Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have always discarded the dead crickets, superworms & mealworms assuming that they shouldn't be fed but is this necessary? I'm sure at some point they can get parasite riden but if they only been dead for a day or 2?

I wouldn't. Crickets are filthy enough when they are alive. They are so inexpensive, it's not worth taking the chance.

Hi, if they have been dead a few days, they, the crickets, have not eaten, thats how your dragon receives his nutrition from what he eats. And in turn what they ate.

They are useless, of no NUTRITIONAL VALUE to your lizard.
TRASH THEM !!

They also begin to rot, , not a good idea any way ya look at it,

Eve

Crickets are basically empty shells. A dead or hungry cricket is empty. If you feed them dogfood (like the petstores do) then basically you are feeding your dragon dogfood, and that's bad. That's why it's always recommended to gutload your crickets with the appropriate foods.

A lot of trouble if you ask me. I gave up crickets a long time ago. It's strictly salads and silkworms for my beardie.

I just started feeding them Superworms instead of mealworms and crickets. What's the benefit to Silkworms?

Silkworms are a very nutricious staple, probably one of the best feeder insects available for dragons. Mealworms and superworms are ok for an occasional treat, but not regularly as they are too low in calcium and high in phosphorus. Here is a good food chart you can check out for future reference. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/
As you can see, superworms can be fed occasionally, mealworms should only be fed every great once in a while.

Silkworms are also very clean and easy to keep.The only food they require is mulberry chow, which you can buy anywhere you buy silkworms. I usually buy a box of 150 from Mulberry Farms and they last sometimes over a month. Overall it means for me less trips to the petstore, less smell, and much healthier for the dragon.

The only drawback for you is that you can usually only buy them online, and therefore they are a bit more expensive. I don't see this as a major problem, since adult dragons should be on a mostly vegetarian diet, you don't have to constantly have insects in stock anyways. I only buy silkworms every few months or so when I have the money, as a special treat to top my lizard's salad with.

Thanks & I've saved the link. I will try to talk the local herp shop owner into stocking silkworms. Makes it easy for me, I go by there everyday anyway and sounds like he should encourage others owners to feed their herps silkworms too.

crickets are alright nutrician wise. They don't lose nutrician when they die, (they are dead, so can't burn off fat, digest any food they eat before dying etc.) However, it is not good to feed them to dragons. They decay quite fast and the reason they died may not be healthy for your dragon either. Better to toss out any dead crickets you find right away as they will start to smell quite quickly.

It's fine to feed a cricket you just killed before giving him to your dragon. I have accidently killed crickets while trying to catch them..especially if it jumped out of the bowl before I could get it into the cage, or when dusting them. As I knew what they died (me) and they weren't dead long enough to start to rot, I felt they were safe. Otherwise, dead crickets in teh cricket bin get tossed, even if it is still twitching.

No... never feed dead crickets. You have no idea why they died... always feed healthy live and gutloaded crickets, for your dragons' sake.
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I usually put in apples, squash, stalks from the greens.... is that sufficient?

all kinds of other veggies and fruits.
/Gunilla
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