Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a 1yr old male dragon and he wont eat crickets... he only eats superworms and greens...and im trying to start a dubia colony cause he eats those also, but crickets are easier and cheaper.. is there any trick to switching him back to crickets...thanks in advance...

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1.0 hypo het leusistic Bearded Dragon (Carlos)
1.0 blue translucent dragon (gizmo)
0.1 white hypo het translucent (pearl)
0.1 Wife (Eryn) WC
0.1 Daughter (Lily) CBB
0.1 Brindle Boxer (Marley)
0.1 Mut (Bailey)

Stay with superworms. Crickets are just plain nasty. Buy supers in bulk and they are cheeper. Unlike mealworms, if you keep them in groups, they don't turn to beetles.
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www.moonstonedragons.com

I think BD's just like superworms more than crickets. It seems more likely that a Beardie will eat a Super even when they're really not all that hungry. Especially young dragons. If a dragon is hungry he'll eat whatever is available. Most of my egg layers will eat crickets like crazy when they are hungry from laying eggs but don't have much interest in them after egg season has ended.

Crickets aren't that bad. I clean their bins weekly and give them plenty of ventilation so their habitat stays dry and there really isn't any significant smell. It's also easier to gutload crickets with a healthy diet. I could have as many as 7K at one time but never have less than 2K. With a variety of animal size and species I have to have 3 sizes available.

As your dragon is a year old now, you don't really need to feed too many insects anyway, a daily salad with a few superworms sprinkled on top (or for variety, butterworms, silkworms, hornworms, roaches) is perfectly fine, especially for a male.

Superworms are easy to keep and not expense...$20 will easily get you 500 of them and as long as you provide the superworms a dry environment around 75F or a bit warmer (they don't like cold so definitely want to keep them at least normal room temperature) and provide them with some fresh greens, you can easily keep them for months.

I keep mine in a critter keeper with oatmeal or bran/wheat or a mix, and toss in a couple collard green leaves every day or so...to keep them hydrated without making the container humid.

As you wouldn't need to feed more than 2-6 a day...500 lasts a long time. Every couple weeks, move them into a new container to keep them from smelling.

Far cry from crickets which have a live span of about 6 weeks...or less, superworms are far better...IT may become more costly if you had multiple dragons, but with one, they go a long way.
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PHLdyPayne

In the picture the dragon looks to be still a juvenile and should be offered live food in quantity daily. Dragons really aren't adults until closer to 2 years. I wouldn't cut back live food until he/she is at least 400 grams. This time of year I am feeding my full (400g ) adults 12-15 Supers every other day.

thanks for all the replies....i will stick with superworms...i am actually in the process of breeding them, and i currently have 20 beetles and many baby worms... the dragon in the picture is a juvie...i have 2 other dragons...one of which is a baby and one is about 14mths old... yall made me feel much better about just feeding supers....thanks again....
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1.0 hypo het leusistic Bearded Dragon (Carlos)
1.0 blue translucent dragon (gizmo)
0.1 white hypo het translucent (pearl)
0.1 Wife (Eryn) WC
0.1 Daughter (Lily) CBB
0.1 Brindle Boxer (Marley)
0.1 Mut (Bailey)