Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am new to this forum and was directed here by a breeder of bearded dragons. My beardie is one year old. He is housed inside a 75 gallon aquarium with reptile carpet as substrate. He has a Reptisun 10.0 UVB light and basking temperature between 95 and 100 degrees. The cooler area of his tank ranges between 78 and 80 degrees.

Approximately two months ago I changed his substrate to part washed playsand and part ceramic tile. This only lasted for two days. During those two days he would not eat a cricket or veggies. I have been feeding him collard greens, turnip greens, parsely, kale, mustard greens and various different types of fruits.

Since then he has been moved into a 75 gallon aquarium. Every since he has not hardly touched his veggies. Also his cricket consumption went from eating me out of house and home to only 15-20 a week. I understand that they reduce their live prey intake as they get older but he would only eat once a week.

Because he likes wax worms (only 3 a week) and superworms I thought I would replace his crickets with silkworms. He seems to like them very much. He has no problems eating them. I also understand that one silkworm is equal to approximately 3-5 crickets? Is this correct? I have been feeding him about 4 silkworms every other day. The silkworms are only about one or so inches in length.

I just want to get the best information for my beardie. Thanks in advance for your helpful advice.

beardeds do take some time to get used to new housing, whether you switch the cage or substrate. i also switched from sand to only ceramic tile. got tired of the dusty sand myself, and i could tell it was starting to bother some of my beadies eyes. anyways.....silkworms are better than crickets, and yes i believe 1 silkworm is equal to about 5 crickets or so.....however roaches are even better than silkworms. roaches are 95% meat vs crickets which are like 90% water. you can find various roach breeders but my breeder of choice is www.blaberus.com

as far as your dragon not eating much, try raising the basking temps to 105-110. and if you UVB light is more than 6-9 months old, its time to replace it. florescent uvb bulbs only last about 6-9 months. they may not burn out but the UVB quality goes down.

i would not keep switching the cage on your bearded alot. if you want to switch the substrate, do so and let him/her get used to it. they normally do. it just takes time. but switching back and forth will never get him used to it and can stress him out even more
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Beach Beardies

3.3.11 bearded dragons
1.0.0 Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1.0 Sugar Gliders
0.1.0 Miss Queen Athena (Cat)

oh ya with a dragon at about a year old, he needs more greens than anything. his diet should be about 90% greens and only 10% insects. i would try roaches with him though, my dragons went crazy with them. 3-4 roaches is like 20-30 crickets.

and went back and saw you only tried him in the sand/tile substrate for 2 days....ya he may need more time than that to get used to his new setup. just give it sometime
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Beach Beardies

3.3.11 bearded dragons
1.0.0 Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1.0 Sugar Gliders
0.1.0 Miss Queen Athena (Cat)

Silkworms are fine for a substitute for crickets. They are a little higher in fat but not greatly so. However I still think its better to offer just as much a variety of insects as greens. Feeding a few crickets, silkworms, roaches, superworms etc every week is perfect.

One year old dragons should be getting mostly greens now anyway, so if your dragon will only eat a few insects a day or only a couple times a week, that's fine, as long as he is eating his greens daily.

Changing their cage, either by rearranging cage accessories, substrates etc, will stress the dragon so they may no longer feel secure, thus stop or reduce eating etc. Usually it takes 1-2 weeks for dragons to adjust to changes, whether its bringing him home for the first time, moving them to a larger cage or changing substrates. You have to give them that week or two to adjust.
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PHLdyPayne