new beardie owner, have been misled by petstore!!

[pepper60]

I got my beardie last February from an exotic pet store near me that specializes in reptiles. I trusted them because they knew a lot about reptiles and they weren't a "chain pet store". Anyway, they told me that my bearded dragon should be eating super worms as an everyday insect, now I find out that super worms are very fatty and not very good for beardies. ( The pictures are from the day I got her, and then here today.)

1) Does anyone know of a good stable worm I can feed my beardie?

2) She is now 12 months old and a bit overweight should I still be feeding insects every day? along with greens

3) how can I help her lose weight?

 

[KeyBlu422]

First off, superworms make a decent staple for ADULT beardy. There are better options but how bad they are is really blown out of proportion.

Re to question 1 : Silkworms and Phoenix/reptiworms are really your best choices, superworms can be used as a staple for beardies who's diet has become 80% veggies and 20% protein. Note : not all BSFL are the same. With different brands providing different diets comes differing nutritional value. Phoenix and reptiworms are the only actual stapleworthy BSFL that I know of.
Calci worms, for example, have a calcium content higher than optimal and so there is a slight risk of providing too much calcium when used as a staple. BSFL are really easy to keep. Keep in a wine fridge or at room temp and they last a couple weeks, you don't even need to dust them with calcium or put them in a different container than what they come in! Silkworms do best with heat so an incubator, lamp, or CHE is likely necessary for proper and consistent growth and lesser mortality rate.

Re to question 2 : Perhaps, though you should start to change her diet to more vegetable oriented than protein

Re to question 3 : As mentioned before, slowly make her diet more salad based. Also, sometimes it gets to a point where you have to leave them with nothing but a salad, though it should be a last resort since there are nicer ways to get them to eat salad like putting some bugs in her salad or a tasty treat like fruit or squash.

 

[pepper60]

First off, superworms make a decent staple for ADULT beardy. There are better options but how bad they are is really blown out of proportion.

Re to question 1 : Silkworms and Phoenix/reptiworms are really your best choices, superworms can be used as a staple for beardies who's diet has become 80% veggies and 20% protein. Note : not all BSFL are the same. With different brands providing different diets comes differing nutritional value. Phoenix and reptiworms are the only actual stapleworthy BSFL that I know of.
Calci worms, for example, have a calcium content higher than optimal and so there is a slight risk of providing too much calcium when used as a staple. BSFL are really easy to keep. Keep in a wine fridge or at room temp and they last a couple weeks, you don't even need to dust them with calcium or put them in a different container than what they come in! Silkworms do best with heat so an incubator, lamp, or CHE is likely necessary for proper and consistent growth and lesser mortality rate.

Re to question 2 : Perhaps, though you should start to change her diet to more vegetable oriented than protein

Re to question 3 : As mentioned before, slowly make her diet more salad based. Also, sometimes it gets to a point where you have to leave them with nothing but a salad, though it should be a last resort since there are nicer ways to get them to eat salad like putting some bugs in her salad or a tasty treat like fruit or squash.

Thank you so much for your help!!

 

[KeyBlu422]

Not a problem.