frilled dragon questions....

[justinO]

Hello!

I am an experienced reptile keeper (gecko's, other dragons, monitors) and was thinking of picking up a frilled dragon within the next couple days....

He's (it's a male) about a year old, "pretty tame", healthy, and comes with the tank (not sure what size but if it's too small i have a 75 gallon) & lighting. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up lots of stuff for him to climb on, and i have a big water dish for him to poo in!

My question is about food:
i know they eat lots, and every day, i've read on all the different stuff they eat and can handle that..... especially the mice/veggie treats. i guess what i'd like to find out is if it's okay for me to NOT feed crickets as the largeest part of his diet? I'd much prefer superworms/silkworms/etc instead, cuz i can't STAND crickets (smell, noice, escapes!!!).... but could still give crickets once a week or so (20-30 of them).

Does anyone else who owns frilled or bearded dragons just feed mealworms? I'd like to answer this looming cricket question before I get jump at the chance to get him. I've heard they are great animals and are very rewarding when treated/housed correctly!

Thanks for any advice......

Jessy
:)

[ReptiliansDOTca]

Hey there! You most definitely do not need to feed crickets as a staple diet. In fact, with each of my frilled dragons, their staple consists of silkworms. If at all possible, I would make silkworms the main diet along with other various worms. They are quite possibly the most nutritious feeder item available. I wouldn't however feed mealworms as the staple. A mixed diet staple of superworms and silkworms, and your dragon will be in heaven :D.

[V.hb]

I feed mine crickets, fuzzies and superworms all of them have grown into strong adults on this diet. I have also done just superworms with no problems either.

[justinO]

well this is quite encouraging!

glad to hear this, and I should be able to pick him up soon since everything is with him or I can pick up supplies tonight!

Thanks for the info, ssnakess is great for it's pool of information and helpful people
:)

[justinO]

I went to pick him up..... got all the fixing for him and had the lights i needed at home (cept a full spec light will be bought friday, for now is just floresent).....
got him some food for tomorrow, silkworms......

He's not as active or responsive as i thought he would be, but that might be cuz he was too cold, i'll check tomorrow and all should be well....

Thanks again!

[emilsmee]

a 75 gallon seems pretty small for a frilled dragon, to me... you may want to make or buy an enclosure that is more height oriented than a 75gal.
Here's what I've found for you, hope it helps:

Housing:
The larger the better when it comes to enclosures for adult frilled dragons. Hatchlings can be housed in as small as a 10-gallon enclosure, but a minimum size for an adult should be a 4-foot high by 3-foot wide enclosure. Enclosures should typically be vertically oriented.

I have my 2 adults in a 260 gallon screen enclosure (6' x 30" x 30"), and that seems to be fine. I've got two 150W basking lamps, and a 30" fluorescent as well. I also use a large cat litter pan as a water dish.


Emilsmee

[emilsmee]

oh one more thing, butterworms are great for frilleds, lots of calcium and they love them (my 4 do anyway...), i've also found that they LOVE to be sprayed. all of mine drink only when i spray them, they're all spoiled rotten... lol.

[justinO]

thank you for the advice..... he's actually really small (12 inches total, with all that tail!) and i'm in the works of buying an enclosure that I think he'll love, right now the 75 would be far too big.... and I don't really want him in a tank anyway!

His old owners put him in a separate tank to feed (crickets) which I will not do, and he seems to really like his water dish or his basking log, although he only seems to like basking under his night light.

Anyway, I'm just babbling.... ;)