Is there such a thing as feeding too many crickets?

[DMike]

Please help! I have seen mixed feedback and results when searching if there is such a thing as feeding my juvenile beardie too many crickets.
Mikey is currently 12" long and estimated to be about 4-5mo old. When we got him a couple of months ago, the pet store gave us all kinds of wrong information and we learned that we were unintentionally starving him. Now that he finally has a good appetite, he eats an average of 20-30 small calcium-dusted gut-loaded crickets per feeding, 4-5 times per day. He also gets about 5-10 small wax worms a day as a treat. He has never been big on his veggies or his pellet food, but we recently discovered that he loves finely chopped fresh Mustard Greens and he is eating that very well now, probably about 1-2 tablespoons per day. He poops daily and it looks perfectly healthy and normal, and he is moderately active when he is not basking or napping. He is very affectionate and loves when we take him out and let him explore. All of this leads me to believe that his diet is just fine, but I am a little worried now because I am first-time beardie parent and I ran into another beardie parent at the pet store who said that he is eating way too many crickets and that it could make him sick. Any insight and/or advice on changes that should be made to his diet are very much appreciated. I just love my boy so much and want to make sure that I am taking the absolute best care of him.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, Mikey looks good and healthy ! The answer on feeding is that yes, that is way too many. To clarify, you can probably offer him large crickets now and 6-8 of them once a day, a few worms here + there and a large salad will be sufficient. Waxworms are like candy, not to be used as a staple or in large numbers. Bsfl [ black soldier fly larva ] is much better or 1-2 superwoms every other day. Have you thought of using dubia roaches ?

If you're feeding a 12-13" dragon the small insects are not filling him up, hence the huge amount needed to satisfy his appetite. You are spending way too much money that way.

 

[DMike]

Hi there, Mikey looks good and healthy ! The answer on feeding is that yes, that is way too many. To clarify, you can probably offer him large crickets now and 6-8 of them once a day, a few worms here + there and a large salad will be sufficient. Waxworms are like candy, not to be used as a staple or in large numbers. Bsfl is much better or 1-2 superwoms every other day. Have you thought of using dubia roaches ?

If you're feeding a 12-13" dragon the small insects are not filling him up, hence the huge amount needed to satisfy his appetite. You are spending way too much money that way.

This is super helpful, thank you! We tried large crickets a couple of times, but he had a hard time with them because the ones at my local pet store are just so big. I will see if I can find ones that are medium-large though, if that is even a thing. I will definitely cut back on the wax worms big time!!! I am not familiar with bsfl tough, what is that? We have not tried dubia roaches, but will if that is something he should be eating. Should they be live, and about how many should I offer him? Would those be in place of crickets?

Sorry for so many more questions, but I really appreciate the help!

 

[AHBD]

Maybe another store carries the medium crickets but he should be big enough for the large, it just takes a little more chewing. You can offer 1-2 superworms as well. The black soldier fly larva is sold by most feeder insect companies, so are the dubias.Crickets + superworms as well. A lot of people start their own colony of dubia, it takes a couple months to get going but then you have a supply that lasts indefinitely.

 

[DMike]

That is awesome, thank you so much!!! I really appreciate the help. I am going to go make some changes in his little "pantry" right now

 

[AHBD]

You're welcome ! You'll save a lot of money by going with larger insects and cutting down the number that you need to purchase. Post some updates when you can and it's also nice to see their enclosures as well.

 

[xp29]

Please help! I have seen mixed feedback and results when searching if there is such a thing as feeding my juvenile beardie too many crickets.
Mikey is currently 12" long and estimated to be about 4-5mo old. When we got him a couple of months ago, the pet store gave us all kinds of wrong information and we learned that we were unintentionally starving him. Now that he finally has a good appetite, he eats an average of 20-30 small calcium-dusted gut-loaded crickets per feeding, 4-5 times per day. He also gets about 5-10 small wax worms a day as a treat. He has never been big on his veggies or his pellet food, but we recently discovered that he loves finely chopped fresh Mustard Greens and he is eating that very well now, probably about 1-2 tablespoons per day. He poops daily and it looks perfectly healthy and normal, and he is moderately active when he is not basking or napping. He is very affectionate and loves when we take him out and let him explore. All of this leads me to believe that his diet is just fine, but I am a little worried now because I am first-time beardie parent and I ran into another beardie parent at the pet store who said that he is eating way too many crickets and that it could make him sick. Any insight and/or advice on changes that should be made to his diet are very much appreciated. I just love my boy so much and want to make sure that I am taking the absolute best care of him.

Your boy looks fantastic!