Bearded dragon pellet food?

[Andyurgay]

Just out of curiosity, what is the general thought of beardie pellet foods? I've been browsing the forum for a while and haven't seen any thing about them. Good, bad or just not worth it? My brother has had beardies for a while and swears by the rep-cal juvi pellets for his growing beardies, sometimes holding out live food so they eat them. He says they are a complete diet but I don't buy it. But they seem to like them. I've also seen the Zoo Med brand pellets.

I favor live prey and fresh veggies but out of curiosity, are the pellets any good? I also noticed a lot of die hard beardie owners at my store buy them even though none of my coworkers recommend them.

 

[jarich]

Im pretty much against anything dried in the first place. Dragons normally get all their moisture through their food, as they dont often drink water. So if you are feeding a dried pellet, it requires a great deal of moisture to digest them. Not a big deal if it was every once in awhile, but if fed with regularity it could be a dehydrating factor. Also there shouldnt be any need to feed such things. Its like taking vitamins instead of eating well. A good variety of vegetables and live food will be a much better diet every time.

 

[Andyurgay]

Thats what I was thinking. I hate seeing his dragons being fed only pellets. They used to get veggies everyday but now he claims they can live off the pellets with occasional crickets. Doesnt seem healthy or natural for them. I pop some supers in there for them when I have extras. I offered his biggest dragon some greens and he nearly bit my finger going after it. They have water/soaking bowls. But it's clear that they prefer getting hydrated through their food. Just goes to show fresh is always best. I'm going to show him this thread now, thank you.