Phoenix Worm Questions!

[blondie098]

Ok, so Quasi has a hard time with live feeders, yet he looooves to hunt. We pick out the white soft supers that have just shed, because they are so much easier for him to chew (he is missing 1/2 of his upper teeth). He bolts across his cage or jumps a foot at a time to run and get 'em.

So winter is upon us, and we are getting ready to order some worms in before it gets too cold. We usually order a few thousand small supers, because they have time to grow and keep well.

With Quasi's MBD, we are very on top of his getting his calcium, etc. He is a little over 16 inches now. Crash is about 21" and Psycho is about 20", and are fat & sassy adults.

So... who feeds their adults Phoenix worms? How many do you feed adults? We are giving Psycho & Crash live feeders a couple times a week with supers now (4-7 each time, 2x week). I'm just not sure what the consensus is on PW?

Quasi's head is smaller than most dragons because of his mistreatment before we took him in. So he looks like a baby compared to our other dragons. Not sure if we should order a couple different sizes maybe? We give Quasi 3/4 - 1" feeders.

Do PW grow bigger as they age? And how fast do they get bigger?
How long would a tub last (shelf-life)?
Follow the space-between-eyes rule?
How many per feeding?

Thanks for any info, we've never tried them, but are intrigued because of the 1:5:1 ratio.

 

[Beardednoob]

With being a soft bodied feeder PW's can be feed just over the "space between the eye rule" for a healthy dragon. For yous I would still follow the rule until you know he can eat them okay. But, at 16 inches I don't think there is a PW that would be too large. They should keep on the shelf for 1-2 weeks if you follow the small guide for them. Basically says to add a few drops of water if the substrate gets dry. I am not sure what they feed on as I haven't ever had to feed them. My dragons plow through food like it is the last time they are gonna eat. LOL Is he still recovering from MBD? If he is I would let him eat 30-50 of these maybe every 1-2 days. They are high in calcium and a good feeder so if he exceeds that amount I wouldn't worry too much about it. I have heard they make a good live feeder staple.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Feeding

 

[blondie098]

I think 30-50 would make my poor little guy explode, because I think he could handle the larger size (3/4 inch or 1 inch, I assume they are the largest two sizes). I just don't want them to go to waste, although I think Psycho & Crash would gobble them up too. I just don't know anything about the PW's at all, except what I've read on the website from Georgia.

 

[Paradon]

I hear it's pretty good. I know Allan Repashy feeds them to his crested geckos to help speed up the growth rate in hatchlings. Allan Repashy is a world renoun crested gecko breeder and he loves using them. He talks about it on his forum. So I am assuming they are great. 1.5:1 is a very good calcium to phosphorous ratio. Ratio of 2:1 or 1, 1.5:1 are all good. You can have almost any amount of calcium and phosphorous in your body. If the ratio is correct, your body will excrete the excess. However, if the ratio is way off, your animals will suffer a great deal. PW have a natural calcium to phosphorous ratio of 1.5:1, making them the ideal feeders.

 

[kimmie]

I think 30-50 would make my poor little guy explode, because I think he could handle the larger size (3/4 inch or 1 inch, I assume they are the largest two sizes). I just don't want them to go to waste, although I think Psycho & Crash would gobble them up too. I just don't know anything about the PW's at all, except what I've read on the website from Georgia.

You'd be surprised at the amount of PW's they can eat at one sitting! I know Angie was eating at one time - 30-50 at a sitting (her breakfast usually). That's the only reason I switched to another feeder was it was WAY too pricey. I'd love to have her go back to them, maybe now that she's eating normally I'll try!

 

[Beardednoob]

I think 30-50 would make my poor little guy explode, because I think he could handle the larger size (3/4 inch or 1 inch, I assume they are the largest two sizes). I just don't want them to go to waste, although I think Psycho & Crash would gobble them up too. I just don't know anything about the PW's at all, except what I've read on the website from Georgia.

You'd be surprised at the amount of PW's they can eat at one sitting! I know Angie was eating at one time - 30-50 at a sitting (her breakfast usually). That's the only reason I switched to another feeder was it was WAY too pricey. I'd love to have her go back to them, maybe now that she's eating normally I'll try!

Yeah, I was gonna say my dragons, at the largest are only 11 inches and they will totally take out 30 of these in a sitting. :shock:

 

[Sapphire]

I think 30-50 would make my poor little guy explode, because I think he could handle the larger size (3/4 inch or 1 inch, I assume they are the largest two sizes). I just don't want them to go to waste, although I think Psycho & Crash would gobble them up too. I just don't know anything about the PW's at all, except what I've read on the website from Georgia.

Phoenix worms aren't very big. The largest size they reach is only about as long as a penny... So 30-50 isn't as much as you might think. As for how long they keep, if you get large size they will eventually turn into flies if you keep them too long, or they'll just turn black and die. They are a good staple but they might get a bit expensive if you use them as a staple for three dragons.