Newbie with food questions

[Warhawk]

My wife has been talking about getting a bearded dragon for a few years, after holding them at the pet store we are going to go ahead and get one.

But I'm a little confused about food, so hoping you guys/gals can help me out.

I understand as they are growing they need 75% meat and 25% veggies after grown that swaps to 25% meat and 75% veggies.

So should we do crickets, meal worms or what for daily meals?

Do the meal worms need to be alive? I see the pet store has them in a jar and they don't look to be alive.

Would it be better to raise our own crickets or meal worms? Does that save any money in the long run? Do those smell?

Will they stop eating when full or do they just eat if food is there?

I think that's all my food based questions for now
Thanks for your time.

 

[Warhawk]

Also could you guys tell me what you are paying a month for food?

Doing more research it looks like crickets are the main meal and if they eat 100 a week as a adult that gets kinda pricy for some bugs.

 

[Henry X Stella]

http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/index.php?threads/starting-caring-for-a-dubia-roach-colony.6876/

http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/i...ded-dragon-diet-nutritional-information.3959/

i'm new here too...but you're going to have to read peoples answers anyways...so you mite as well take the time to read what their gonna say.

roaches>crickets

I just posted about my new colony too...read read read. its fun! http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/index.php?threads/cock-roaches.8324/

 

[Warhawk]

Thanks for the links but we talked about it and we won't be doing roaches. We won't risk having them get loose in our house same for crickets. Having 1-2 escape when feeding is one thing but having tubs of those things means its a matter of time before they escape.


We have been reading here and books so we are getting lots of info. Looks like people on forums don't agree what the books say. We are also talking to people at the local pet stores that own them to find out how they care for them. So we are ready for this step.

 

[ashley7988]

I wouldn't really listen to the people at Pet stores... I talked to a girl at a pet store that owned one too and a lot of what she told me she did was incorrect.

I hate bugs too, I agree with the roaches (I won't take the risk of having them escape either BUT they are a good staple for beardies) and so are crickets. I have crickets in my house everyday, never had one get loose inside. I'm terrified of crickets but they are a good staple for my beardie so I do what I need to do to make sure he's taken care of. You said in your first post that it looks like crickets are the main thing people feed but then when you say you won't do roaches cuz you don't want one to get loose and same goes for crickets so does that mean you aren't willing to feed crickets?

 

[Ozzie&Dino]

Um crickets and Dubia are the most nutritious insects you can feed to a Dragon due to being able to really gut load them with fruits and veggies. You can gut load some worms like superworms and mealworms but too many of these can cause constipation because they have a hard exo skeleton. Crickets do not live very long even if they do get in your house and Dubia do not multiply like other Roaches do so I am not sure why you will not feed what is best for your soon to be Dragon? I am a SUPER clean freak and I have crickets get loose in my house all the time and I just catch them when I see them and put them back in my cricket keeper.

Oh I forgot to add that I also gutload with the one and only "Cricket Crack"

 

[Warhawk]

I'm not saying I won't feed crickets I just won't breed/raise them.

 

[ashley7988]

okay fair enough. Crickets are a great staple. Yes it does get expensive if you don't want to "keep" them (buy in bulk) at the pet store here the small ones are 10 cents each and Draco eats about 60 a day... you do the math, its crazy. I plan on buying in bulk starting next month.

 

[Ozzie&Dino]

I would not raise crickets either because they stink bad! Now on the other hand I will raise Dubia and I am currently working on it. Good luck with your new BD and be sure to post photos

You may also look at the Repticon show schedule and maybe you have one that comes in your area, you can really save on getting feeders there and maybe get you a snazzy looking BD there from a quality breeder