Worms instead of crikets?

[nena]

I am getting my beardie baby next week.. he is 3 months old.. and the breeder has been feeding him crikets and greens so far... i am terrified of the crickets though... not that i am scared of them but the noise and catching them and everything sounds like a mess... i was reading that there are several worms i can feed my beardie... i would really rather skip the crickets all together... can i do that? like just get phoenix and silk worms for him?? or do i have to feed him some crickets still??

 

[xcourtney3]

Worms would be more expensive. Honestly, my crickets are actually very quiet. I was terrified of them at first but now it's nothing.

 

[tillywally]

I agree with xcourtney. I was afraid too (I was even scared of worms) but once you see the little beardie's face you suck it up and just do it. Crickets provide a lot a protein and that's what they need to grow especially when they are young.

 

[Amellio]

I think worms would be better. Silkworms have lots of protein. It's fun to watch them chase crickets when they are young.

 

[chrismnc]

I hate crickets too but it is so much easier now that I have learned how to keep them. I also feed phoenix worms which, although expensive, are easy...but really gross!!!!! Think about what you would hate more.... maggot looking worms (at least the phoenix worms are) or crickets?

Haven't tried silkies so can't comment.

 

[nena]

Thank you guys for the replies .... so i guess i am getting the crickets... i already bought a large cricket keeper and bought those orange cubes to feed them.... i only will have one beardie... how many crickets can i keep on that large container... and xcourtney3 where do you buy your quiet crickets?

 

[chrismnc]

I don't use a cricket keeper as they are quite small. I have an 18 gal rubbermaid container and I put egg cartons in it with cricket water and food. I clean it out weekly and refill the food and water crystals about 2x a week. I also have papertowel rolls in there for getting the crix out easily. All crix are quiet, until they are adults.

 

[Grixxly15]

It's the adult males that make chirping noise. When you buy your crickets it's nice to feed the males off first to make sure you have no chippers.

 

[chrismnc]

I didn't know that it was just males... how do you know who's male? I've never had any of mine chirp...yet. Maybe because I get 1/2" and they are fed off before they mature.???

 

[zebraflavencs]

Have you considered... roaches ? They look like beetles, and have more protein per insect than any others. Easy to raise, and breed, no smell, no chirping, no living outside the bin either
Just a thought
Janie.

 

[chrismnc]

no living outside the bin either

Don't want to steal this post, but how to you keep them (roaches) from living outside the bin?

 

[DragonsInKansas]

Most roach species that are popular feeders cannot survive in our climates. That's why people who live in Flordia cannot get dubias (roaches) shipped to them, it's because Flordia has the right enviroment for the roaches to live outside the bin. So if a roach website is willing to ship you roaches, it means that you live in an area where the roaches would die if they escaped from their rubbermaid........and it would be hard for them to escape, it would only be possible if you turned the bin over and tapped it.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Chris, being that they are Tropical insects, they need just that sort of environment to survive more than a few days. I normally find mine dead next to the viv stands, or in the bathroom (only one of those, got loose when i fed the geckos in the bedroom, next to the bathroom).
Janie.

 

[nena]

wow roaches??? i think i will be more freaked out about the roaches than the crickets... but then again insects are insects etiher way... i guess i'll look into it... so i was discussing it with my breeder and he said the same thing that since im getting 1/2" crickets they shouldnt make noise... and he said to store them in a rubbermaid container and keep some in the cricket keeper for feeding... i guess i will buy some to start and see how the little guy does... then maybe i'll get silk worms.. or roaches... (ick! i still can not picture myself feeding roaches to my beardie!!) but hey if that's what he likes.. im sure he'll go ick when he sees me eating beef! hehe

 

[DragonsInKansas]

I find roaches easier to deal with than crickets. They don't seem to have such an evil plan to escape. They don't smell 1/10th as bad as crickets and the ones that aren't adults look like rolly-pollies (totally not how you spell that). The ones that look like typical "roaches" are the adults and usually you leave those to breed so you don't have to mess with them much.

Once you have crickets for a while and that smell starts to get to you, roaches will look alot more appealing