reptile pellets any good?

[dabeardednoob]

I have seen a couple of site where they sell reptile pellets and i was just wondering are they any good for ya dragon

 

[Phoenix17June2009]

i will drop a few in wiht my salads but for the most part the only thing i use them for are for my roaches... they like them more than my dragon does lol!!

 

[hammerhead]

My beardies never touched them 'till I moistened them with water, then they loved them. That was when they were babies, now they eat dubias and greens.

 

[Phoenix17June2009]

yea mine likes them when they have been soaked with water as well, but thats only when i'm at work and hes run out of his salad, he will eat around them at first but will eat them but they arent his favorite, now my roaches get them lol

 

[dabeardednoob]

Thanx guys i guess that answers my question i was generally looking for a alternative to live crickets do to the fact my girlfriend is afraid of them

 

[Phoenix17June2009]

you could use Phoenix worms, they are slow, small, dont escape, dont bite (as far as i know) the only problem is they are small and a bit expensive, but they are a good staple and easy! might be worth looking into. Also if it helps I'm TERRIFIED of worms/or any bug,lol, i have gotten somewhat over the fear but i still dont handle any bugs/worms w/o my feeding tongs lol

 

[bluesoda025]

Phoenix worms are not by any means slow. At least, not in my experience. They travel pretty far and quickly for their size, LOL. Once they start moving or "wake up" after you take them out of the tub, they never stop moving. It's pretty annoying when you put them in the tank and they all scatter or burrow under the shelf liner before my dragon gets to them. But they are a good staple, if you can afford them regularly.. So expensive.. $10 for 100 of them, which my dragon could eat in 3-4 days (and she was semi-brumating!). So that is at least $10-20 per week.. It was just too expensive for me to use as a staple feeder.

Oh and I'm disgusted and terrified of bugs/worms as well (except for silkworms, which I find cute, lol!), so I don't handle any of my dragon's feeders EVER, with the exception of silkworms. Being Chinese, I naturally think chopsticks are the handiest utensils ever, so I just use my feeder chopsticks, which work for catching ANY feeder. Yes, even crickets! I don't care if it's more time consuming, I still use chopsticks to catch crickets. It's better than touching those smelly things, haha.

 

[Phoenix17June2009]

I have always had an old butter top that i put my phoenix worms in ... so i guess i didnt think about when they are just in the tank,hmm, interesting point. I never had any escape from me (to my knowledge)

 

[bluesoda025]

Yeah, I probably should've used a better container, but I couldn't find anything around the house. Everything's either too shallow or too tall!
What I did was I put them in the veggie dish, but it was too shallow apparently. Because they all piled on top of each other in order to make a getaway, lol. Before I knew it, several of them had managed to climb out of it.
It is mildly disturbing and gross to find some phoenix worms burrowed under the shelf liner when you lift it out for cleaning... and still alive sometimes!

 

[dabeardednoob]

wow i didnt think of phoenix worms thanx guys. so i can use these when i get my baby bd. and also would this replace the crickets (meaning can i give the worms and veggies only) and those still have to be powerded with the cal right... sorry for the bone head question but the name explains it all this will be my first venture into the world of beardies

 

[bluesoda025]

Honestly, I'm not sure if you would want to use phoenix worms as a staple, unless you don't mind paying $10 per 100 of them which only lasts a few days at most. I have heard of adult beardies eating the whole tub in one sitting, so there goes $10 in one feeding. I guess there aren't really any better alternatives, if your girlfriend is afraid of crickets. I'm guessing she would be even more afraid of roaches. :lol:

But if you do decide to use phoenix worms, then yes they do replace crickets. They are one of the best staples. They are way better than crix because they're so high in calcium that you don't even need to dust them with calcium, although you still need to dust them with herptivite.

If you don't mind taking up a challenge (and more time), you could try ordering 1000 silkworm eggs with some silkworm chow and hatching those. Silkworms are also one of, if not, THE best staples and they are cute (or maybe it's just me who thinks this :lol, extremely slow, and harmless, but they're probably the most work to take care of out of all feeders. Actually, it's not that bad, but you do need to make sure they're sufficiently fed and often enough (I have problems with my silkworm chow drying out too fast.. not very humid here!).

 

[dabeardednoob]

thanx i will look into that as well