What worms to use for my dragon

[gospotgo]

I have purchased a 2 month old beardie and will be picking him up in about 2 weeks. I'm trying to figure out what feeders to get for him. I would like to go the worm route, and I would like to know how much my dragon will eat of the different worms. I was originally going to use Phoenix worms, but I did some research and saw that he would eat 60-75 per feeding. I was also looking at silkworms and phoenix worms. How much would my dragon eat of these in one feeding?

 

[MyBeardyDOG]

beardeis should have small crickets at that age. worms should be a treat. my beardie loves mealworms, hes the same age as yours.

 

[gospotgo]

I would not feed mealworms, even as a treat. They contain lots of chitin and often cause impaction, particularly in younger bearded dragons

 

[Kaiser]

I would not feed mealworms, even as a treat. They contain lots of chitin and often cause impaction, particularly in younger bearded dragons

I agree with this.

You can use worms as a staple, so long as you're using the right ones. Black soldier fly larvae (under the brand names of Phoenix Worms and ReptiWorms) and silk worms are generally considered good staples. Superworms (as long as your bearded dragon is at least 16 inches in length) and hornworms can also be used as staples, though there may be varying opinions about them. If you're thinking about Phoenix Worms and/or silkworms, I think they'd be excellent feeders (silk worms in particular have some of the best nutritional content of all the feeders available).

There are generally pros and cons with all feeders, so it's always good to do some research and, if possible, to provide a variety of different feeders for a balanced diet.

As for how many they will eat, it generally varies between bearded dragons. It all depends on their appetites; some will eat very little, while others will eat a lot, and both will generally grow up healthy. If you want a rough estimate, I suppose the 60-75 seems reasonable in terms of Phoenix Worms. For a personal estimate, my bearded dragon, at about two months of age, would eat around 100-150 black soldier fly larvae per sitting. Again, it varies between bearded dragons.

Unfortunately, I do not know much about how many silkworms are fed per feeding. Unfortunately, they're pretty expensive and relatively difficult to keep, so I don't know of many people who use them as a staple. So hopefully someone else can help you out there. Hope you enjoy your bearded dragon's company when you pick him up. Cheers.