Reptile & Amphibian Forums

pellets......

Well for a week now i had Daigh eat only pellets and salad, he eats adult and juvi pellets very well so i thought i would do it for a week just to see what kind of changes i saw in him. Well if a dragon can be depressed, Daigh was depressed. He eats every single bit i give him (which is a ton), but doesnt scamper down off his basking log like usual, he waits for a half hour, lumbers over, eats some and back up to his log, his excitment is gone it would seem. he mostly just sits about instead of being the active young dragon he usually is. He doesnt follow me with his eyes and look up excitedly when i open his enclosure, he ignores me it would seem. Overall, he looks bored and depressed. That wide eyed excited expression is gone.

Well back to live feeders, supplemented of course with salad and pellets. I know people disagree with me on this and thats fine, but i just beleive that live feeders really add so much to our dragons lives, a certian type of stimulation for their minds and bodies that can not be replaced by soggy pellets. i just cant take that away from them, they already live in 4x2 glass boxes for us, least i can do is offer up some excitment and good eats and go the extra mile to be sure my feeders are good quality , get fecals and be sure my dragons arent just happy, but healthy also I know many are concerned with live feeders being a cause of parasites, but there are things we can offer that can help prevent parasites that arent just safe but beneficial to our dragons, it just takes a bit more effort on our part.

Ya know i feed pellets to everything from horses to exotic birds, and they all are all so called "complete diets" (yes yes i know they were developed by vets to be a complete diet, but any good bird owner will tell you that they would never just feed their birds that pelletd diet alone) but just because it may say that on a package it isnt always so, these animals need other things then these pellets, not just for their nutritional well being but for their mental health also.

well i said my part on feeding a pellet only diet, ill never keep my dragons that way, ill never keep any of my animals that way, and if i suggested that from here on in i will only prepare a plate of soggy pellets for my boyfriends dinner, i think he would leave town.

ps. for those people that dont like bugs, dont want to keep bugs because they are too much of a hassle, they stink, they dont have the room, their husband doesnt like the sound of crickets or whatever else, get a guppy we shouldnt offer a diet that is convienent for us, or think of how we can purchase and keep an animal that doesnt fit our lifestyles and adjust its life to fit ours, but rather offer a diet and a lifestyle to our animals that is healthy and will keep our reptiles happy and content and go out of our way to do so.

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reiko
photos

no post :}

I have never fed my two eating machines pellets yet, but have been considering getting them used to them in case of a cricket shortage or if I need to leave for the weekend. With pellets can you leave a bowl of em out for them to pluck at for a couple of days or do they have to be soaking wet the whole time?

I think Reiko makes some excellent points about the excitement level and fun factor of chasing down crickets. Mine would probably react the same way (and give me major stink eye) if I went to pellets exclusively, but then again mine are used to live prey. They will jump down from their basking spots and run up to the glass just buzzing with excitement as I dust the crickets. I'm sure that if you raised them from hatchlings on pellets they could care less and not know the difference, though. Part of the excitement and fun is for me also, I love watching them stalk down their prey from across the cage and pouncing on them, even when they miss, which is rare nowadays.

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Beautiful Dragons

My dragon stalks and attacks his salads... he's pretty silly.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

that was a bit unexpected I think, lol. Well I agree completely.........and have often said I think its awesome to see the dragons chase down those crickets, and Im sure they like it too.........and its gotta get them stimulated somewhat just by eating them. I think you are dead on also.......about the guppy thing, lol.

I hope some pro pellet people post some replies...i'm interested in this subject and i'd like to hear it from the other side.

ok, you asked for a "pro pellet reply" LOL

I feed my beardies salad greens and rep cal daily. My babies are all raised cricket free, but.............

I do give live foods every 2 - 3 days... just not crix.

Now as for a good point about pellets..... I once posted about a female that never seemed to grow (At the time when I did feed crix, etc). I then switched over to pellets and within 2 months she gained both substantial length and weight and looked great!

I think it all depends on how the beardie has been raised from hatching to adult... Standard here is greens and rep cal daily with silkies, freshly shed supers, etc every few days.

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Lisa
www.beginnersbasics.com

Cricket FREE babies!

YOU SAID IT AMEN!!!!!!

I've seen the pellets and heard all about them but... why would anyone put their beardie on a pellet only diet? I mean, do they ever see anything remotely like that in the wild? So what if the crickets stink and make noise? At least it's not mice or rats!!

-Paul

0.1.0 Bearded Dragon
1.0.0 Uromastyx Maliensis
1.1.0 Uromastyx Geyri
0.0.2 African Fat Tail Geckos
1.0.0 Royal Python

i agree !!! I do feed pellets but only as an added bonus to their salads and buggies. I feed live bugs like silkies and crickets all the time and am "trying" out the canned crickets. i have one beardie that goes nuts for the canned ones and only nibbles on the real deal or silkies. but i think i am going to stop with the canned crix because i can't afford it. i go through 4 cans of mini crix a week at 5 dollars a pop plus 2k crix a week. so it gets to be a bit much. Oh and a bought some big canned crix and grasshoppers yesterday and just about threw-up watching spike eat that huge nasty hopper.. ewwww ..bug juice all over my leg..

alissa

I feed my beardie salads and pellets at every meal. He used to get crickets when he was a juvi, but he lost interest in them over a year ago. I fed him a couple of king worms here and there, as a treat, but I think he decided that he should get them all of the time. Now when I put crickets in the cage, he waits for them to cross his path, eats one or two, and then I have to take the rest out. I would love to get him back to eating crickets -- it was so fun to see his excitement, (he would dance by the glass while I got them ready) and watch him chase them. Don't get me wrong, he's excited for the worms, but I know the crickets are better for him.

Just giving my take from a pellet/salad feeder...

p.s. If anyone has suggestions on getting him back on crix, I would love the advice...

I use both. I have been bad and done away with salads. I feed my dragons pellets in the morning. And then crickets at night. I feel that dragons that eat alot of pellets grow rapidly. Also I feel that pellets are a more complete diet that salad is. I do love to watch them hunt down crickets. And the little dances they do to while I prepare their crickets. Or when they see superworms. It is crazy when i open a box of worms and empty it out into the worm container. I have to give them tons of worms that day. I do feel that a balanced diet is good. Pellets have their place. But I do not feel that raising a dragon on just salad and pellets is a good choice. However I do love pellets.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

I was going to try and raise my little guy without live prey, but having had beardies before, I could tell he just wasn't excited about eating his pellets. He'd pick them out of his salad (won't touch greens for some reason) and kinda crunch on one then go slowly climb back up his branch.

Then, the other day I saw a fruit fly, gnat, or...whatever it was...flying around in Grendel's cage. Actually, I didn't see it at first, I just HEARD all this racket and came in here to find Grendel leaping, flying, flipping, pouncing, and bouncing all over the cage. He was going through all that effort for just that little flying bug. I think mainly because he thought it was fun to try and catch it. That's when I realized I needed to get some live food for him...even if it's just so he can have a daily activity of being the "big hunter".

I get a silkworm ready and he leaps from one branch to the other, then pounces on them as soon as my hand is out of the way. I've never seen him pounce on a pellet or get that excited.

On the other hand, I feel pellets have a place and I will always offer them in his salads as a daily staple. I figure at least this way I have all my bases covered.

I also feed pellets to my bird but seed and fruits and nuts also... complete my butt it may be healthy complete but definitely NOT stimulating or interesting... therefore I believe they are not complete!!!

Lenae
www.pnwreptilerescue.com

hey all,

i have been feeding my beardies pellets for a while now and i think (know) i'm gonna switch back now....teh male does alright and eats his excitedly or as excitedly as u can eat a prepackaged meal but the female has been a little thin and i think she needs her crix again........everyone think so???????

Spike and Rusty say Hi

carbonatom13