How do you avoid handling bugs?

[Blitzjg]

Kudos to everyone that has no problem handling insects. I can't see myself handling most bugs with bare hands. Is it possible to own a Beardie and not get handsy with the insects? What feeders are easiest to avoid handling? How do you move them when feeding your Beardie? Are there any feeders breedable this way?

 

[nursejones813]

I have a 9 yr old boy that handles the worms lol! But the crickets, I got a little cricket keeper at petco. It has these tubes in it and the crickets like to crawl in them and hide. You then just pull the tube out, sprinkle some calcium or vitamins on them (really quickly so they don't run out of the tube) then dump the tube into the cage. I suppose I could use tweezers for the worms if I had to. But, the 9 yr old works really well! Lol!

 

[nursejones813]

I should probably add that I don't breed any feeders. I never have more than about 100 or so at a time because I don't really want them in my house! Lol! I'm sure I spend quite a bit more money than I have to. But I don't care. I'm not a big bug fan either! And though I love Slick, I can tell you the poor thing will most likely never eat a roach because, well...ewe!

 

[Claudiusx]

Not to be too harsh, but in reality, maybe a bearded dragon isn't the right pet for you if you are not comfortable handling insects.

Uro's are a great alternative, they are salad eaters :mrgreen:

-Brandon

 

[CGuzmanReptiles]

Honestly if you own a bearded dragon at some point you'll end up having to deal with all sort of insects. Just like claudiusx said, maybe bds arent the pet for you and if you really want a reptile you should look into other animals.

 

[Blitzjg]

Uros are nice in theory, but they are more ornamental and aggressive from what I've read.

I think I could get used to handling them after awhile. I know I could manage wearing gloves, it's the skin contact tht I would struggle with for awhile.

 

[Claudiusx]

Well you just got to realize that there is nothing to be creeped out about, and you will be fine. It's all in how you look at things!

-Brandon

 

[CGuzmanReptiles]

What about geckos? They dont eat as much as bds so you wouldnt need to keep many bugs.
Phoenix worms dont need feeding and last a good while if kept in the right temps and they dont need cleaning like pretty much every other feeder.

 

[Sauzo]

Crickets are evil. I hate holding those things but dubias seem to have almost personality haha. I've got my sub adults which i'm raising to add to my colony and they are calm for the most part. They even raise their head in their cage which is kinda funny. The crickets though just jump, run and stink and Harley doesn't even like to eat em anymore since dubias......not sure why I am even keeping the crickets anymore. But like others have said, might want to look into a different pet since bugs and beardies kinda go hand in hand. Look into a boa. My red tail boa is easy. I just give her a couple adult mice or a small rat a week and she's good. Can even buy pre frozen mice or rats. Just need to thaw em like a chicken haha. Leopard gecko would work too. Don't get a Tokay gecko if you want something to handle. I had one of those for about 5 years and he never did get tame enough to pick up. Could kinda get him to move around the cage when I was cleaning without him opening his mouth and threatening to tear my finger off but yeah, not a very friendly lizard. Also depending how big of lizard you want, can always check out a Tegu or Monitor. I had a Nile monitor that was tame as a dog as long as it knew you but they get big. He was about 5ft long. They don't really eat bug except when they are hatched, then once big enough, they eat pinkie mice, then to rats. So guess it depends if you are squeamish about bugs, how do you feel about rodents?

 

[Blitzjg]

Rodents are fine, I have a cornsnake. I'm not squeamish or anything around bugs, it's just the creepycrawliness sensation of them on my skin. I know I could grow into it but handling then with gloves or tongs would have to work for awhile.

 

[Sauzo]

Just be careful using gloves since you won't be able to feel any crawling around on your hand if you happen to get more than 1 which could lead you to thinking you got 1, pull your hand out of the cage and having the one on the back of your hand or wherever drop off on your floor and run off. I know that happens to me but then again I use paper towel rolls for my roaches and just pick the whole roll up, turn it sideways and tap it down on my hand to get em out. Then just let the ones I don't want to feed like my big ones just crawl back on the roll and just keep the smaller ones in my hands for feeding.

 

[icelore]

I'm not a big fan of bugs either. Like on eof th above posters, I use a cricket keeper with tubes. I shake the tubes out into a pringles can till I get the amount of crickets I want, dust them, and then feed. I also feed in a separate bin so that I don't have to worry about catching any uneaten food out of the tank when he's done eating.

I buy crickets in bulk (1000-2000) and keep them in a 10gal tank. When the box comes, I refrigerate them to stun them a bit, put the box in an open garbage bag and cut it open, then, armed with long dish gloves and bbq tongs, open the box and shake them into the bag. lol From the bag I pour them into the tank, and from the tank I shake them into the small keeper with however many I need for the week. It's a convoluted method, but it keeps me from having to touch them! I'm to the point I can usually barehand a single cricket now, but a bunch of ANY kind of bug makes me squeemish.

 

[KristineM]

I use tongs, always. Luckily, I have a husband who has no issues handling any feeders. I certainly couldn't have my bearded dragon on my own. I will tong anything but I have yet to bare hand a single feeder!

 

[Blitzjg]

What kind of gloves work? Just regular non-powdered latex?

 

[Lpsouth1978]

As mentioned above, I use cricket keepers for the crickets, and feed phoenix/reptiworms. I use a strainer (usually for kitchens) and sift all of the packing medium off of them and then dump the worms in the feeding dish. Most of the time I can manage to feed my dragons without touching the bugs. Unfortunately there are going to be times when you will have to handle a bug or two. It is just part of owning a Dragon.