How many Crickets should a 6 month old Beardie eat?

[Beardies4Life96]

I heard that you are supposed to give him as many as he will eat in a 15 minutes. He does stop himself when he gets full. He usually eats about 15-20 crickets a day. One time he ate 27. Yesterday he ate 44 :shock: I about died! Is this normal? Is it okay for him to have that many? I am not sure how much he weighs as I don't have a gram scale, but I got him last month and he has already doubled in size. He was a Craigslist find and the lady said that she gave him 8 crickets a day :roll: Obviously, he needed more. He has a very fat tail now He also gobbled up his kale. I told he he must be a very hungry hippo

Anyway, I was very shocked that he ate that many. Shouldn't he be slowing down instead of speeding up? My mom was not happy at all that he ate over almost 4 dozen crickets. She says he is going to be the most expensive pet yet :lol:

Thanks!

 

[bdalton]

Well it really depends on his size and age. If he is an adult, his diet should be 80% greens and 20% protein (crickets & buggys) but if he is still young, which im assuming he is because you said hes growing, so the answer would be yes, that is normal and a good thing he has such an appetite. I have a hard time getting my girl to eat 20 a day sometimes. Just make sure the crickets are no bigger than the space between his eyes. But yes you should let him eat as much as he wants in 15 min. Also, kale isnt such a good staple green, try collard, mustard, turnip, dandelion greens, escarole. You can go to www.beautifuldragons.com/nitrition and it will give you a complete color coded list of whats good for him to eat all the time and wht he should have once in a while

Good luck with him andnpost some pics

 

[bdalton]

Www.beautifuldragons.com/nutrition

I typed it wrong, sorry

 

[Beardies4Life96]

Thanks! He is 6 months old, so he is still growing.
That's funny because everything I have read on the internet says that Kale is one of the best greens to feed them :dontknow: Go figure. I have not been able to find Collard Greens. I am assuming that it is a seasonal thing. I have been switching back and forth between mustard greens and kale. Everything on the internet contradicts something else. So frustrating Why is Kale not really good for them?
Thanks for the link!

 

[laurela]

It's crazy how much they can eat. Mines around 4.5months and I've seen him eat 75 crickets in one day, usually it's closer to 55 though. You can tell he's getting full when he stops pouncing on crickets and kinda just lumbers over and hopes it doesn't hop away.

 

[drocker]

At least yours is eating. We have had ours for 2.5 days now and he has maybe only ate a total of 12 to 15 crickets and no greens. I bought 50 crickets the day we got him and I am afraid they will die off and have laid eggs before he gets his appetite back. So I don't waste the crickets, I must just give them to the pet store.

 

[Paradon]

Thanks! He is 6 months old, so he is still growing.
That's funny because everything I have read on the internet says that Kale is one of the best greens to feed them :dontknow: Go figure. I have not been able to find Collard Greens. I am assuming that it is a seasonal thing. I have been switching back and forth between mustard greens and kale. Everything on the internet contradicts something else. So frustrating Why is Kale not really good for them?
Thanks for the link!

Kale contain goitrogenic compound which causes hypothryrodism... I only throw kale into the mix every once in a while to varie his diet a bit. It's actually good for them if you offer it to them every now and then.

 

[Sarai]

I get collard greens at walmart (the super center with all the groceries) I just buy a ton and keep it SUPER cold, but not freezing and it lasts all winter usually, I put it on the window sill or something outside in a freezer zip-lock bag, put it in the fridge at night so coons don't get it. I soak and rinse it before feeding it to him. I've never tried fully freezing collard greens, but it seems to be pretty hearty and thicker than lettuce, so I assume it would freeze well, so when you do see it, just buy a bunch of it, it'll keep.

 

[doulos668]

My girls are absolute Carnivores. They are eating about 1000 crickets every 3 weeks...if that long. They also love superworms and giant meal worms. I did get one to try a dandelion green...once

I also gave them their first pinkie mice yesterday...they were thrilled (my wife was not) :lol:

 

[AllanonsWrath]

I also gave them their first pinkie mice yesterday...they were thrilled (my wife was not)

Sounds like my wife.

They do vary on their eating habits. I had to start hand feeding the greens to mine and then "showing" them where the greens were at. Once Caoimhe figured out where the greens were kept I would catch her sneaking... yes sneaking... over to the bowl to eat some. If she saw anyone watching her, she would immediately stop eating her greens. Sometimes she would run away from the bowl too. lol