Where to go, what to buy

[MuhNamesTyler]

Hey guys, I've had my beardie a few days now and was wondering where to buy live or frozen food and exactly what I should be feeding my lil guy. I want to give him some variety in his diet but after reading a few things saying that small mealworms weren't good for baby beardies cause their harder for them to digest, I figure I'd ask you guys before wasting my money and possibly endangering Dude's life. I've been feeding him crickets, greens, and some veggies. Dude is about 5 1/2 inches and I guess 2 - 2 1/2 months old???

This is the little guy you'll be helpin :headbang: hehe

So how about it guys?? What should I be feeding my baby beardie and where online should I go to order??

Apologies in advance as I'm sure this question has been asked before but I kinda just wanna interact with the community too :wink: . So two birds blah blah

 

[BeardieLennie]

I would reccommend live (babies love to catch their food, and its amusing watching them!). Babies eat 80% Insects and only 20% greens/veg. As they get older, they start eating more plant matter and less insects. Babies love crickets. When you buy crickets for them, you want to get the 1/4 inch crickets. A rule of thumb when feeding crickets is the cricket is smaller than in between the beardie's two eyes. I get my beardie's food from:
www.feedersource.com
They are cheaper than pet stores. Its a good idea to gut-load the crickets as well. This means feeding them greens and veggies so that you beardie gets that extra nutrition. You can buy a cricket keeper at a pet store or just keep them in a plastic tote, aquarium, etc. Before feeding them, twice a week, coat the crickets in calcium powder you can buy at a pet store. I would also try handfeeding your baby. It is a great bonding experience. I would not feed many meal worms or wax worms. They are high in fat and the meal worms have a hard exo-skeleton. Dubia Roaches are also good feeders. They are easy to breed and low maintence. They also can't climb, jump, bite, stink, etc. You would want to feed babies to your beardie (again the rule of thumb for feeding rule).

 

[beachgirl5757]

I highly recommend georgiacrickets.com. I just ordered 1000 crickets from there. They all arrived healthy and in the masses! Lol! I guess thats what you get when you order so many crickets. I also ordered 100 medium phoenix worms. They were in great shape too. Super fast shipping too. I ordered on Thursday and received them on Friday. The people were beyond helpful in helping me. I ordered the mega cricket keeper and the cricket food, odor control, and water. I called and left a message and they texted me back after business hours to make sure everything was ok and I had figured out what to do. I must say I am highly impressed!

As far as food I have heard to stay clear of mealworms that they can cause an impaction. Crickets and phoenix worms can be a staple. You can also do dubia roaches (I personally don't think I can handle roaches they gross me out!). Superworms you can do on occasion, however the breeder told me this was equal to us eating 4 mcdonalds hamburgers...so use them sparingly and as a treat. Make sure your little guy is getting greens too

 

[MuhNamesTyler]

Sorry for the late response, I thought I already did. :? lol


@ BeardedLennie Thanks for the advice and I'll definitely check out the website. It's hard to know where to go and what's good, there are some many options out there. I have been "gut loading" them and I just started using the calcium a few days ago. This is only to be done twice a week?? Will doing more so overload their systems or something?? Just curious.
I fed him one or two mealworms (good thing he wasn't that hungry) before realizing that they were in fact harmful to their digestive systems. Man, Petsmart really doesn't have a clue. Thanks for your help !!!

@ Beachgirl5757 I will check this one out as well. Good customer service goes a long way with me, especially when ordering online and stuff. And I am so with you on the Roaches ha. I will pick up spiders, scorpions, literally any other insect but any kind of roach....there's just something about them, I turn into a 1950's house wife who stands on top of tables screaming while poking at stuff with a broom :/ . I can't explain it and it actually makes me mad that I get all grossed out around them. lol