Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello! I was surprised with a 10 week old bearded dragon for an anniversary gift and I'm way excited. I've been doing research on what I should be feeding the little monster and I'm having trouble finding crickets that are the right size. I've been getting them by the dozen, but "small" at one place is way too big and "small" at another are teensy. Are there any good places I should know about for getting crickets (in small quantities)?

Worst of all, though, is I DON'T LIKE CRICKETS. They're a bunch of dirty smelly cannibals, in my opinion. They remind my hubby of his cockroach infested childhood, so it is worse for him, but I still stick the whole cricket jar in the freezer before I attempt to get them out and shake-n-bake -- chopsticks are working rather well. Does anyone have any reccomendations for getting used to the crickets? Will it get better over time? Or should I keep on testing the limits of my creativity on methods of not touching the crickets? =)

And the dragon hates being held =( He nips and jumps off my hand and has recently started actually lunging for my fingers to try to get a good taste. About how long should I expect him to be afraid of me?

Thanks for any info,
~emily

Hello Emily,

Welcome to your first dragon as I am sure you will get a few more as the time goes on...First thing you might want to do is feed him in a separate tank instead of his permanent tank. He might be hungry and that is why he is trying to nip at you when he see’s your fingers (food) in his tank. Another thing you can do is get him out right before light’s out and he should be ready to snuggle in for a nice snooze.

As for the crickets, I got rid of them almost all together. I only feed them now when I got some friends over and they want to see them eat like they would in nature. Besides, they still like to hunt now and again...the dragon that is...lol...Their main diet is pellets and greens. The RepCal pellets seam to work the best for everyone that has tried to “convert” their dragons from the Dark Side.

Good luck and keep us all posted…
Steve

No crickets in my house either. Rep cal pellets, greens and the occassional super worm and meal worm.

Congrats on the new addition.

>>Hello Emily,
>>
>> Welcome to your first dragon as I am sure you will get a few more as the time goes on...First thing you might want to do is feed him in a separate tank instead of his permanent tank. He might be hungry and that is why he is trying to nip at you when he see’s your fingers (food) in his tank. Another thing you can do is get him out right before light’s out and he should be ready to snuggle in for a nice snooze.
>>
>> As for the crickets, I got rid of them almost all together. I only feed them now when I got some friends over and they want to see them eat like they would in nature. Besides, they still like to hunt now and again...the dragon that is...lol...Their main diet is pellets and greens. The RepCal pellets seam to work the best for everyone that has tried to “convert” their dragons from the Dark Side.
>>
>>Good luck and keep us all posted…
>>Steve
>>
>>
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Lisa
www.beginnersbasics.com

Thanks for the tips... another thing: should I be turning off his heat lamp every night? The person at the pet store said to leave it on 24/7, but I'm thinking the sun goes down at night in the desert too, yeah?

And as tempting as it is to feed the little dude pellets instead of crickets, he sure does seem to get a kick out of catching crickets =) munch munch crunch It's the big ones that I don't like; I think the "smalls" are too big. I gotta find a better place to get teensy ones.

Thanks again for the help,
~emily

Welcome to Dragon Ownership! When I got My first one no one warned Me how addicting they are!!! I now have 6!! I hate crickets also (I think everyone does). So I use Ectotherm Dragon Yummies for My guys. I still give my 3-4 month old girls cricket everyother day or so cause well, They're Growing! LOL But I give Ectotherm every day. Ectotherm Is loaded with greens, Vitamins, and ... CRICKETS!! SO it's a complete diet (I give other stuff also). Whatever food you're giving them shouldn't be any bigger then the space between their eyes. It can be real hard finding cricket for a 2 and a half month old dragon.... Look for Pin heads or the next size up (can't remember what they're called). I order Mine online since It's really much cheaper then getting them from a pet store. Plus you go through them so fast!! My two girls down about 50 EACH everyday I give them. Haven't done an actually count of crickets but It's at least 50 each.
As far as being nippy, I have Three grumpy Dragon. two adults, One of My little girls. The other three are as sweet as can be. I handle all of them the same but.... Each dragon has it's own personality. Just like people, some a grouchy, some are sweethearts. Try handling him/her a lot even though S/He won't really care for it at this time. Maybe that'll help calm Him/her down once S/He realizes being handled doesn't hurt.
Good luck and again, Welcome to the Beardie World! LOL
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2.0 Iguanas, 2.4 Beardies, 1.3 Saharan/Nigerian Uromastyx, 0.0.2 Leos, 0.0.1 African Fat Tail, 1.0 Columbian Rainbow Boa, 0.0.1 Fla Garter Snake, 0.1 eastern garters, 0.0.1 Banded California King Snake (M.I.A.), 0.0.1 Corn Snake, 0.0.3 Fire Belly Toads, 1.0 Eastern Painted Turtle, 0.0.1 African Sideneck, 2 Horses, 4 cats, 1 dog, and I'm still not done.....