Bearded Dragon: feeding

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jimmyrog

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Hey I was just wondering what the best live food for my little beardie would be? Crickets,super worms ect ect
Also is it much of a saving breading them? ( only have room inside my house so won't be breeding crickets)

And also what is the best way/sites to get them off. I live in QLD and can only get small amount of crickets from around my town. Thanks all

( may not have done this all right first time using this site sorry haha)
 
crix are okay but low in calcium and protein,woodies are better,super worms are good but the best live food would have to be silkworms.
If you only have 1 beardie it's not worth the hassle breeding.
Livefoodsunlimited are good for buying in bulk (Crix & woodies)
Briansworms for worms and woodies
both are in Qld
 
I buy my crickets and supers and mealworms from Frog Arcade. The money goes to a good cause rather than someone's pockets too. I gut load all my insects with adult beardie pellets and carrot and wheatbran (for the worms).

I'll second silkworms as the best insect (the moths are good food too), my beardies loved their silkworms and silkworm moths when they were hatchies and juveniles. My beardies were leaping and doing acrobatics to get their moths. I bought my silkworms from PeacefulSilkworms (as eggs that I started them off on chow and later moved onto mulberry leafs as they got bigger and hungrier).

If the beardie is little ( a hatchie or a juvenile ) keep the crunchy insect smaller than the distance between the beardies eyes , I fed my 2 beardies 3 x per day (small crickets and small silkworms as hatchies up to about 4 months old as well as greens and grated vegs and softened juvenile beardie pellets mixed with vetafarm lizard pellets). Cut back to 2 feeds of insects per day from 4 months old and only recently cut back to 1 feed of insects per day (now over 2 years old).

Dusting the vegs and insects with good quality Ca dust and providing adequate UV (B) and heat is a must do.

Your breeder should give you some guidance on feeding frequency and what greens and veg and other husbandry guidance = take it on board and you'll have a happy greedy active beardie and pal for a long time.
 
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I have 2 and I would say about 7 weeks oldjust going off size .I didn't get them from a breeder, I only ended up with them from being in the right place at the right time. Old owner was neglecting them and offered them to me before he let them go. Obviously I took them and have definitely grown attached :) the cage isn't a problem. Had a spare snake enclosure witch was easy made in to a nice place for the beardies. Any other tips / tricks I may not no yet feel free to share

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Also if anyone has some other sites to get silk worms ffrom that would be awesome also
 
I have 2 and I would say about 7 weeks oldjust going off size .I didn't get them from a breeder, I only ended up with them from being in the right place at the right time. Old owner was neglecting them and offered them to me before he let them go. Obviously I took them and have definitely grown attached :) the cage isn't a problem. Had a spare snake enclosure witch was easy made in to a nice place for the beardies. Any other tips / tricks I may not no yet feel free to share

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Also if anyone has some other sites to get silk worms ffrom that would be awesome also
Peacefulsilkworms (have a FB site that gives their webshop address). I got an email from them yesterday saying that they had some small silkworms ready to ship BUT no Silkworm Chow.

I found one of my hatchie beardies even at 8 weeks old was dominating her sibling and getting the lion's share of the insects so decided to feed them their insects separately (I actually decided to handfeed them their crickets - just something I enjoyed doing and at least that way I knew who ate how much and I could ensure both hatchies got the same amount of insects, they shared the veg/greens and pellets mix and sometimes I'd had 2 hatchies wanting to eat the same piece of choy leaf (very funny watching the tug-a-war).

I eventually separated the two beardies into their own enclosures when the dominance became more than being hypercompeditive in getting to the insects (at about 6 months old).
 
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yea had a look at the website and they seemed to be out of stock atm. Will try and Message them

Okay Will keep an eye on them. Make sure they are sharing :)

Thanks btw guys for the help appreciate it :)
 
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Crikets are the go to staple food and are fine if used with supplements, but there are better options. Things like silkworms are fabulous but are harder to find and are seasonal (i think) woodroaches are also another really good food.

Um I assume from your posts they are being housed together? You really need to seperate them as soon as possible. Time and time again people say "No its okay they are happy and like each other" Truth is they don't. It might be okay for a little while, but at any given time toe nips can happen, domination can happen (can be seen as laying on top of each other, the dominant one on the top.) and they fight for basking rights. You really need to seperate them asap, can't stress this enough.
 
Yes they are.Well I can't say I have had any problems yet. But I will do that as soon as possible. Better safe then ssorry.

I'm sure the girl friend won't care if we have a 6th tank in the house haha
 
crickets are fine to feed your dragon for its lifetime. they have huge amounts of protein.
If you wanna mix it up also feed woodies.
No need for worms or anything like that.
 
they are fine but are worms worms better?

silkworms are the best feed by far,so much more nutrition than anything else.
Superworms are next best
Woodies are in the mix
Crix are a good staple but need extra calcium
Mealworms are okay but only as a treat (we call them mars bars)
BUT don't forget to feed them veges,this is a BIG part of their diet
 
Yup if you are gunna be feeding crickets for the whole time you have it, you need to supplement them with a little extra calcium. Silkworms are amazing but like I said seasonal. Depending on age, if it is a juvinile or sub adult you should be doing around 80% bugs 20% salad. When its an adult you wanna do about 80% salad and 20% bugs. They might reject salad when they are little but they often grow out of that with age.

Some good salad options are Kale, cucumber, butternut squash. Also things from the garden are great like dandelion leaves, Nasturtium (Spelling? ><) flowers and leaves, the flowers are colorful and look enticing to eat too! Avoid citrus, avocado rhubarb and potatoes obviously.

Make sure you wash anything you gather from outside, and if you have used pesticides don't use them at all. You can give them treats like banana, but don't over do it with the banana. Only give it once in a while.

Also don't be afraid to take your lil guy outside for some natural rays too. They are always better than lights, but lights are good and will do the job.
 
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dusting crickets is easy and they are easy to digest. Just stick to dusted crickets
 
I use a little take away sauce tub to dust my crickets (Ca and vitamin dust goes in, then the crickets ,on with the lid , shake it and hey presto - dusty crickets) that can be taken out as needed (a few at a time) or simply put the little tub in the feeding tub with lizard less the lid and they'll climb out of their own accord or be eaten from the tub by the hungry lizard.
 
they also make your dragon 'hunt' rather than sitting there being fed worms like jabba the hut lol.
I think lots of people watch the american youtube videos and see all the crap that they feed their dragons.
There is no need for it here. Good vegies and crickets dusted is all ya need people. :) Get that basking spot up to 45 celcius and you will have a happy little dragon :)
 
Hello,

I agree, crickets are probably the easiest way to go. Though, having never gotten to try woodies being in the US, I have
heard great things about them also.
As far as which is better, worms or crickets, they both have positives. They don't have to chase the worms quite as much,
unless you have healthy supers & they are fast! Variety is always good so switch things up & it will ensure he gets plenty of
overall nutrition, too.
I totally agree, housing together is usually not good, especially if it is two males or a male & female (overbreeding & stress), so
they can have their own space.

Tracie
 
Hi Tracie,I know you can't get woodies in the US but you do have a local variant (for the life of me I can't remember the name but I'm sure someone will have it)

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I just remembered ,it is dubya roaches :p
 
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