I steer totally clear of mealworms, none are worth the risk to me. The prices at thebugpros.com are good enough that I just feed them to Lilly (versus breeding). They could definitely be used while you are establishing a colony and you can replenish as need be. Phoenix worms are a great staple or treat for babies. http://www.phoenixworm.com/servlet/StoreFront There is the site. For silkworms, I use www.coastalsilkworms.com for silkworms. Hornworms can be bought at either www.mulberryfarms.com or www.greatlakeshornworm.com, but these grow VERY quickly and may become to big for a young dragon. Superworms can also be purchased at either of these sites, but they cannot be fed until a dragon is 16" long d/t a kink in the digestive track where shells can become stuck and cause impaction.
Hi... someone suggested I pop in to offer some help.
I have roaches, and have fed all my reptiles (4 dragons and 9 geckos) since they arrived at my home as babies of 7-8 weeks of age.
Jason (the roach guy) is awesome to deal with... and since this is a school project, I would imagine he might swing you an awesome deal.
Now is the time to start that colony too, by the way.
You can get an 18 gallon sterlite tub with lid, half a dozen egg crates ( I tend to get mine free from the local breakfast resturant) however you can order them online), some metal window screening, a glue gun and glue (or some sort of adhesive that will seal), a ten gallon under tank heater, some chicken starter feed, a large can of tropical fish flake food, and you will be 90% ready to start your own colony. I wouldn't start with less than say 100-200 mixed dubias. This way, you will get breeding adults, as well as the second generation, that will most likely be breeding for you in a couple of months.
Now, take those supplies I mentioned above and do this:
Take lid, cut out the middle, leaving around a 3" edge around the lip of the lid. Take the screening, and adhere it to those edges, making sure there are no openings for any size roach to escape. Set aside the lid, and take the bin itself. Upend it, and taking the under tank heater, peel off the paper, and adhere that to one side of the bin. This will be your heat. Don't worry about it heating a hole in the bin...
And there you are... your bin is now set up. Just place the egg crates on their side, at the heated end, and you can use a shallow plastic container to place the starter/flake food mix. I would also suggest getting some water crystals, Jason can supply those as well..
You will want to use the same veggies as you would feed to a dragon, to start gut loading your roaches.
I also want to suggest, half of an orange weekly.. this encourages breeding.. It really does !
Thank you for popping in and thank you Sara for asking her to pop in! The setup information you gave is exactly what I have been looking for! I will have to contact the roach guy to get some roachesm
The only question I have is...how do you get the roaches from their bin to the beardie? I don't think I could bring myself to use my bare hands!
If cost is an issue I suggest you look at craigslist. I've found two beardies and setups for $75 and $150 on craigslist in the Austin area. If you do go this route you are then "rescuing" an animal and can easily incorporate that into your lessons.
Beardies are so much cooler than the potatoes and beans we had... Well the 7th and 8th grade science teacher had a coon she would bring to class sometimes. It had passed before I made it to 7th grade though.