My baby dragon eats... alot! HELP ME!

[cxerphax]

Ok, well Ill give it a shot thanks for ur help.

 

[patrickb]

Vickson's advice on keeping the crickets and cleaning them is good. I will elaborate a bit on it though.

Crickets stink and they do that very well. Cleaning is a big key, and the method outlined above is a very good one. When I do keep crickets, I just more the "furniture" around and sweep the frass (poo and shed skins) into piles. The crickets will seek refuge and return to the "furniture" quite quickly. A few may be wandering around still, but poke them and they scurry out of the way. I use a small painters brush and mini dustpan to do the sweeping and scoop out the frass. This should be done at least twice a week IMHO, but your mileage may vary.

A large rubbermaid bin as mentioned is a great home. They are cheap at your local general store and work well. Keep carrots or potato slices in the container for moisture along with an el cheapo dog/cat food for protein. Replace the carrots or potatos every other day and watch the food level. Add more as needed. Remove any dead crickets daily (this is VERY important) as they begin to decompose and produce gases that will kill off the colony quickly. Ventilation is important as well. You can by aluminum screen mesh then cut a hole in the lid or the sides and glue the screen mesh in place.

Keeping them cool slows down their metabolism and they live longer. Since you won't be breeding them, you want to keep them cool. Also, buy a size slightly smaller than you need will help to ensure you don't have extras dieing off that never got fed.

 

[twyliteskyz]

well buying 500 for 10 bucks or 1000 for 20 sounds like a lot better deal to me if i were you, yes they might stink but keep them outside then on the porch, hes only going to need a lot of crikets while hes growing, so you dont have to deal with it forever, it will be very much less expensive and you wont have to worry anymore. and once he gets bigger and you dont have to worry about live food as much, you can go with a less stinky option like superworms, that are only like 13 bucks for 500
http://www.premiumcrickets.com/Superworms_6.html

 

[beardiebandit]

you sound like a candidate for roaches. i love my roaches but some people especially parents have problems with bringing roaches in the house! lol! good luck with the crix man! they are alot of work trust me i know i used to buy 6k+ every two weeks. no fun!!!

best of luck to you. those little beardies will eat till they pop! and then wait an hour take a poo and be ready for a few more! : )

 

[railroadwife]

I can sympathize with you over the amount a baby will eat!! My dragon is somewhere around 6-7 months old and he eats more than I do I live in IL and I purchase bulk crickets from Timberline. They are a company in Marion, IL. I have had very good luck with them. In the winter months it costs me about $30 for 1000 1/2" crickets. They pack them with a heat pack for winter shipping and ship them overnight FedEx. I have never used a heater with my crickets. I use cricket water from timberline and put either a potato or some sort of veggie that I would feed my fussy dragon if he'd eat it...what the cricket eats my dragon eats right?...that's my thinking anyway. As far as cleaning them out, I clean out any dead ones daily but there usually isn't very many. You must clean out the dead ones or the stupid crickets will feed on the dead ones and well....dead begats dead... The smell can get kindof offensive, but if you keep the dead ones out, don't leave icky veggies in there too long, and wipe out the poop with a wet paper towel every now and then, you should do alright. Also, I keep putting in the shredded veggies in his cage everyday because he will try them someday. He eats them from my hand pretty well but he needs to learn to feed himself. Hang in there, I too was not prepared for how much they eat and what it costs...but I know this too shall pass.
Good luck!
A

 

[augsburg1530]

Lobster roaches are a much better feeder than crix. They do not stink like crix, do not need to be cleaned 3 times a week like crix and are a meatier feeder than crix.

You can order lobsters from http://www.aaronpauling.com for about the same price as bulk crix.

Crix have a huge die off rate, lobsters do not.

Put your lobsters in a rubbermaide container, smear a thin line of vasaline about 3 inches wide around the top of the container and you are ready to go.

If I were you, I would seriously consider lobsters.

Hope that helps,

Eric

 

[cxerphax]

Welll thanks everybody but I have rewsolved the issue (for about a week now). I thought this topic would be dead buy now. Im doing what the moderator has said and a buy a 1000 from a1cricket or something like that. I also am going to start a dubia colony because I hear it is very easy. But thanks all for your help.