Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey i just read somewhere that it is ok to feed beardie's the pellets and not feed any crickets even when the are juvies, does this have any truth to it?
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1.1 leopard gecko (goliath, gebco)
0.0.1 hypo red bearded dragon (puff the magic dragon)
0.0.1 schnieder's skink (ghandi)
1.0 white's dumpy treefrog (buddha)
0.0.1 house gecko (geico) (currently missing)
1.0 rabbit (oreo)
0.1 dogs (kristy)
1.2 cats (joey, megahertz, tinkerbell)
2.0 goulian finchs (billy and bobby)

np
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

My babies have never seen a cricket in their lives and they are right about 2 months old at this time. My adults have not had a cricket in almost a year now and I LOVE IT!

You can start them on pellets at anytime in their life. Just make sure you do a gradual change over so as not to scare/starve the dragon. I still give my dragons some live prey, just cause they like the movement. I also feed a variety of greens everyday.

Good luck...
Steve

GoldDragon,

I know you have posted that picture before, but I just LOVE it!!
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Stacey

how do you get the hatchlings to start in them ad what is the youngest they will try to eat them thanks..
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1.3 bearded dragons. 2.3 leaporde geckos.1.1. veiled chameleons

I only feed pellets here too. I have a batch of 24 1-month old babies right now, and they all started eating pellets/salad when they were about 4 or 5 days old. I put some in there from the day after they hatched, but 4/5 days is when I started seeing poop in the cages.

Well, the little one’s will not eat for a few days after they are out of the egg. I then start right into the greens, pellets and mini-mealworms. I give them VERY few worms to start with. It is mostly to get their attention onto the plate of food. They start eating pellets right way and are now very good eaters, no matter what I put in their tanks. I now only feed them the worm’s every-other-day and they don’t seam to mind too much.

One of the keys that I think to the whole pellet thing is to get them started right off on it. If they have crickets, then they will always look for them and not be too interested in the greens/pellets. I feel that all my dragons will get a better start in life because they do not rely on crickets. Pellets are cheap and most average dragons owners would/will not goto the pet store every day and buy $5 worth of crickets. As long as the dragon has access to the pellets, it will have everything that it needs to survive and live a long and healthy life.

Good luck,
Steve

np

I only use the Rep-Cal pellets and I get them from www.ReptileDirect.com and I only use the juvenile formula for my babies and also adults. I buy the 5 pound bags cause they like them so much

Steve

My adults won't touch the adult repcal pellets, but they love the juvie ones

Just to make sure, i assume when you use the pellets you wont need the vitamin powder i was sold for the crickets? Would the crickets be okay for an occasional treat. If the baby is started on crickets, will it be hard to switch.

You do still need to dust their salads just as you would crickets. Not sure on the switching a baby from crickets to pellets, but I would guess it would be harder then with an adult. Maybe a little more dangerous too as they may hold out for crix too long. Maybe somebody else here has tried switching a baby before...

you have calcium d3 powder and vitamin powder, right? Not just vitamin powder...

I'm a little confused. To answer your question, the powder i got has D3 added. So if giving pellets and using minimum crickets to eventually phase them out, would this work? Yes i would still be giving a good variety of greens. Is dusting the salad greens just as good as dusting the crickets, assuming they are eating the greens?

heres my plan.. what do you think.
first: I have the calcium powder with the D3 added. But I wasnt told to buy a vitamin supplement. IF its needed what kind is recommended.
second: I think i will add the pellets and salad, and crickets, and once i know he is eating the pellets, slowly decrease the amount of the crickets, or the frequency that they are given.

When using the pellets is a VITAMIN supplement necessary?

I'm sorry to be a pain, but i want to do what is right by my new baby, I plan on having him around for quite a while.