Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering if collareds would do ok being fed packaged crickets/worms - such as the freeze dried or canned crickets you can buy? What about a packaged bearded dragon diet? Would that work? Thanks.

I tried the canned crickets and my collareds just sniffed at them and then went after the live crickets I feed them. I don't believe the canned crickets even with "Flavour Enhancers" work if it isn't squirmming, jumping, or hopping my collareds aren't interested. As far as feeding a different lizards diet to them, personally I wouldn't risk it, Beardies are omnivores and Collareds are predominantly carnivores with omnivore tendancies.

Just my opinion.

I think if you tried this you would find it to be a complete waste of time and money. I tried it some years ago with my leopard geckos and they completely ignored it! I still have a full can of dried crickets sitting on my shelf just to laugh at. Personally, I think this is a huge marketing scheme. It' great that there are more convenient choices for bearded dragons and iguana's and it may be decent nutrition for them. But most reptiles need to have something closer to their natural diet.

Most of my collareds eat live crickets very well and I can dust them with calcium and vitamins. My picky male was not eating well at first, but I started throwing in some wild-caught grasshoppers from my yard and that really jump-started his eating. He's doing great now. I'm pretty sure he would never eat anything dead and dried up.

Constantly buying crickets is a pain but it's worth it to have healthy animals. I'm experimenting now with raising my own crickets. So far, so good. I have lots of little baby crickets. But......uuuuuugggggghhhhh they stink!

Good Luck

Hayseed

Yeah, I agree with the other posts. Collareds go for the movement. Mine won't even go for live silk worms because they move too slow! If you have lots of lizards and are worried about cost, you can buy crix and worms on line for much cheaper than you pay in pet stores.

As for the beardie diet, I strongly recommend a mostly natural diet even for beardies. I only top salads with the pellets SOMETIMES. There is no better substitute for good old fresh salad for beardies, collareds, herbivores, birds, etc. I make a giant salad of dark leafy greens like collareds, mustard, turnip, and endive, and top it with shredded squashes, a little apple and some small bird pellets, and everybody gets some every day.

LOL!!!!!

I meant COLLARDS, as in COLLARD GREENS! No, I do not top my salads with cute lizards!

They love the chase/ movement of the insect, the hunt, the stalk, and especially the pounce,
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PHEve / Eve