Some questions about reptiworms *urgent*

[CiaraAlexisOnFire]

My dragon seems to get constipated after he eats crickets. He is 6 years old, maybe that's too old to be eating crickets? I'm guessing he cant digest the exo-skeleton very well. I can't feed him crickets anymore, so I need to order another feeder really soon.

I need an alternative to crickets, and reptiworms seem to be alright.
-Do they have exo-skeletons?
-Can they be fed as much as crickets?

If not, can you reccomend another alternative to crickets? (but no roaches please).

Thanks so much
- CiaraAlexisOnFire and Dude.

 

[AchiKat]

i would get a small 100ct cup to see how your dragon likes them, all you gotta do is throw a handfull in a steep sided bowl and leave them in there, they are soft boddied and most dragons love them. mines stopped eating them after they turned black, i think she has an aversion to the color or something.

 

[catUK]

Reptiworms are high in calcium and very nutritious, as well as being soft- they don't need dusted with additional calcium powder but still need vitamin supplements. The only thing with these worms, i found, is that they are small so my beardie wont look at them twice since she's gotten older / bigger. Other alternatives are superworms (they're long and wriggly and easier to digest than mealworms- they're ok to feed to a beardie over 16 inces), silkworms (can be expensive), hornworms, butterworms, locusts. My beardie went off crickets at about 10 months old. I feed her a mix of locusts and superworms (but not too many supers as they are quite fatty). She also enjoys the occasional butterworm- they're low in fat contrary to the name and are more nutritious than crickets from what i've read.

 

[CiaraAlexisOnFire]

What I'm asking is, can I feed these repti-worms just like I would feed crickets to him? Are they safe to feed him a lot? Is it a good staple diet?

I know superworms you're not suppost to feed a lot of, but are repti-worms okay?

 

[AchiKat]

makes an excellent staple, just the right cah ratio no need to calcium dust, just the multi vitamins, i hear it can get expencive once your dragon starts to eat 100 a day lol

 

[CiaraAlexisOnFire]

Thanks
And what about silkworms? Good staple diet or no?

And they both dont have exo-skeletons, do they?

 

[AchiKat]

not sure about silkies, waiting for some to come in the mail so my girl can try them out. i hear they are good for beardies tho, and yes, both are soft bodied

 

[catUK]

Most of the ones i mentioned are good as a staple, however beardies should be fed a variety anyway so its good to mix. Silkworms are a good staple feeder but expensive and hard to keep- they require a special diet and can die easily so not many people use them as a staple. This site has some good descriptions of each type of feeder: http://beardeddragoncaresheet.weebly.com/feeding-and-watering.html

 

[CiaraAlexisOnFire]

Reptiworms sound pretty good, I think that's what i'll have to switch to, and probably an occasional mealworm or something. Thanks for your help!

 

[wendytx]

I don't think you should consider mealworms. They are harder to digest than crickets. That's why their are not recommended for baby dragons.

 

[CiaraAlexisOnFire]

Oh, thats right...
i'll have to figure something else out

 

[blue11]

YUP! repti-worms are a great staple!