Newbie- how to feed crickets and are dubia safe?

[midwestmom]

Hi- so thankful for this forum! We will be first time beardie owners in less than a week!
I think we're set for equipment but realized we don't know HOW to feed CRICKETS...
Last I saw our little lizard, it was 6 inches.
Do you feed your juvenile in a separate container?
HOW do you handle crickets to get them to your dragon?
Also, we have received questionable info:
Petsmart tells me we can put an open box of crickets and cricket food in dragon enclosure and leave it there until a new box is needed....? True?
Reptile guy tells me dubias carry parasites (and crickets dont) and we should never feed dubias to dragons... I can't find any info that suggests this is true or even that makes me question the safety of dubias- so, are dubias safe and healthy for dragons?

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

Midwestmom

 

[kingofnobbys]

I'd recommend feeding in a separate container (just a 30L tub) , this may or may not work if your hatchling is not used to this and you may have to feed a few insects at a time to it in it's new enclosure if that's what it's used to (with the breeder / pet shop).

The breeder I bought my new two bubs off suggests dumping crickets (or woodies) in with lizard and leaving them to eat them - works (only some insects run away and hide and come out at night and can disturb the lizard's sleep and perhaps if there no water source or food source other the lizard nibble on it's soft bits).
I actually tried that yesterday and today (day 2 and day 3 with our two), I am not sure how many crickets they've eaten in the last 2 days ( I don't like that uncertainty), despite it being harder and less convenient I will be resorting to my preferred method of feeding in a separate tub from here on.

BTW - DON'T buy the lizard from a pet shop , go to a bearded dragon breeder - you'll get to see the mom and dad and the other hatchlings and their set up that way too.

Crickets are my staple insect. Lots of people use roaches (we call the species of roaches used here in Australia "woodies".)

Another excellent staple insect for hatchlings is silkworms, and many advocate calci-gents / maggots.

Mealworms are a TREAT ONLY , poor Ca/P , very high fat, hard exoskeleton can result in impaction in very young lizards.. No they wont eat their way out (nor will superworm in adults).

I remove the crickets from the tubs they come in if I'm buying from a pet shop, and place them in clean dry cricket tub together with some fresh carrot, some Rep-Cal adult beardie pellets in the tub and some buk choi greens (leafy green bit) to gut load the crickets overnight prior to using them.
At feeding time I empty the crickets into a 15L or 30L tub (tall enough so they can't climb/hop out and hoover them up using a special 9V bugblaster vacuum I picked on Ebay , makes fast work of collecting them !!! beats catching each cricket by hand !!!.
The crickets go into a small dry jar with a 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of Ca powder (most days just Ca) or a mix of Ca powder and vitamin powder (1:1) , on with the lid , shake gently to coat the crickets, and then they are given a few at a time to the lizard.

 

[Taterbug]

Some do better with eating in their home enclosure others take to a feeding tube just fine. In most setups unrated insects can be come desperate (or foul natured in some types of cricket) and eat on a sleeping dragon. For that and that you don't want bug poop every where it's best not to leave the uneaten in the enclosure.

Roaches carry no more parasites than crickets or any other commercially available bug. As far as I know no parasites we regularly test for with dragons use insects as part of the life cycle, most are direct fecal-oral meaning the eggs get pooped out and need to be ingested by the same species to cause infection. However. Hungry bugs will eat poop. The dragon could then eat those bugs, or their poops and get the parasites.

 

[midwestmom]

Wow! Thanks for the quick replies!
Some great help you have offered and now I have a few more questions for those who answered (or anyone willing to help!)
We did get our dragon from a specialty pet store- they breed and raise the dragons- saw mom and current set up. Plan to offer more in the way of hiding spots and climbing/basking since the little guy will be in a much bigger enclosure. Our little guy is paid for and ha!nging out waiting for us to come get him (he is a surprise for the holidays). Really pretty little guy- red leatherback- can't wait to get him home...
My new questions related to the replies I received:
Ah! A bug vacuum- I love it! So, you place the crickets/insects into a separate feeding tub/high sides, place lizard in for 10 - 15 min, remove lizard and THEN suck up the uneaten insects? Unharmed/do you serve them again?
I am going to try to stay away from putting insects into enclosure if possible...

Also, a feeding tube was mentioned... that my dragon might take to a feeding tube- I would love to hear more about a feeding tube, how it works and where I might get one

You guys are so helpful!
midwestmom

 

[Varalidaine]

I think Taterbug meant feeding TUB haha. No ones use a feeding tube unless you have a desperately ill and malnourished dragon that won't eat.

Some dragons may eat in a feeding tub, and some may not. Unfornutely, mine panicks when put in a tub, so I have to feed in his enclousure. My main staple had been Phoenix Worms, but I want him to get more protein, so now he will be getting mostly Red Runner roaches, as they don't grow as large and remain soft bodied, which lowers risk of impaction, which is especially great for babies! When I feed him worms, I just put them in a little dry dish and he eats most of them and will go back to eat the rest throughout the day, then I refeed. I've fed him crickets before and since he refused to eat in a feeding tub, I had to drop crickets in one by one as I didn't want to just drop a bunch, have him lose them, not know how many he ate, and go on a cricket hunt in his enclosure to capture them again. I will say that crickets dusted with powder are significantly easier to catch. It dulls their senses so I would come from above, press down with one finger, and then gently pinch them up. I really HATE crickets though. I would find them all over my house! No idea how they would escape.

Red Runners and Dubias are way easier to take care of. I know Reds are a little more new to the feeder world, but I prefer them over Dubia as Reds have soft bodies, are easier to take care of and breed quicker, and are the same as Dubia in that they can't climb or fly (I've heard adult male Reds can fly, so best to have a screen over the tub for precaution). They also have very high protein with nymphs (itty bitty babies) having 76% crude protein! As they get larger, the protein drops to 53% and then around feeding size they are about 37% crude protein. So they are just as nutritious as Dubia and easy to gut load to make them even better!

Oh, and make sure you gut load your crickets or Dubias! I use Repashy Superload, which is a powder I mix with hot water to form a gel patty for the buggies to eat. Crickets go crazy for it! My Reds don't seem to like it as much though. Repashy also sells a "Bug Burger" formula as well for gut loading. With either insect feeder, gut loading will be the most important thing, otherwise crickets really aren't that high in nutrition.

I personally prefer roaches to crickets, as almost anyone who has used roaches does. Crickets escape, are difficult to catch, smell AWFUL, and die off constantly. While Dubias can live for 2 years and Reds for 6 months to a year, and are naturally way higher in protein and contain more meat and less shell, making it easier for dragons to digest, which is crucial for babies as babies have a link in their intestines that won't sort out until they are bigger, so too much shell can cause impaction quite easily. Reds and Dubia are also much easier to breed, which males them very economical.

 

[Taterbug]

oops! i did mean tub! Auto correct snuck that in there. You can use toilet roll tubes or the special cricket cages with tubes in the sides of them though, the bugs hide in the tube then when you go to feed you take the tube out and you tap them out into the dusting container.

 

[midwestmom]

Ok, yes, tube/tub- I get it... I was hoping there was a special tube I could trap the crickets in and "shoot" them into a tub... but I guess it's called a toilet paper tube, lol, but that is workable! Im not a fan of crickets, we've had anoles in the past and crickets and I did not get along :shock: But owner/daughter is older and can take over the cricket job!
Are Red Runners available in the US? Do you have a favorite supplier?
We planned/hoped to feed only small/med dubia until our dragon is bigger, not sure if they are too crunchy or not?
Thank you for suggesting Repashy Superload! I do want to be sure to feed the critters well so they are full of goodness for our dragon, I will check into your suggestion

Really looking forward to ironing out a place to buy dubias, figuring out how many for a colony (wish I would have started this sooner so we had a colony to feed from when we brought our lizard home! But will order some small dubia for feeding along with the starter colony. Not many places are shipping now during the holidays.

Thank you again all of you- so helpful!

midwest mom

 

[Varalidaine]

I found my Red Runners locally by looking on Craigslist. I know http://www.rainbowmealworms.net carries them but they are currently breeding more so they won't have stock for sale for 3-4 more months they said. I have about 100 and am looking to just let them grow and turn into a colony, so if I get too many I will definitely ship them out to people! And yes, they are legal in the US. Maybe not Florida? I don't know Florida's rules about roaches and which species it includes.

Dubious should be okay, just make sure to feed smaller ones so the exoskeleton is less formed.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Ah! A bug vacuum- I love it! So, you place the crickets/insects into a separate feeding tub/high sides, place lizard in for 10 - 15 min, remove lizard and THEN suck up the uneaten insects? Unharmed/do you serve them again?
I am going to try to stay away from putting insects into enclosure if possible...

Also, a feeding tube was mentioned... that my dragon might take to a feeding tube- I would love to hear more about a feeding tube, how it works and where I might get one

You guys are so helpful!
midwestmom

I've tried the separate feeding tub 3 days running , since our two 5wk old babies came home with us, only ate in their feeding tub the first time , not long after we got home - maybe they were REALLY HUNGRY !

Not been successful getting them to eat in the separate 30L tub since , too interested in us and the surrounds. I think they're not all the hungry - getting plenty to eat.

The feeding tub http://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/ezy-storage-30l-file-box-clear-jb32lfilcl
maybe the clear see through sides on my current feeding tub is the problem , to many distractions !
Will get a similar sized tub with sides that are not transparent after Xmas and try that as a feeding tub.

the bug blaster vacuum http://www.leadthegoodlife.com/bug-buster-spider-insect-vacuum-with-9v-energizer-battery.html

So for now I've really simplified the rearing tub, removed the paper towelling bedding and resorted to dumping some crickets in with them , not a lot (only 10 today so far) . I'll remove the remaining crickets using the bug-blaster vacuum tonight , they have very few places to hide in the rearing tub now. IT'S A COMPROMISE .