question about amount of crickets being eaten

[johnnytrad]

Hi,
Very new to all of this and had a concern I was hoping someone could address.
I have a baby (Aprrox 6 inches long) and have been feeding him/her small crickets twice a day.
I see posts saying how they could eat 50 to 100 in a day. i dont see how that is possible as there is only so much room in the little guys belly! :shock:
He isnt eating anything other than live crickets. I have some pellets that he wont touch.
on average he is eating approx 15 to 20 crickets per day tops. They are dusted in calcium each feeding period.
Sometimes they hide under things if he doesnt eat them right away which is a pain.
Is he getting enough food is my concern.
Any comments are appreciated.

 

[BeardieGrandma]

you'd be amazed as to how many crickets those little guys can pack away.

I used to feed the crickets in a separate bin so I could a) monitor her intake b) make sure there weren't any loose crickets left in her tank - as they can harrass your beardie at night, chew on them, etc.

A funny story I have about that is I used to worry about how many she could eat, she would pack them away. I was worrying that she was eating too much so I was cutting her down from 40 to 25 crickets. I forgot to tell my son that I had fed her, and he came up to me about 30 minutes after I had fed her 25 and said - hey Mom, I just fed Joga 25 crickets! She had basically hypnotized him into thinking she hadn't eaten yet.

So, as long as you are careful about the size (no larger than the space between their eyes - large prey can impact your baby) and they are pooping regularly, feed as much as they'll eat in a 10-15 minute period. Some lizards eat like pigs like the ones you've read about, others eat a little lighter, so if yours isn't mowing down 100 crickets a day, don't worry, it's not an absolute rule. You just need to make sure they eat consistently and often (especially when they are little), and keep the veggies going as well, even if they ignore them. Feed the pellets to the crickets if your lizard won't eat them, that way they won't go to waste and the crickets will be more nutritious.

 

[finnie]

Mine hated the pellets at first, but now loves them. The ones I have are different colours, and his favourite is the brown and red ones... totally ignores the green ones. They probably remind him of greens (which he is convinced he hates). Don't forget to wet the pellets. I was at the pet store the other day, and they had a bowl of pellets for the baby beardies - dry. Yuck!

 

[catUK]

I used to worry about the amount mine ate when she was a juvie- she would only eat a maximium of about 30 per day or less (fed over 2-3 feedings). She has just turned 1 and is 17.5 inches, 480g- vet said she was healthy with good bone density etc. You could try phoenix or repti worms as well as the crickets to see if he'll eat those too. As BeardieGrandma said, its not a complete rule and keep on offering the live foods and salad often

 

[Denduran87]

make sure the set up is good too with a proper UVB bulb and good temperatures. My guy is on the high end of the spectrum and goes through 1000 in less than 2 weeks but it is a large spectrum as i have been told.

 

[sinko562]

yeah ms.gaga is the same way! she only eat 15-20 a day.. but goes crazy for her romaine.. like ill drop 30 crickets in shell eat 20 then chill in the basking area ill come back 4 hrs later and toss in a piece of romaine and shell eat the whole stock but wont touch any of the left over crickets. i figured since BD actually have prefences in what they like/unlike i was gonna buy baby dubia since people say BD go crazy for them. i figured ms.gaga doesnt really like crickets haha she's 3months now and about 9 1-2 inches and only eat 15-20 crickets a day its been like that since ive had her.

 

[Denduran87]

yeah ms.gaga is the same way! she only eat 15-20 a day.. but goes crazy for her romaine.. like ill drop 30 crickets in shell eat 20 then chill in the basking area ill come back 4 hrs later and toss in a piece of romaine and shell eat the whole stock but wont touch any of the left over crickets. i figured since BD actually have prefences in what they like/unlike i was gonna buy baby dubia since people say BD go crazy for them. i figured ms.gaga doesnt really like crickets haha she's 3months now and about 9 1-2 inches and only eat 15-20 crickets a day its been like that since ive had her.

Pretty sure romaine is not a good staple green, they love it but there is no nutritional value.

 

[sinko562]

yeah ms.gaga is the same way! she only eat 15-20 a day.. but goes crazy for her romaine.. like ill drop 30 crickets in shell eat 20 then chill in the basking area ill come back 4 hrs later and toss in a piece of romaine and shell eat the whole stock but wont touch any of the left over crickets. i figured since BD actually have prefences in what they like/unlike i was gonna buy baby dubia since people say BD go crazy for them. i figured ms.gaga doesnt really like crickets haha she's 3months now and about 9 1-2 inches and only eat 15-20 crickets a day its been like that since ive had her.

Pretty sure romaine is not a good staple green, they love it but there is no nutritional value.

REALLY!?! alot of the care sheets and articles and members on this site say its actually good...

 

[Denduran87]

yeah ms.gaga is the same way! she only eat 15-20 a day.. but goes crazy for her romaine.. like ill drop 30 crickets in shell eat 20 then chill in the basking area ill come back 4 hrs later and toss in a piece of romaine and shell eat the whole stock but wont touch any of the left over crickets. i figured since BD actually have prefences in what they like/unlike i was gonna buy baby dubia since people say BD go crazy for them. i figured ms.gaga doesnt really like crickets haha she's 3months now and about 9 1-2 inches and only eat 15-20 crickets a day its been like that since ive had her.

Pretty sure romaine is not a good staple green, they love it but there is no nutritional value.

REALLY!?! alot of the care sheets and articles and members on this site say its actually good...

Yea here it is from beautiful dragons about romaine

Poor nutritional value, high vit. A (26 IU/g), high oxalates

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

 

[sinko562]

Oh wow thanks for that very informational I've only been feeding her romaine once everyday for the last weekor so.. I seen the worms andcrickets on the list but I know dubia are better then crickets but didn't see them on that list

 

[Jamiedog]

But it would be okay to offer some as a very occasional treat, I would think. If she really loves it. Think of it as a beardie chocolate bar, perhaps - okay occasionally, but not something you'd want to put away three times a day.

(My Wave loves egg, but she sadly has only had it... three times in her life, I think? It's also on the "feed rarely" list, like the romaine. Those three times haven't done her any damage that I can see, and I'll continue to offer her the occasional bite since she loves it so much, but definitely not something she's going to get on a daily basis!)

 

[sinko562]

but the thing with the dubia roaches like on this site alot of people on this site rather feed there BD dubia instead of crickets since crickets are high in fat and dubia are easier to digest, high in cal.

 

[Denduran87]

but the thing with the dubia roaches like on this site alot of people on this site rather feed there BD dubia instead of crickets since crickets are high in fat and dubia are easier to digest, high in cal.

Here is what i have found on them

Species
Moisture %
Protein %
Fat %
Ash %







Dubia Roach
61 %
36 %
7 %
2 %

Trukistan Roach
64 %
37 %
5.5 %
2 %

crickets
74%
18%
6%
1%

Mealworm
59 %
10 %
13 %
1 %

Silkworm
76 %
64 %
10 %
7.5 %

Phoenixworm
N/A
17 %
9.5%
N/A

Superworm
59 %
20 %
16 %
1 %

Waxworm
61 %
16 %
11 %
1 %