Dubia size question

[nanyque]

Hi everyone - I have a question about the "width between your beardie's eyes" rule, as applied to Dubias. Is the size you're limiting the LENGTH of the dubia or the WIDTH? because I'm having a bit of an issue here - she's uninterested in crickets since we started on the Dubias. However, the dubias that length-wise are smaller than the gap between her eyes aren't grabbing her attention unless they are on my hand and right in front of her face. They seem so small, and she'll eat more of those than she would appropriately sized crickets.

 

[Paradon]

They can eat anything that is not too big. I guess it depends on how soft the insects are. The bigger the bugs the harder the shell because they need more support. The hard shell is called chitin, which is indigestible. Anything the length or shorter than the space between the eyes is OK...as long as it is soft. With soft bodied insects, like silkworms and hornworms, you can go a little larger; they pose less threat of intestinal blockage. The adults can even eat large dubias but they tends to get the runs because of all the hard chitin that they can't digest.

 

[Paradon]

Ideally, I think you should go as small as possible, according to Melissa Kaplan. Smaller meal are easier to digest because their is more surface area exposed and smaller insects are softer. Too small and they won't eat it, though. :wink:

 

[LLLReptile]

Try somewhat larger dubias, and see how she does. They can chew, and they do prefer several larger prey items rather than many little ones, so as long as she can chow em down fairly easily you should have no problem. Can you share a pic of your beardie compared to the dubias you are offering?

-Jen

 

[Paradon]

Does your ever get the runs when you feed them the adult dubias? What do you do about that? My dragons poop is not as well formed when they eat the large adult dubias.

 

[LLLReptile]

Sometimes stool consistency can be related to how warm they are able to get while digesting larger prey items. In addition, larger prey items have more insides to less exoskeleton, so there's less of the fiber to make a more solid poop.

I usually refer people to their own poo, or to dog poo - it's not always the exact same (okay, dog poo usually is, but they live entirely on a consistent pellet diet...) but we're totally healthy, right? Eating different things has different effects on poo. It's just kinda how the animals are. If your dragon otherwise seems healthy and the only real issue is that the poos are a bit mushier than usual, I personally would doublecheck the basking areas to make sure they're warm enough and large enough for the entire animal...and then if it is, and the animal is in every other way totally healthy, I honestly wouldn't stress out over it.

-Jen