Supers as staple?

[Trogdorpheus]

Hey all, I was just wondering what people's opinions were on using supers as a staple for my beardie. She's about a year old maybe, 18" long, and since she's had supers in her diet she pretty much refuses to eat her roaches and such... I don't really wanna bother with breeding both if she'll only eat one of them. And I suppose if supers are a safe way to go for her, then I'll be having a well established discoid colony to rid myself of, lol.

 

[techdave]

Supers are often used as a staple. As long as your beardie is 16" or longer it's fine.

 

[dnrtn2342]

My older male, Buddy, is 17 1/2" and will basically only eat supers after I found out that he can safely eat them. Introduce them slow if you haven't already. Monitor his poo and make sure its digested properly. If not check your temps. Never bred supers but they are pretty easy to keep in mass quantities. Just make sure they have moisture and food, I use uncooked oats and carrots. Check online (faunaclassifieds, kingsnake.com) for best deals of superworms.

Danny

 

[Grogshla]

crickets are the best staple. Use supers or reptiworms a few feeds per week

 

[dnrtn2342]

Not exactly true. Dubias actually have better meat to shell ratio then crickets. Supers do have higher amounts of chitin then crickets. But if you have correct temps and monitor beardies poop for signs of undigestion you should be fine as long as the bd in question is over 16".

Danny

 

[Grogshla]

dubias have more fat in them than crickets
if you get small - medium crickets you will be fine. They don't make any noise only the big ones do. Their shell is soft and they have lots of protein.
I don't understand why people would risk feeding anything else.
Personally i feed crickets and then some woodies here and there.

 

[suzuki4life]

Crickets are probably one of the fastest growing and reproducing feeders you can get (aside from hornworms). They are definitely the cheapest option.

 

[dnrtn2342]

Speaking from experience, I have spent less time,money, and trouble on dubias and superworms then I ever spent on crix.

 

[Trogdorpheus]

I know the different feeders and all of them have their advantages. Having gone through dealing with crickets before, I'm not willing to deal with them again. My girl has been eating supers for maybe... 6 months now since she hit the 16" mark, never had problems digesting them... its just that now since she's come out of brumation she's refusing to eat her roaches.

 

[dnrtn2342]

How long has she been out of brumation? Picky eaters after brumation give her time. If not supers are exactly what I feed my older male.

 

[Trogdorpheus]

She's been out for maybe a month? I started her on the roaches since my discoid colony is more established than my supers, but once I gave her a few supers she's been refusing the discoids. She was eating them just fine... but not so much now.

 

[wes]

I don't understand why people like supers so much. Is it because they are cheap and can be bred? According to Grubco, superworms have more fat than protein, and are fattier than mealworms, and I've never heard mealworms being promoted as a staple.

Lately, we've been offering our beardie freshly molted adult dubia males, which he loves almost as much as hornworms. He's not as interested in the freshly molted nymphs -- must be the wings. Matt, you have an advantage with discoids.

 

[Jess]

I use supers as a staple. *shrug* Dudley loves them, they are cheap, and they are low maintenance. Not everyone can have roaches in their house, or afford to use "fancier" staples like silks and hornworms, and not every beardie likes crickets. (Dudley isn't fond of them)

 

[suzuki4life]

I don't understand why people like supers so much. Is it because they are cheap and can be bred? According to Grubco, superworms have more fat than protein, and are fattier than mealworms, and I've never heard mealworms being promoted as a staple.

Lately, we've been offering our beardie freshly molted adult dubia males, which he loves almost as much as hornworms. He's not as interested in the freshly molted nymphs -- must be the wings. Matt, you have an advantage with discoids.

yes but discoids grow very large for a beardie...some adults will not venture to eat an adult discoid roach.

Now Frilleds, they attack pretty much anything insect....or cat :lol:

 

[Trogdorpheus]

Ha, yeah when she wants them, she'll eat em. I've seen her take 4 or 5 adult males in a sitting just to look up at me with that "I can haz moar?!" look... but now she refuses anything but supers.