Want to try new live food

[OperationReggie]

Hello! I have been using crickets as live food for my beardie and as much as he loves them i would like to try him on some new live foods, i have heard that silk worms are suitable but i would like to know what food YOU use that your beardies love! Thanks

 

[MsCarter]

Silks are the best nutritional wise but they are pricey and hard to care for. For that reason I use my next favorite as a main staple, Dubia roaches. They are so easy to care for, they don't hop or stink and my Beardie loves them. You can also use Phoenix worms and butter worms as cricket alternatives. If you want more variety, depending on your beardies size, you can offer a few hornworms and/or super worms as treats. Waxworms are another option but beware these things are like Beardie crack. They are full of fat and if fed too often a dragon can become addicted. They should only be used as treats occasionally.

I strongly recommend Dubia roaches, there are some great vendors on Amazon with decent prices. I promise you won't miss crickets after having these.

 

[kingofnobbys]

My beardies get crickets as the staple insect, I also have silkworm campaigns (I raise from eggs) and substitute some cricket meals with silkworms for variety.
Treats for the younger dragons - occasionally mealworm pupae and mealworm beetles while still soft shelled.
Treats for my adult dragon - mealworm (lavae, pupae and beetles) , superworm (lavae and pupae).

I'd HIGHLY recommend silkworms , not so hard to raise , just takes a bit of effort to keep them fed and in a good healthy environment.

If you are in the northern hemisphere, they are going to be hard to find available as worms soon , as few insect farms raise them over winter when the mulberry leaves have fallen. BUT they can raised successfully on blanched frozen mulberry leaves (thaw out the leaves as needed) or on reconstituted cooked silkworm chow (which is essentially dried powdered mulberry leaves) and silkworm eggs are available virtually year round and IMO are the most cost effective way of obtaining silkworms if you can't source the catepillars. They grow to about 3 inches long they are perfect meal for an adult bearded dragon (Rex was eating 3 or 4 in a sitting once per day when I had big silkworms last) and they have prodigious appetites for leaves as they get bigger (a couple hundred large worms will happily consume a dozen large fresh mulberry leaves per day (and perhaps more)).

Ideally the eggs will come loose in a zip lock bag or still on bits of cardboard or paper in a plastic bag and will start hatching within a week or 2 of arriving (espec if they have been stored chilled prior to shipping), another month and you'll have silkworms about the same size as mealworms (ideal for feeding to small lizards and hatchling beardies).

See my threads viewtopic.php?f=76&t=222193 for how I raise my silkworms and viewtopic.php?f=76&t=221814&p=1747546&hilit=blanch#p1747546 for how to blanch fresh mulberry leaves for freezing in bulk for use out of season.

 

[OperationReggie]

Thank you both so much for the help i will 100% try a few of these and report back

 

[MsCarter]

My beardies get crickets as the staple insect, I also have silkworm campaigns (I raise from eggs) and substitute some cricket meals with silkworms for variety.
Treats for the younger dragons - occasionally mealworm pupae and mealworm beetles while still soft shelled.
Treats for my adult dragon - mealworm (lavae, pupae and beetles) , superworm (lavae and pupae).

I'd HIGHLY recommend silkworms , not so hard to raise , just takes a bit of effort to keep them fed and in a good healthy environment.

If you are in the northern hemisphere, they are going to be hard to find available as worms soon , as few insect farms raise them over winter when the mulberry leaves have fallen. BUT they can raised successfully on blanched frozen mulberry leaves (thaw out the leaves as needed) or on reconstituted cooked silkworm chow (which is essentially dried powdered mulberry leaves) and silkworm eggs are available virtually year round and IMO are the most cost effective way of obtaining silkworms if you can't source the catepillars. They grow to about 3 inches long they are perfect meal for an adult bearded dragon (Rex was eating 3 or 4 in a sitting once per day when I had big silkworms last) and they have prodigious appetites for leaves as they get bigger (a couple hundred large worms will happily consume a dozen large fresh mulberry leaves per day (and perhaps more)).

Ideally the eggs will come loose in a zip lock bag or still on bits of cardboard or paper in a plastic bag and will start hatching within a week or 2 of arriving (espec if they have been stored chilled prior to shipping), another month and you'll have silkworms about the same size as mealworms (ideal for feeding to small lizards and hatchling beardies).

See my threads viewtopic.php?f=76&t=222193 for how I raise my silkworms and viewtopic.php?f=76&t=221814&p=1747546&hilit=blanch#p1747546 for how to blanch fresh mulberry leaves for freezing in bulk for use out of season.

I may have to look into raising silks than I would love to be able to use them as a staple for my girl just because they appear to be the best on every nutritional chart.