Potential Feeders

[allusiontoanillusion]

I recently adopted Haku, my three month old beardie, and I've discovered that I absolutely hate dealing with crickets, especially the smell. If they were the only option, I'd make the sacrifice but Haku will eat pretty much anything and I've done research on other potential staples and, honestly, anything seems better than crickets. So what are your preferred feeders? I'm a college student so ideally I'd like something that's not too much of a strain on my wallet.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

Dubia roaches.

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah a dubia colony is probably your best bet in the long run for staple bugs. A little more expensive with the initial order but after a few months the colony should become self sustaining. They're really easy to care for too. I'd add in some black soldier fly larvae and silk worms now and then for variety.

http://www.southtexasdragons.com/dubia-roaches.html

 

[SDragons]

What size bin and how often do you clean out any dead crickets?

Our cricket bins have never smelled.

I keep them in 2 large Rubbermaid containers. I cut the centre off the top of the lid and duct taped screening over the hole. I keep around 100 crickets per bin.

Inside I place 5 cardboard drink holders vertically. And a couple of paper towel rolls or toilet paper rolls.

And place the food (apples, carrots, etc) and water on aluminum foil. Food is replaced a couple of times a week.

I remove any dead crickets I see every day.

Once a week I recycle all the cardboard and the aluminum foil food containers. Then rinse out with water.

 

[allusiontoanillusion]

Thanks, I'll definitely look into a dubia colony. I live in an apartment with some roommates so I don't have a ton of free space. Assuming you guys have dubia colonies, how much room do they take up? I'd only need to feed one growing beardie so I wouldn't think I'd need a huge one but he does eat a lot.

Some other advice I got was to use superworms dusted with calcium as a staple but I've seen conflicting opinions about superworms on this site.

 

[allusiontoanillusion]

What size bin and how often do you clean out any dead crickets?

Our cricket bins have never smelled.

I keep them in 2 large Rubbermaid containers. I cut the centre off the top of the lid and duct taped screening over the hole. I keep around 100 crickets per bin.

Inside I place 5 cardboard drink holders vertically. And a couple of paper towel rolls or toilet paper rolls.

And place the food (apples, carrots, etc) and water on aluminum foil. Food is replaced a couple of times a week.

I remove any dead crickets I see every day.

Once a week I recycle all the cardboard and the aluminum foil food containers. Then rinse out with water.

When I first got Haku I wasn't sure what insects I'd commit to feeding him regularly, so I just got a week's worth of crickets and kept them in a standard cricket keeper. I put some egg carton in there and replaced the food a few times over the course of the week or whenever I noticed it was starting to look dried up. Generally, I'd clean dead crickets out every other day.

Honestly, it's not an inherently bad smell. I just happen to dislike it. Most people I've spoken to say that crickets tend to have a very distinct smell and you either don't mind it or you hate it.

 

[DaisyDragon123]

You'll like the roaches. They don't smell. I cannot stand that cricket smell. Unfortunately my dragon now hate roaches, sigh.

 

[Sheila3300]

I don't feed crickets since my beardie is a class pet (deal was no crickets). Since I have had him I have fed him worms.
Pheonix worms are a great staple, but expensive. I now do a variety of superworms (staple), wax, horn and silk worms. My only issue is seeing if superworms are too fattening.
Will look into a roach colony, but restricted in a classroom.
On worms, mine has grown very well.