Question on New Exo-Terra Pellets

[PDDM]

Im new to beardies just got one and i have the juvie pellets because mine is a juvie (makes sense lol) And I hear people talking about a pellet only diet,do they mean the adult kind or juvie kind? Because mine does take the pellets,i mash em to mix with romaine leaves n carrot pieces,i also leave a dish of it it in the tank seperately.I dont get many crix around here,im only 15 and the nearest pet shop is 2 towns away,but i raise meal worms,but they lack protein(suposedly),but i give mealies sometimes to the beardie,it eats them fast...but if i feed pellets with mealies in a way im not losing anything(since the pellets replace crix?) I also dust the mealies n sometimes sprinkle the salad with a little bit of vit d3. Now i also heard pellets give a slower growth rate. This would actually be a good thing for me because i need to save up to buy the 50 gallon for when it gets bigger,so... Is the pellet only thing a good idea?

[peterm15]

sorry i cant help but search around for the 50 gal.... there expensive at pet shops so try to stay away from thoes... look for an aquarium service.. theyll be alot cheaper... like 50 bucks...

[beardieguy]

if that is the case and you live that faraway then it might be a good idea to raise them yourself(crickets) which can be done because crickets is a major part of their diet.

[gregsaraholiver]

insects are a pain in the behind and make for expensive care taking.

Supposedly (not from experience) those pellets are all that you need. A full balanced diet for your beardie. Some owners and breaders swear by them.

My beardie won't touch anything that doesn't move so I am stuck on the insect.

However I am buying a baby in June and except for the initial feeding of crickets, I am planning on going 100% pellets except for treats. Do some research and you'll run into some testimonials from some really good breeders on their success with pellets.

G

[Steve]

Mine all eat a mix of crix and pellets. Its great I always keep a bag of pellets handy incase I run out of crix and the store is closed. Mine love them...soon as I put a bowl with some in they eat it all up

[gregsaraholiver]

Check this out on the details of the pellets. If I were you I would try to go 100% this way instead of live prey. As fun as it is to see live food get gobbled up you end up spending more time with your insects than your dragons in the end.

http://www.repcal.com/foods.htm

[WALTER]

Before you go all out on the Exo-Terra feed look at the ingredients really close. I know many people that have dragons and they wont go near the Exo stuff at all. There are many different brands out there so chose wisely.

[gregsaraholiver]

Walter can you provide some more details on why you would not go this route. I have been skeptical about the 100% pellet diet but many people seem to swear by it.

[Steve]

I say don't go 100% pellet. With mine it is maybe 15-20% of their diet...I don't think my BD's eat enough of them to go 100%

[Capital Dragons]

As a breeder I cant go with a 100% pellet diet for my babies. I keep groups of babies together and if I don’t provide a live prey source I get way to many tail nips. Young dragons have such a high metabolism and grow so fast, it seams that they need the stimulation of a live, moving food source. I do provide them with a 50% salad-pellet mix during the day but that’s just to tide them over until I get home and give them what they want. If you have only one or two dragons you should have no trouble with an all pellet diet. It just takes a bit of time to get them used to the change but when they get hungry enough they will eat it…trust me. The pellet diets seam like a great nutritional food source but I would still mix it in with salad. I have heard that young dragons grow slower on an all pellet diet but as long as they are healthy there should be no problem. Also crickets can be a terrible source of parasites! I HATE CRICKETS!!!!

I have had good success with the Exo-Terra food. I do really like the Rep-Cal food and I think it is a better food all around but I just can’t get past the amount of die they use in the food. My dragons stool was florescent green when I used it. I gut load my crickets with the Exo-Terra pellets and it works great!

[WALTER]

Even when I bred lots of dragons I would still offer the salads and insects. I agree with Capital Dragons and you can't go 100% dry pellets. I always have it in the cage for them to try it when they want to. I also found the die is quite a bit with the Rep-Cal but I have had way more people tell me their dragons will eat that over any other type.
I find that if you offer the salads and pellet mix as the dragons first meal of the day they will start on it a lot better. We star the babies on it about 2wks of age. We grind it up and dust it on the salads so they get used to the smell and taste.
A person could write a book on different feeding ideas and feeds for dragons but this is what worked for me and my dragons. Everyone has their own methods. All you can do is try a few different things and see what works best for you.
Also if read the ingredients of the other stuff ( I shouldn't use the name since I do compete with them in my area) it is mostly "filler products" in other words pretty useless for anything to eat. I don't have the list in front of me so I can not tell you all the useless stuff in it. But I do recall they like to add wheat millings. That is the waste product from making flour. Who would want to eat that and call it nutrious?
Do your research in the ingredients and you will see what I am talking about. Not all products are perfect but some are much better then others. Same as diets not all are perfect and lots of the ingredients in the vegetables that we feed our animals can cause problems with some of the other veggies in the salad....

[PDDM]

Well its hard to get crix but i got mealworms,and since i started feeding it mealies it seems like ithardly touches anything,its wierd because any i drop in thetake gets eaten even the pupates(which i hear are good) and it devours it in 3 chomps,it seems like it hates the pellets but i mix em in with the salad and sometimes it eats em but mainly its the crix or mealies it wants.

[Scotch Keeper]

Hey there i don't want to sound like a pain in the backside but ask yourself this what do they eat in the wild?? insects and vegitation.. they really need to be fed a balanced diet and to be honest they need to be given the stimulation of chasing insects..

Another way of looking at it think about your worst meal

put it into tablet form

And eat the same thing every day

How would you feel

[greenman1867]

LOL well TBH we have been feeding the same thing (pellets etc) to Cats, Dogs, Fish, and just about everyother pet man has had, why not Beardies?

[lizardo]

good point hahaha