How do you guys do it?

[Psychosis131]

Our bearded dragon is almost 3 months old, and he eats over 200 crickets a week! How do you guys deal with this? Are you paying out of pocket for crickets or what?

 

[injectedink]

my bearded dragon eats about the same quantity as yours does per week, its only 20 bucks for 200 crickets here so i dont have much of a problem paying that for a growing beardie

 

[GoFast]

order in bulk....and start breeding your own feeders..

 

[fresnowitte]

I have 7 beardies an one 2-headed so that makes 9 plus a few clutches per year the only way I could do it was to start growing my own feeders. Right now I have Turks (roaches) and superworms I also just received some hormworm eggs that are about to hatch. But like I said I'm feeding 9+ when I do buy additional feeders I do it online it will be cheaper. This would be where many of us in this section of the United States order from;
http://www.mulberryfarms.com/horn2.htm
Depending on where you live there may be someone closer to you so your not pay out the kazoo in S&H.

 

[john_ny217]

i have over 12 beardies and expect a clutch to hatch any day now. so the food bill can get a little pricey.

but buying in bulk is the best way to go.

 

[holnik]

200 crickets a week?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! my sunshine only eats a dozen a day which adds up to 84 crickets. my advice is to get 8 dozen each weekend. do you want to know what i do that is NOT wasteful?

get a container large enough for that many crickets and put an egg carton in there for them to climb on. put a leaf of lettayce or a tree leaf in there. you need to clean the tank of all dead crickets. the dead crickets put off this fume deadly to other crickets. when we get the next 8 dozen we switch tanks and put the left over crickets and new crickets in there. repeat the pattern.

feeding: what i do is give sunshine her lettauce in the morning. when she gets older she will only need crickets 3 times per week and her diet will consist of lettauce and strawberries as a treat. then at 4 i give her crickets. this is not an easy process at first. first i need a tube with a lid. second i need to put her calcium powder in the tube, then i put in the crickets. i catch tham with the long tweezers. i close the lid and shake up the crickets. then is serving time.

the calcium powder is just a powder that gives her healthy bones

dont worry, it was hard for me at first, but now after a month it is a piece of cake (even though when you are in a rush it tends to be a pain)

Holly, age 11

Sunshine, 6 months, born on dec. 15, 2008 adopted earthday, 2009

 

[HUMBOLDTGUY]

I have 7 beardies an one 2-headed so that makes 9 plus a few clutches per year the only way I could do it was to start growing my own feeders. Right now I have Turks (roaches) and superworms I also just received some hormworm eggs that are about to hatch. But like I said I'm feeding 9+ when I do buy additional feeders I do it online it will be cheaper. This would be where many of us in this section of the United States order from;
http://www.mulberryfarms.com/horn2.htm
Depending on where you live there may be someone closer to you so your not pay out the kazoo in S&H.

does the 2 headed have 2 stomaches or do they both eat for one stomache

 

[HUMBOLDTGUY]

i have over 12 beardies .

so would that be 12.2 or 13....lol

 

[Rachella]

Wow! What a great appetite! I'm sure all of that protein is going to help your beardie grow up big and strong. Order crickets in bulk online. You can get 1000 of them for about twenty bucks. Buy a large plastic container from Wal-Mart, cut open the top, glue a mesh screen across it for ventilation. Give the crickets egg cartons to crawl around on and food to eat (fish food is a good alternative, more protein, but veggies and regular cricket food works perfectly too!). Make sure to give them water cubes. Clean the tub out once every two days or so and you have a large supply of crickets for weeks!

Can also order in bulk of 500 or so for about 10 to 15 bucks. Still MUCH cheaper then 10 cents a pop at a pet store, making your 200 cost 20 bucks, the same amount for 1000 online (5x the amount you're getting from the store for the same price).

It's definitely a little weird ordering them online for the first time but I've rarely had mishaps and it ends up being a -lot- cheaper. Make sure to order small enough ones to account for their growing while you have them in stock.

 

[spurlee01]

We also get crickets in bulk. You might check with your pet store to see if they can get them in and at what price. My boyfriend and I each have a BD so we buy 1000 crix and split them up. He keeps his in a 10 gallon aquarium, I keep mine in an 18 gal rubbermaid container with holes and a screen at the top. They get Flukers Orange Cube which is a cricket food and cut up potatoes. I've also heard you can use carrots.

Holly, you may want to check this website. Lettuce is not a great food for beardies. Ours get collard greens or dandelion greens daily and a few times a week I add a "special" like fruit, celery, or squash, but they don't usually like their "specials". http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
Also, do you let Sunny have as many crickets as she wants or do you only feed her 12? The rule of thumb is usually to give them as many crix as they want to eat in 10-15 minutes 2 times each day.
Just want the best for you and Sunny!

Sara

 

[fresnowitte]

does the 2 headed have 2 stomaches or do they both eat for one stomache

I had them xrayed at 9 months that vet said one stomache then I showed the xray to Dr. Wentz and he said 2. Okay I trust Dr. Wentz but I feel as if I'd need a third opinion. Of course the xray that the original vet gave me doesn't show that clearly to me. However they do both eat. :wink:

 

[Jiffy]

My newest baby was eating about 1000 crickets a week. I was ordering in bulk too, 1000 delivered for $20, so it was not so bad.
He doesnt like crickets anymore, so at least I dont have to deal with the nasty crickets.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

I have roaches for my adults, but my babies eat 10,000.00 crickets a week...lol

 

[VEGASLIZARD]

Once they get big enough to eat roaches or suppers it gets allot cheaper to feed them so hang in there. Baby beardies are the most expensive to feed and I could never buy crix in bulk because I had no skill for keeping those little buggers alive so I was feeding phoenix worms for a while. It all got so much easier when she got big enough to eat suppers. They can't jump around and escape as easily as crix either. There are other options to crix when they are little. Phoenix worms, butter worms, little horn worms to name a few. All these can be ordered online. You might want to check out the feeding thread for ideas.

 

[herpfreak]

I only have one beardie , but considering I'm a minor, I don't have any cash coming in at all... besides for mowing lawns and whatnot.

As others have said, the only real way to do it is to order in bulk online (shipping is what kills you then; try to find a somewhat-local supplier) and breed your own. I breed dubia roaches and I'm thinking about breeding some kind of worm, I'm not really sure yet.

It will also get easier as your beardie gets older; he will start eating mostly greens and veggies. Adult beardies eat around 30-50 crickets per week. The rest is all green and veggies, which are much cheaper. You can also grow your own.