Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have found out that if you feed female moths that haven't yet layed eggs to small beardies they can become constipated and I'm assuming impacted.

I noticed my small beardie was not gone poo for a while. Well after a good soak and rub, when he went, there were a bunch of undigested silkworm eggs in his crap! I noticed these eggs in him for days after I stopped feeding him the moths.

There doesn't seem to be much to worry about with the male moths or females that have already layed their eggs, just the egg filled females because apparently beardies can't digest the eggs.
-----
Rob Talkington

kinda silly question but how big are the moths and how big is your beardie,,, this isn't a loaded question, i know that you wouldn't feed him things that are too big but i've never had worms coccoon and turn into moths and i was wondering how big they are
-----
0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Eddie)
2.0.0 Dogs (Black German Shepherd-Nicholas, Black Lab-Cooper)
1.1.0 Budgies (Kia and Simon)
0.0.1 ?Fiddler Crab (Crusty)
0.0.25 Various Fishies (Freshwater)
2.1.0 Hubby and kids (Boy and a Girl)

Not a silly question at all.

My beardie is 13" and the moths, well, how do I put this? Um, the males are about 1/2" long and 1/4" wide and the females are about 5/8" long and 3/8" wide.

It is important to point out what insect you are feeding your beardie makes a big difference in the size that is recommended. For example, a cricked that is bigger than the space between the beardies eyes is not recommended because the cricket has a hard exoskeleton that is undigestible. You do not need to go by the same rule for silkworms because they have no exeskeleton that would cause impaction. The moths they produce do not have a hard exoskeleton either so, in my opinion, the crix size rule of thumb does not apply with them either.

However, to be on the safe side I don't feed the female moths to my beardie until I am sure she has layed her eggs and even then I only feed it to my big beardie who is at 18". On top of that I only feed a couple of moths at a time whether female, male or going to the bigger or smaller dragon. I just don't think there's enough info on the moths yet to fill my dragons up with them.

I haven't had moths for awhile now but when I had a bunch the majority of them died before they got fed out.
-----
Rob Talkington

Could you feed the moths after they have died? That way you know they should have laid their eggs. I've always just tossed the moths out after they mated and died and never thought about feeding them.

>>Could you feed the moths after they have died? That way you know they should have laid their eggs. I've always just tossed the moths out after they mated and died and never thought about feeding them.

Granted, the moths have a very short lifespan but my theory behind not feeding dead insects is this. I think insects have somewhat of an immune system to keep things in check and once they die who knows what could be going on inside that body? It just doesn't seem like a good idea.
-----
Rob Talkington

Thanks for the info. My beardie is 13-14" too so maybe if my silkies get too big and coccoon i'll try feeding him a moth or 2. I don't think i'll have any left to do that but ya never know. And I was told (maybe by you in a different post?) about the size of the silkworms vs size of crix to feed to your beardie. I like the silkies way better than crix. BUT waaay more $$$. Oh well. Thats what i work for, to make money to spend how i want. Which is why I spend it on my animals,,,, there's worse habits out there Thanks again, L.
-----
0.0.1 Bearded Dragon (Eddie)
2.0.0 Dogs (Black German Shepherd-Nicholas, Black Lab-Cooper)
1.1.0 Budgies (Kia and Simon)
0.0.1 ?Fiddler Crab (Crusty)
0.0.25 Various Fishies (Freshwater)
2.1.0 Hubby and kids (Boy and a Girl)

Yeah, I always bought my crix at the local pet shop and they weren't cheap by any means so I think I'm spending about the same for silkies as I had been for the crix. Especially since I only have to buy the chow now since I have my own breeding stock of silkies.

I was going to get some crix and try to do a comparison on weight but that was when I was going to get a scorpion. I never got the scorpion though, so haven't had any need to buy crix. I think I guessed 4, 1/2" crix to a 1" silkie?

Glad I could help.
-----
Rob Talkington