cricket free diet

[michael_t]

I don't no much about beardies although I do keep other reptiles.

My sister absolutely loves them though, but she can’t deal with the crickets. She says that she’s read somewhere that you can bye a supplement that replaces crickets, and you can feed them this as well as veggies.

Does any one no whether this is true or not and whether it will affect the bearded dragons life stile?

Thanks for any help you can give.

Mike

[Slannesh]

You can use insects other than crickets for feeders. But the protien they get from feeder insects is very important to young dragons to grow.

I use mostly superworms myself as they are less chitinous than mealies but I do occasionally offer crickets too.

I don't know of a way offhand to totally eliminate insects from a beardie's diet although they don't need nearly as many when they're adults as when they're juveniles or hatchlings.

[ord]

f the dragon is bigger, you can get to the point where you do not need to feed crickets. When they are young, they need to be fed 3 or 4 times daily with crickets. As they grow, you can start to cut back on crickets untill you are no longer feeding crickets at all. Dragons should be fed salad daily and if you suppliment with calcium powder and vitamin spray, you can avoid crickets all together. A good diet for a dragon you dont want to feed crickets is a good salad suplimented with calcium(phosporous free,no D3)powder, vitamin spray. A mix of some fruits(no Banannas). King worms or meal worms(be carefull not to over feed worms as they are a little harder to digest as they have a harder shell. At times you will notice the dragons stool is full of worms and that is because of poor digestion). Lastly, every couple weeks I would strongly recomend a pinky mouse. Lots of people dont like this idea but they are very high in protein and fat! This way you can avoid the crickets completly. If you have any more questions Id be happy to help. Jim Dyke. The Dragons Tale.