I need worm advice

[jjaimeebles]

So I'm hearing that most beardie enthusiasts advise to stay away from meal worms due to impaction problems.
My vet said earthworms are a better alternative, but I haven't seen them mentioned anywhere else. I really don't want to have to buy my dragon's food online, and the pet stores/reptile stores don't seem to have many feeders other than the meal worms, crickets, and wax worms (which I know are too fatty.) So my question is, where do I go from here?

 

[kFitz]

Buying worms online is super easy. I get my bugs from either http://www.mulberryfarms.com/ or lindasgonebuggie.com. They ship the bugs fast and both are pretty inexpensive. They also have combo packs or snack packs that offer a sampling of different feeders at a discount to see what your pet likes.

I've never heard of feeding earthworms and thus wouldn't recommend it. You can see if the petstores have superworms (petco and petsmart do), but only feed them if your dragon is longer than 16" due to the risk of impaction because their intestines don't straighten out until they get that long.

 

[DragCity]

Horrible advice from your vet. Earthworms carry parasites and make beardies have frequent wet, runny, smelly poo.

If you want to feed your beardie the best well-rounded diet for optimal health you will need to order online. Variety is key. I feed my reptiles the following prey items:

INSECTS:
* dubia roaches (staple)
* discoid roaches (staple)
* orange head roaches (staple)

WORMS:
* phoenix worms (staple)
* silkworms (staple)
---------------------------------------
* hornworms (treat)
* butterworms (treat)

 

[jjaimeebles]

Thanks! So I checked out both links, and the first had so much out of stock, and the second was selling worms that you had to get your own source of mulberry leaves to feed them with. Anyone else have any site recommendations?

 

[DragCity]

Thanks! So I checked out both links, and the first had so much out of stock, and the second was selling worms that you had to get your own source of mulberry leaves to feed them with. Anyone else have any site recommendations?

ALTERNATIVE OPTION 1:
www.smallpetfeeders.com

ALTERNATIVE OPTION 2:
www.silkwormshop.com

 

[jjaimeebles]

Thank you. I guess it must be common for the shops to sell out of their items?

 

[kFitz]

it seems like right now a lot a places are out for some reason. My top choice always is mullberryfarms. They ship the bugs with a lot of food to last the entire time you feed them off. Hopefully the stock with pick back up again.

 

[jjaimeebles]

Since it's been so hot lately, are the worms dying off before they reach you?
And what size silk & phoenix worms would be appropriate for a 6 month old juvie?

 

[jjaimeebles]

Oh and is it necessary to buy the chow?

 

[kFitz]

how long is your beardie? I'd go with either medium or large phoenix worms and any size silkworms. Since they're soft bodied and I'm guessing your beardie is 15+ inches long? you should be fine with whatever size. I haven't had any issues with die off during shipping and most places over count the amounts they send to make up for any die off. Depending where you order from, it may or may not be necessary to buy chow. It also depends on how fast you feed of the silk worms. They can ONLY eat mullberry leaves or the chow made of mullberry leaves. Mullberryfarms sends the silkies with a ton of chow on the bottom of the cup so you should be fine. On the otherhand, lindasgonebuggie barely sends any chow with the silkies so you would need to buy extra chow from them. What I did was buy the powdered chow and just keep it in the freezer, that way if I every get a shipment of silkies without much chow, I always have some on-hand to make.

 

[jjaimeebles]

She's about 12" I ordered from mulberry and figured I'd get some chow to have on hand, but I just got the premade stuff. How long does it keep and what does it take to prepare the powdered kind?

 

[kFitz]

I keep the chow in the freezer. Freezing it will keep it for a LONG time. They recommend refridgerating it though. There are directions on the mulberryfarms website on how to make it. basically add water and microwave or cook on the stovetop - kind of like making pudding. it's pretty easy. Once the chow is made, it can be kept in the fridge for a month or two.

 

[jjaimeebles]

How neat. Thanks!

 

[ashleyelsha]

Hi, I got my phoenix worms from http://www.phoenixworm.com
I tried a few other suppliers and the best results for me were form phoenixworm.com for quality as well as customer service.
I had my phoenix worms held at the post office for pickup and I called the post office the day before I expected them to remind them to hold them for me.
I feed large phoenix worms to my dragon who is 9 inches from nose to tip of tail.

I just got 1000 crickets from http://www.ghann.com and am very happy with that purchase as well. These were delivered via 2 day fedex. with the price of the crickets plus shipping it was still half of what if would've cost me for 1000 crickets from my local pet store so well worth it. I got the 1/2" crickets. I gut loaded them for 24 hours, then I cleaned everything out of the container and stuck them in the freezer. Then I separated the crickets and put them in freezer bags. When I am ready to feed I just lay the amount out I want to feed, let them thaw for about 30 minutes, then I dust them and feed them.

I tried reptiworms and thought I liked them better than phoenix worms at first, they were cheaper and bigger in size. However they started to turn black and several started dying within days of me getting them. The phoenix worms I have had for 3 weeks and are still active and only about half have turned black. (I feed the black ones first, they are higher in calcium supposedly). I keep my phoenix worms in a cooler with ice packs so they last longer. I change the icepacks every day.

 

[jjaimeebles]

Great info, thanks! I had no idea you could freeze crickets?!