Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Okay I am learning and although I'm not going to be purchasing a beardie until sometime this January- Thank god for taxes - I want to make sure I am in complete understanding of everything I need to know...Okay back to the crickets...If I buy a baby how many on average would the typical beardie go through in a day? How man times a day should they be fed and how many crickets are enough? Where can I buy crickets in bulk? 1/4 crickts are for baby beardie's right? How long does it take a cricket to grow to big for a baby beardie??? Basically anything you can tell me about crickets...the in's and out's...IS HELPFUL! THANKS GUYS!

If I buy a baby how many on average would the typical beardie go through in a day?--size of crickets increases with size of dragon, not quantity.
I estimate 5-10 cricks a day. rule of thumb, put in cricks one or two at a time, as many as the dragon will eat in 10 minutes. do not leave uneaten cricks in the cage at night.

How man times a day should they be fed--3 times a day

1/4 crickts are for baby beardie's right?-- yes

How long does it take a cricket to grow to big for a baby beardie?--1 size a week
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

5-10 crickets a day? My 5-6 week old babies are eatin between 30-60 crickets a day each. They eat around 20 each feeding, when they are shedding they slow down a little... but they sure eat more then 10 no matter what. They are like little bulldogs. I accidently let a cricket that was too large fall into their tank one day, and one grabbed it as it hit the sand. I grabbed the end sticking out of his mouth and pulled, but he was serious about getting that cricket. He clamped down and started thrashing his head like a dog playing tug-o-war. He was so cute, we each came out with half a cricket, so it was ok.

Jen
My Little Bulldogs!!

5-10 is a guideline. I have some dragons that eat 20 cricks and then 5 superworms and then a roach or two for desert. thats why i said let them feed for 10 minutes and eat as much as they want. but when I buy crickets thats what I use for a guide to know how many to get. every animal is different and you have to adjust accordingly.

BTW am I to understand you have a 6 week old dragon on sand? be careful of imaction especially with a veracious eater like that.
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

I have 3 babies no older then 4 months each, and I bought 2000 3/8 crickets on the 28th of July. I had to order yesterday cause on Tuesday If I don't have any I'll be having to go to the pet store for 6 dozen just to hold them for the day. I did the math for that and it blew me away. Between three beardies if I lost a quarter of the origanal 2000 and fed out 1500 they are eating between 63-82 crickets a day each split up into 3 feedings. Boy that is a hell of a lot. I know I didn't loose 500 either. This week I'm buying 3000 should hold them a bit longer.
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Mystical Dragons

From my time hear reading the forums and hearing what the breeders have to feed their babies, and from how much I fed my bearded dragon when I first got him (he was about three months old then), the average amount of crickets a baby dragon eats (from 2 months old to 6 months) is about 20 per meal. With dragons that are about 2 months old and to adulthood, should be feeding them twice a day. So that's 40 crickets a day on average. Yes some will eat more, some will eat less but 40 a day is a good average.

The size of crickets shouldn't be any bigger than the space between their eyes so for a 2 month baby, 1/4 inch crickets is a good start.

Crickets grow at different rates, depending on the conditions they are being kept in. If on the cooler side, they will grow slower, if warmer, they will grow faster but tend to die faster. I kept crickets at room temperature (low to mid 70's F, it being summer sometimes it was warmer) and it took nearly two months for 1/4 and less inch sized crickets to get to 3/4 inch. For the most part the dragons will eat all the crickets before they get too big for them to eat.

A 1000 crickets should be good for 10-15 days so there is little chance they will grow to big to feed them to your dragon as he will be growing as well. Mine was growing about an inch a week for about a month though he has slowed down lately, but gaining more girth than length.

I hope this helps you gage how much crickets to have on hand when you get your dragon.