Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How many 3/8" crickets should a 6" dragon eat I buy 1/4 and he eats them but doesn't seem to eat too many 3/8" crickets?
Any average guess'?? My dragon looks skinny not having a round fat belly. I know he sketchy of me but he also stares at his reflection from the front of the glass cage I blocked off 3 sides to make it less stressful, anyway I think his reflection keeps him from eating I've tried putting crickets in a round bowl and he doesn't eat any some days. How many crickets should I put in the cage at a time if he's not going to eat them right away?

6" is a very small dragon my recommendation with a skittish dragon is to avoid a lot of contact maybe even block of all four sides of his enclosure until he starts to acclimate properly and adjust.

Use a timer and build consistency as much as you can with feeding cleaning

Dont handle him/her much if at all. He is prey at this point and instincts are telling him to be stressed.

best of luck

I would hope a 6" dragon would eat at least 20 3/8" crickets at each feeding with 2 feedings per day.

Regarding the reflection. I would cover the 3 sides with something patterned to hide some of the reflection. The backgrounds you get from pet stores work well for this. Reflections are dramatic when the light inside the terrarium is greater than the light outside the terrarium. Think of how much reflection you see in a window looking out at night vs. during the day. Try increasing the room light so he sees less reflection. He most likely thinks his reflection is another dragon. I would never even consider covering 4 sides. That would be like a funhouse of reflections.

My biggest suggestion is to get him on a very regular schedule. Two feedings of bugs per day with salad in between. Make the feeding times consistant. In the morning put crickets in and wait 20 minutes then collect all the uneaten crickets. Then do this again at night. He will get used to eating when the food is there and will eat better overall. Plus crickets left in the enclosure will eat anything including feces, bark, skin, your dragon, etc. which will make them unheathy for your dragon to eat and wandering crickets could be stressing him.

If you make a change stick with it. When I get sick dragons or babies in it often takes 10 days for them to get comfortable with the routine. But they always do.

If he seems to have no problems eating the 1/4" crickets, stick with that size since he is eating them. Other than that, what BDLvr suggests below is good advice.

Make sure the crickets are well gutloaded at least 12 hours before you feed them to your dragon. You can buy premade gutloads or just offer fresh greens (same sort recommended to feed dragons) crushed low fat cat or dog food, fish flakes or soaked/drained dragon pellets (soaking them makes the pellets soft and much easier to eat). For added moisture for the crickets, a slice of orange, potato, squash or similar works.

To avoid the cricket bin from smelling, remove all uneaten food daily and any dead crickets from the bin.
-----
PHLdyPayne