Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All,
Ive posted this question a few weeks ago and I was suggested to go to vandivers, since they sold animals that were already on pellets. However after they emailed me their pricelist I emailed them 2 or 3 times asking for example pics of their morphs and didnt get any response, so Ive been discouraged from buying from them.
So my only option now is to buy a dragon and take him off of crickets and on to pelets myself.
So I was wondering how hard this is??? And what the success rate is???
Also if you know of any other breeders that can get beardies off of crickets before they sell them let me know!!

Thanks
Jack

This isn't hard at all. I've done it successfully twice. It might be easier to start with a dragon that has had some pellets, but mine never did. I just ordered them 1000 crickets when I got them, and by the time the crickets were gone, they were on pellets. I fed the crickets from the dish until the dragon was eating them out before the crickets hopped out from the dish. Then I was adding in pellets to the dish. Usually the dragon misses the cricket and catches a pellet. Or the cricket stands on the pellet and the dragon catches both. As they start eating more pellets, I started putting in less crickets. I also tried to handfeed them a little bit. You could do this by wrapping the pellets in a piece of green, taking little bits and putting them on the nose, then holding the rest up and letting them lick it. Some dragons will just eat them right from your finger without you having to try any little tricks. Of course if you get one like that, it's the best.

I forgot to mention the ages of my dragons. One was 2 months old when I got him. It took about 2 weeks to get him off crickets. The other was 4 weeks old, and I don't remember exactly, but I believe he was 6-7 weeks when he was off the crickets entirely. The second one was just licking them right off the finger, I still used the crickets because I still had them.

They are a major distributor for rep-cal and have a Vet as a partner in the pet business that does research on reptile mutrition.

Their website is below and you can email them from it. They are at the Orlando show today, so give them a few days to get back home to MO.

Also, I have noticed that pellet raised babies seem to grown at a slower rate, but end up about the size as siblings that were raised on crickets
Leaping Lizards

Daisy, 3 yrs old..

n/p

I have noticed as well that dragon raised on pellets do have a lower growth rate. They will also take longer to get bulked up. However, by 1 year, they will be on par for their age. My one dragon who I fed on mostly pellets (occassional worms, greeens, fruits and veggies) is just under one year. At 11 months he was 18 inches. Considering he could still do some growing, although minimal, i'd say he got a pretty good size.

I've heard people mention these and I looked for them in stores, but haven't been able to find any. The only ones I found were for turtles or iguanas. Would either of those work? and if not what stores do you know that carries the bearded ones? I live in North Carolina.

I wish I had known, I would have sent some up to you with a camily that picked up a young dragon from me yesterday and lives in Raliegh, NC.

You can order them online and I have provided the link below.
Rep-Cal Bearded Dragon Pellets

This guy sells them bulk at the Shows down here in FL. You can get a 5 lb. bag for $20. Trust me, 5 lbs. is a lot of pellets. When you get the bag, it doesn't seem like a lot but when you start putting it in other containers, you realize how much it is.
Also, I put enough to cover the salad and put a few tiny mealworms on top and let them burrow in a little. The Dragons will get mouth fulls when they are trying to get the worms and eventually they start eating the pellets on their own.
These dragons were raised on pellets. They are at 8 wks.

lizard land sells bulk pellets

This guy sells them bulk at the Shows down here in FL. You can get a 5 lb. bag for $20. Trust me, 5 lbs. is a lot of pellets. When you get the bag, it doesn't seem like a lot but when you start putting it in other containers, you realize how much it is.
Also, I put enough to cover the salad and put a few tiny mealworms on top and let them burrow in a little. The Dragons will get mouth fulls when they are trying to get the worms and eventually they start eating the pellets on their own.
These dragons were raised on pellets. They are at 8 wks.

lizard land sells bulk pellets

I think Im gona ask a few beardie breeders if there Dragons are eating pellets with their crix and if so Ill just purchase one and try to get him off crix. Hopefully Ill be succesfull.

Thanks
jack