Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Do phoenix worms need to be dusted w/ calcium w/ d3? How many phoenix worms is too many? Turns out my baby beardie loves them I mix them with his salad and he eats. "Trippy looking salad with phoenix worms underneath" Is it safe to raise him on these untill he starts eating crickets mixed with them?
Thanks

You'll find phoenix worm lovers here. I am not one of them. I think the best thing for baby dragons is crickets. Mainly because most of the nutrition in a bug comes from their stomach contents. Phoenix worms have their stomaches purged before packaging. I also find they are hard to digest for some dragons and come out looking much like they went in.

I would stick with crickets for babies through to adult. Use a good grain gutload. I am using progecko's right now but you can get Flukers in pet stores in small quanties. I then use apple to provide the crickets moisture.

I tried the phoenix worms and it just didn't seem worth it. As a treat every now and then maybe, but to feed baby dragons alot of them, I'm not too sure about it. I think a good gutloaded cricket is tough to beat especially for baby dragons. Although I've been using some dubia recently and they seem pretty awesome.

Pheonix Worms are alright but costly. 3/8''-1/4'' crickets seem to do the trick with proper dusting of D3 Calcium powder. I use them every now and then as a treat thus my breeders get goliath worms, hissing roaches, and wax worms for treats a couple of times a month.

I never have focused on them as a large percentage of their diet.
www.AtlantaBeardedDragons.com

the cost of feeding phoenix worms as the primary insect food for a baby dragon would be quite a bit. But they are a great addition to crickets though but just for simple cost factor, well gut loaded crickets do work best for growing babies.
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PHLdyPayne