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!!
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!!