feeding question

[jwilusz]

Buddy has gotten huge over these past couple months of having him. Last measure was about a week ago and he was 15" long and when I got him he was probably about 9"-10". He was eating crickets morning and night about 20 at a time and now he will only eat maybe 5 at night but all of them in the morning. I have cut down to only feeding him around 20 in the morning. I however did not see this coming and bought 1000 crickets and they are eating each other. I have PLENTY of food in the bin I am keeping them in but they are still doing it. I don't have any money right this second to get anything more. Now to the question part of kritters are out there to buy to still get protein. Dubia's are out because the people I live with do not want them in the house period and all the crickets I get will not stop eating each other no matter how much food is offered. At one time I got the try me size of Phoenix worms and buddy tore them up. I remember seeing something about them high in calcium but protein is just as important. Any other kritters would be appreciated. His greens right now only consist of collard greens since he really likes eating that. Any him at all would be awesome because right now I have enough crickets to get him to Christmas.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Feeding

 

[CooperDragon]

Crickets are vicious little things. As long as they have plenty of space and you're giving them hydration and food via veges or grain or a combination that's about all you can do. Phoenix Worms are good but would be really tiny and expensive for a dragon his size. He probably has some more growth coming so I wouldn't cut the protein much yet although one bug meal per day should be fine. Silk worms would be a good option. You can get bulk orders of them but they're available intermittently. If you can get some silk worm eggs and a bunch of dry mulberry chow (you boil it in batches to feed them) you may be able to start a colony of them. Super worms might be an option too. They're easy to care for. Just put them in a bin with a couple inches of grain/oat bedding and put fresh veges (they like carrot especially from what I've seen) on top to give them hydration and some variety. They'll just do their thing. You don't want to offer too many of them though. They're relatively high in fat so they're best as a treat in part of a balanced diet.

 

[jwilusz]

After spend 32 dollars on crickets that was suppose to help for Christmas shopping. I think I have enough to get to the next payday to get something else. At that time it will have to be crickets from petsmart until I can order something else. Protein is something I was not going to cut. Just need other options. I want to do dubia but yea people don't even want them in the house. I heard super worms needed their heads cut off. I also heard beardies like horned worms but I would think that horn would hurt them?

 

[neilkd21]

Can you get locusts where you are, we get them in England but I know in parts of US you can't. Mine loves them and they not as bad as crickets they won't really attack each other and don't stink as much.

As Cooper said supers could be good to add something different and so easy to care for so they good value for money, in the month I had they tub haven't seen a dead one yet. you don't need to cut the head off, I had heard that and asked before I introduced them as heard stories about them eating through the beardie stomach but it seems it's just Internet stories and rumours.

I introduced them slowly by just feeding a few and seeing that had no problems passing them and now he gets 2 or 3 every few days and loves them.

I have heard hornworms are great and seen lots of vids of dragons eating them so think they fine but unfortunately they illegal in England so can't get them.

 

[jwilusz]

Apparently having locust in the states is illegal. I am trying to wrap my head around why certain bugs are illegal in certain places. Do you guys have a good silkworm "dealer"? I know I can probably google search it and find some but if you guys have a good one to go through then I would rather do that. I noticed they are not high in calcium however they are much better in protein. I just thought of something else. The powder for vitamins and calcium when I put some on the crickets buddy WILL NOT eat them. He stares at them and looks at me with the look of "the heck is this?" I take those out and put others in and he will devour them. Have any of you ever ran across this??? I am a little nervous he is not getting the proper calcium without it. I do have the arcadia T-5 bulb in there but like I said he won't eat anything with white powered on it. Part of the reason I was gonna get Phoenix worms again.

 

[CooperDragon]

Sometimes they don't like the powder. Sometimes they don't like one particular kind of powder. The Collards are high in calcium so if he's digging into those, it's helpful. I would check Lindasgonebuggie or Mullberryfarms to try and find some silks. They aren't always in stock so check back periodically. Keep in mind that they'll ship with enough food for transit but it's good to buy an extra food cup or if you're going to keep them for longer I'd get a powdered mix that you can cook up on demand for their food.

*Edit: Looks like Mullberryfarms is out at the moment and Linda may be out as well (it's hard to decipher her site sometimes). It looks like coastalsilkworms has some in stock. I haven't dealt with them before.

 

[neilkd21]

Yeah it seems a bit crazy to have some bugs banned but I believe it is due to them bing a threat to local wildlife and agriculture. To be fair I have seen how much food 40 or 50 adult locusts can eat in a few hours so if they could live in the wild where you are they could destroy crops. I tried to get hornworms here in England but can't as they are classified as a pest.

No haven't heard of them being fussy with the supplements on the live food before. I believe you can get liquid supplement and calcium so maybe look into that. Or mine is fussy with veg so worry doesn't get enough supplements so every few days I mix a little of the powders in with some water and drip it on his nose which he drinks so I know he is getting some.

I would say keep feeding the phoenix worms sometimes as they great for them but don't know how much they cost where you are but over here they work out pretty expensive to feed daily as can devour a huge amount in one go.

Could you not convince the people you live with to try the dubias by maybe getting a small tub to see? My girlfriend was the same set didn't want them in the house but once got them she had no problem, she was more disgusted by the horrible crickets who always seemed to escape and stank.

 

[jwilusz]

They don't want the dubai in the house because the crickets have escaped and something about a roach in the house they don't like. I showed them pictures without telling them what it was and their response was not suitable for kids that could be reading. All in all it was no. I told them because of their size it's easier to keep track of them, they don't stink, and I don't need to get a lot of them because they are so big. Still no. If I want to get those I'm gonna have to have my own house and not have a wife anymore lol. I use to feed buddy pheniox worms everyday for lunch when he was eating me out of a house and he loved them. He say the black container and he didn't even give me the chance to open it before he was ready. With crickets I have a plastic cup that I get them out of the bin with and show him the crickets in the cup then he comes running down to eat them right out of the cup.

 

[neilkd21]

Well it sounds like he has a healthy appetite which is good. Yeah that's a shame about the roaches but they are something people do fear. I grew up in south Africa and the roaches there could fly and were huge like small helicopters lol so never thought would have them in my house but the dubias were completely different and fine once got them. Yeah we always had crickets escape so was a nightmare but the dubias were fine they can't climb or fly so couldn't escape, don't think we ever had one escape or we just didn't see them lol.

Yeah keep giving the phoenix worms when can afford them. Give the superworms a go if you want something else to add for variety.

 

[jwilusz]

Yea as far as hydration goes. I'm not sure if he is spilling it or he is drinking it but his water is always out by morning time. I have never seen him drink once not even in bath and I don't leave him alone for a second in the bath because he likes to swim. I tried spraying him in hopes of him getting it off his nose and the look he gave me was like he was gonna kill me for that. So I don't spray him. He has gotten darker in color I have noticed especially on one side of him. Almost like he is being burnt but idk because his behavior has not changed and he seems to have no sensitive spots anywhere.

 

[jwilusz]

Quick question about supers. Have you guys ever had your beardies get impacted because of their head?

 

[neilkd21]

No never had any impaction issues but I waited until he was 16 inch just in case. I started feeding 2 and didn't feed anymore for a few days to see if had any issues but was fine.

That sounds strange about looking different colour on one side. How long has he been like that? how close is he able to get to the basking lamp and what's the temp under it. Are you able to upload a pic of him.

Yeah I never see mine drink from the bowl and doesn't drink in the bath either, they do absorb water through their vent so bath will keep hydrated . Mine isn't a fan of misting but I do it every now and then especially when shedding. I drip water on his nose every night and he licks it up, took a while but eventually he got used to it and learnt to drink.

 

[jwilusz]

He's currently 15 inches long. Right now the basking bulb is about 9 inches from the top of the spot. At the top it gets to around 120. He only goes up that high when he is really cold. He's usually 10 or 11 inches away and it's about 114 at that spot. I'll post pics of the set up and of him.

 

[jwilusz]