also know freezing things can reduce the nutritional content, but cant this be supplemented via pellets/powder the same way live are? Why couldn't the manufacturers gut load before they freeze-dried them?



But if they adjust, as adolescents or adults to non-living insects, what is the real problem with it and why are so many people against it?

Obviously natural for anything is optimal and I know people do freeze-dried and pellets, it seems to be black-and-white for most people, I don't understand why they can't or won't condone this.
 

KristineM

Gray-bearded Member
Just to answer the original question: I don't use either due to nutritional value. You're right some are very black and white on the subject. I understand what yore saying but still, I personally use live feeders and my beardie won't touch the pellets anyway.

I feed dubia roaches as a staple dusted with calcium 5x per week and multivitamin dusted 2x per week along with fresh veggies available all day.

Just a personal preference, I suppose. As I said, I understand you're statement. I just use live feeders :)
 

Spike1etta

Hatchling Member
They're not gut loaded. They are actually fed cheap stuff and then starved before being freeze dried. If they were not then the food would rot inside and make them poisonous. So all you would be feeding is a dried exoskeleton that has no moisture and can impact your BD. That is my black and white explanation as to why I do not use them. :)
 
I think people on this site have had varying degrees of success with pre-prepared food. Having other animals (dogs and cats), I personally see no reason to necessarily distrust dry or pelleted food, unless it's something specific with a particular brand because of the ingredients.

I think the most popular pre-prepared foods I read people using are nature zone bearded dragon bites, and rep-cal pellets. In fact, the guys over at Carolina classics dragons start their babies on the rep-cal pellets along with live food, and their dragons are stunning!

And Fluker's brand freeze-dried crickets are actually gut loaded.

I personally keep some pelleted food in the tank as snacks, along with fresh veggies, and daily live food.
 

ashleyelsha

Juvie Member
I freeze my own crickets all the time. When mine was a baby and eating 50 crickets a day I would buy the crickets in bulk and gut load them for 24 hours and then freeze them. they seemed to do well in the freezer for about a month before they started to break down. I thaw out the amount I want to feed at room temperature (usually they thaw in about 15 minutes) and then dust them just before feeding them. Yes some vitamins do degrade with freezing and that is why I dusted them AFTER they thawed just before feeding. Also I always feed fresh veggies, never frozen so I know he is getting plenty of nutrients from the veggies.

Now that my bearded dragon is older, he is about a year and a half, I buy 100 crickets every 2 weeks or so and pop them in the freezer and I am good to go. He gets about 50 a week and sometimes i buy various worms to treat him with (the worms I feed him live). I give frozen/thawed crickets at least 3 days a week, twice a week with calcium plus D and once a week with multivitamin. I offer fresh greens and salad every day no matter what.

I've tried pellets, he doesn't like them. I tried making a mash and mixing it with the salad and that usually makes him ignore his salad :lol:
 

Blitzjg

Member
Original Poster
Very good info guys I appreciate it.

When you freeze the crickets do you literally just stick them alive in the freezer? What kind of container do you use?

Any reason you haven't done this with dubias?

And do worms need to be gut loaded as well?
 

ashleyelsha

Juvie Member
Blitzjg":3qbhtm05 said:
Very good info guys I appreciate it.

When you freeze the crickets do you literally just stick them alive in the freezer? What kind of container do you use?

Any reason you haven't done this with dubias?

And do worms need to be gut loaded as well?

I can't get dubias because I live in Florida. I bought some frozen roaches at repticon a few times and my beardie loved them, but they seemed to give him diarrhea. I don't remember what kind of roaches they were but I think their exoskeletons must've been a bit much for his digestive tract because if I give too many superworms he gets runny stool as well, but when I feed crickets or any soft bodied worms his stool is very healthy looking.

Right now I just buy a bag of 100 gutloaded crickets from a local pet store (cheaper than petco or petsmart) and then I stick the bag straight into the freezer. Then I will transfer them to a freezer bag and take out as many as I want to feed, thaw, dust, and serve!

I do not freeze worms and I do not gutload worms. Worms are a treat. Like I said, I tried switching to superworms as a staple for a while and they seemed to upset his stomach so I switched back to crickets and have no issues. He gets the occasional superworm treat, if I buy them I will give him maybe one a day until they are gone then I won't buy them for a while. They live at room temperature and get a slice of carrot every few days, they last for weeks like that. I got some butterworms at the last repticon and he LOVED those, but I just kept them in the fridge, I had them in the fridge for about a month before I ran out, and they stayed alive and healthy, no need to feed them or anything because they stay dormant in the fridge and start to wiggle around when you take them out and let them warm up to room temperature. I haven't given reptiworms/phoenix worms in a while because they aren't really cost effective, but they were great when he was a baby and those I used to keep room temp and feed them just as they were.
 

ashleyelsha

Juvie Member
and might I add, I think he is a pretty healthy little dragon :)
181263_10201280112664309_1585982288_n.jpg


1011923_10201358813431779_704985223_n.jpg
 

icelore

Juvie Member
I think there is a distinct difference between freeze dried and F/T. Beardies get a lot of the moisture they need from what they eat, and freeze dried are just that - dry. They have all the moisture removed from therm and are hard to digest. As for F/T, I don't see why that would be a big problem if your dragon would eat it. If you get your own insects you can gutload them and freeze them. I freeze crickets if I have too many or if they are getting old, and Ridley likes them just fine, especially if I feed them first or put them on his salad.
 

Blitzjg

Member
Original Poster
I guess I didn't know what the difference was, just saw the terminology used.

Ashley thanks for the pics, he looks amazing, and that leash is priceless!
 

ashleyelsha

Juvie Member
Thanks! I got the leash from the last repticon we went to for $5. Totally worth it as I had tried to make my own before and they were always difficult to use. this one is really easy to get him into and it seems really comfy for him too and I know he is safe while we get some sunshine. :)
 

USCgrad

Member
I use pellets, it spices up my salads when I don't use bright peppers or vegetables , it's more of a color contrast, that gets my dragons interested. It does have some value so i wouldn't discourage its use. I also tried the can of crickets, lol weird name but they are gut loaded and stored in a type of juice, I don't know what it is. It gave my dragons diarrhea..I don't use it after that initial trial...freeze dried prey adds a type of crouton to a salad and IMO is more for getting them interested then for substituting for live prey...I think it really depends on the company, if its worth a shot or not...
 
Can of Crickets smells horrible. I read a couple reviews and decided not to give them to Calcifer. He eats crickets, Phoenix Worms, and a salad of greens, apple pieces, and squash (waiting for Winn Dixie to get some cactus in) for his main food stuffs and a Wax worm here and there. Calcifer just started eating his salads and will not touch the pellets or any insects that are not moving. I think alot will depend on what your Dragon is willing to eat, but I just like feeding live insects to him over any dead types. Just after some reading, it seems safer than alot of the alternatives.
 
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