Feeding Baby Beardie..

[DragonLady504]

Although, I am reading everywhere that says the Dubia Roaches are better.. I am one of those beardie Mom's who just can't get over the fact that I have to deal with Roaches; like my skin is crawling just typing about them(it's that bad)... With that being said, is the only thing I can feed him right now crickets? Are they NO good filled worms I can give him?


Thanks in advance.

 

[Josh]

You can mix in some small mealworms.

 

[DragonLady504]

We do give him small mealworms, sometimes, he eats them rather quickly..
Is he still too small for other worms?

 

[Josh]

Depends on the size of the worm. You'll want his food items to be no bigger than the space between his eyeballs...

 

[DragonLady504]

Maybe silly question; size between eyes- length of worm or width of worm?

 

[Josh]

No side should be bigger than that space; length, width, or height.

 

[DragonLady504]

Gotcha. Thank you.

 

[Mushuandcricket]

lol they got to you. I am still hanging tough but I am not far behind you. The adult males give me the creeps.

 

[PatsyB]

With worms make sure that the body is no wider than the space between his eyes. I feed my boy Luci large super worms and sometimes he he will get a big one and he just bites in the middle, part of the worm falls on the floor and when he's done chewing he goes back to get what he dropped!

 

[nitrous12]

I decided to try giving my boy Spike some Superworms. He bit them into pieces easily. If we followed the rule of nothing bigger (including length) than the space between their eyes not even an adult could eat a Superworm.

 

[PatsyB]

I decided to try giving my boy Spike some Superworms. He bit them into pieces easily. If we followed the rule of nothing bigger (including length) than the space between their eyes not even an adult could eat a Superworm.

Exactly!

 

[Mushuandcricket]

Mushu eats dubias that are bigger than between his eyes. I got brave an ordered the next size up because he was eating 2 at a time etc.of the small ones and went through 200 in a week and a half. He is eating the next size easy so I am glad I ordered the larger ones.

 

[nitrous12]

I can't wait until the temps get warmer and I can order some variety. I would like to get Spike Silkworms, Phoenix worms and maybe some dubais. Not sure how I feel about having to keep and deal with roaches though.

 

[Elemental Dragon Lord]

Locust are a better alternative than mealworms. Mealworms have a high chitin density and can cause impaction. Reptiworms and hornworms are far better choices.

 

[jarich]

I wish we could get locusts (grasshoppers) commercially here in the US! That would be great, but its not possible. However, you can feed hornworms, phoenix worms (also called calci worms or just plain black soldier fly larvae), silkworms, nightcrawlers, etc. The more variety, the better it is for your dragon.

 

[DragonLady504]

Can you get all these alternative worms at the pet store? Reptiworms, hornworms, super worms? Also, can you use these as a staple?
My lil one is only eating 4-5 small crickets 2x a day.. He's making me nervous again.. He's also always opening his mouth at me when I go to grab him. I think my house is a little too choatic for him. lol

 

[jarich]

Depends on your pet store and how big they are/how much they stock. My local does hornworms, superworms and nightcrawlers. I dont think any do reptiworms/phoenix worms, or silkworms but those you can order online.

Can you do a rundown of your enclosure and post a picture or two of the entire enclosure? Might be that some things need to be tweaked a bit, or could just be that he is still settling in.

 

[DragonLady504]

Pictures attached.
Tank stays around 100 degrees during the day with the basking lamp & UVB light..

 

[Nichole1228]

What is the best worm to feed a 3/4 mo. old? I've heard some worms can drill through their stomach is that true? For now I have just been feeding him crickets.

 

[PatsyB]

What is the best worm to feed a 3/4 mo. old? I've heard some worms can drill through their stomach is that true? For now I have just been feeding him crickets.

It's just a myth that worms eat through their stomachs. Bearded dragons have strong jaws and sharp teeth, if you've ever watched a one eat a worm you will see that there is no way the worm could survive the chewing. If it does somehow survive, it will die in the stomach acid.

Phoenix, calcium, repti worms are good they are pretty small. Wax worms are a good treat, they are kinda fatty. Not sure if they have small super worms you could try those. Maybe even half a nightcrawler would be okay. Silkworms and hornworms are also good but you'd have to feed them off fast before they grow too big.