When staple insects are hard to find?

[any2117]

Hello everyone and thanks for this wonderful forum!
I do not own a bearded dragon yet, but I'm doing all the research I can before (if...) I make the purchase and I've found a HUGE problem with the whole feeding thing.

If I do buy a dragon, I would buy an adult, so from what I've read, I'll have to offer 70% veggies and greens and 30% insects. The veggies and greens are not a problem. The insects on the other hand...

I live in a small country and reptiles are sort of "new" for people to have as pets. The only reliably available feeder insect for me are mealworms because I do have a small colony. I know these are not the best (or good at all) insects for a bearded. But getting roaches, silworms, hornworms or calciworms is impossible here. Superworms are available only on occasion and crickets depend on the amount of reptiles the keepers/stores have (meaning they'll only sell if they have extras, they don't supply. Plus they cost 25 cents per cricket :shock. I can't breed crickets myself because I can't even get enough to get started (not a money issue, an amount of crickets available issue). The only other insects I could offer the bearded would be mealworms or wild caught crickets/locusts which could be dangerous from what I've read around.
It would be very sporadic to get insects other than mealworms. I can get commercial bearded dragon food by ordering online from the US, but I can't order live insects because of regulations.
I'm more than willing to use other kinds of meat, but I've read very little about that so I figured is not healthy at all. I do have a reliable source of pinkies (of course snakes had to be more popular... :? )

Question is... is there any solution for me at all? I do not have the bearded yet because I really want to take good care of it and the insects are driving me crazy because of how hard they are to get. I'm thinking maybe I shouldn't get a dragon at all

Anyway, any help or opinion is MORE than welcome and greatly appreciated!!

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....I have a few suggestions, but before that I'm wondering if you are importing this beardie or getting it from a breeder ? If it's from a breeder, ask him /her how they take care of their beardies. As far as feeders, you CAN use a certain amount of mealworms as part of a healthy diet. If you Google their nutrition content, they are decent enough to feed once a week or so, so don't count them out. Next, if you can get superworms, you can breed them as well. There are instructions here in the " feeders " forum. Another source of protein is scrambled egg. If you can microwave one for a minute [ or cook another way with no oil ] most dragons enjoy them. I feed my dragons egg once in a while, sometimes up to once a week with, just a few 1 inch pieces at a time and refrigerate the rest. Finally, you can feed wild caught insects once in a while as long as you are SURE there is no pesticide spraying near your area. Beardies love nightcrawlers, so if you can find those at night they provide calcium, protein + lots of moisture. So if there are beardies for sale in your country, then plan ahead and then go on and get one and take care of him according to the breeder's recommendations or just use the methods I mentioned.

 

[Isbe]

You ever think of getting an iguana instead? They do not require live pray only fruits and vegetables. My son has one and they are best friends. I love my Dragon but iguana's are way easier to own because you do not have to deal with live pray. They do require a LARGE space to live though.

 

[any2117]

AHBD--Thanks a lot!!! Yes, I may be able to get nightcrawlers if I dig around on the yard, or I'll also ask around on fishing stores and see if they can supply some. The beardies here are all imported. The ones on pet shops (they got them around a month ago and they have NO idea what to do with them... they'll probably kill them all ) are fed only mealworms and lettuce. I tried explaining them that they need to vary their diets but no luck there... even their poor snakes were being given mealworms! Anyway, the keepers rarely breed, they import them and then resell here. I'll try to talk to a few of the keepers and see what exactly they do with them. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Isbe-- Ive had green iguanas before, actually....! But you just mentioned the problem. They need lots and lots of space that I can't provide... but that would've been nice...! Thanks!

 

[BrianB]

This is going to be an unpopular opinion, I'm sure, but here ya go:

If you're buying an adult, get one that will take Rep Cal pellets. Feed a varied salad, and the pellets. I have two 12.5 year old beardies who I stopped feeding live prey to about five or six years ago. They're in fine health. Active, alert, and their blood panels are all in the normal range.

My little female just went through major surgery a couple of weeks ago (long story, but reproductive issue not caused by diet) and came through it fine. She's pretty much back to her normal self, and has gained back 62g (she'd lost over 50g just from removal of cysts in her coelum) without any live feeders.

I found this video just the other day from a breeder, which offers another opinion on feeding, which I think is worth watching:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU-r0C5iZ8M

Hope this helps.