Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ive been told i can start to work a more vegetarian diet into my dragons routine and havnt had great results so far...they pick here and there but i dont feel they are eating enough so i give in and feed crickets....should i stay strong or is there a better way to help them adapt?

I guess I wonder why? Isn't a balanced varied diet like in nature better?

Either way why not try Rep Cal Bearded Dragon pellets(my dragons love them) and greens mixed together? Then I guess you could eliminate the crickets. It's better than just greens alone I would imagine.

If dealing with live Crickets is the problem and mind you, I hate LIVE crickets too, may I suggest switching too Zoo Med's Can O Crickets? I've had great results. I use both regular and mini crickets and the dragons gobble them up. They're moist and the exoskeletons are softer because they're cooked in the can. I would dust them when using them though.
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0.0.2 Bearded Dragons(Ziggy and Stardust)

n/p
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www.classylizard.com

Greens alone are not an adaquate diet for beardies. If you dislike the bugs that much you must use something else to replace the protien with, ex. RepCal. I still think it's best if they get salad, repcal, and some bugs. If it's crickets you don't like you can try silkies, superworms, roaches, etc. but salad alone just isn't enough.

Sean
Heart Mountain Herps

I agree Sean.

I mix my Dragon's greens, Rep Cal pellets moistened with water or sometimes Pedialyte, and canned whole Crickets which are about 70% moisture together in a dish so they can get a little of everything.

Often they pick out the crickets first then snack on greens/fruits and pellets throughout the day.
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0.0.2 Bearded Dragons(Ziggy and Stardust)

The dragons are about 18 months old. I have no problems with crickets i jsut heard switching to a more vegetarian diet is usual as the dragons age. I use the repcal pellets but they dont really go for them much they eat the greens and eat around the pellets. I also dust greens and crickets

At 18 months....they should get greens/veggies daily of course...but bugs only once or twice a week(or daily in small amounts if your prefer)....their diet should be 10-20 protein and 80-90 vegatable matter.....to much protein/fat in bugs for adult dragons has been shown to shorten lifespan as they often develop fatty live disease from it. So you are right, at this stage yours should be more greens/veggies and less bugs.
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com

You didn't say they were 18months old. In that case we usually go with a 80%salad to 20%bug with repcal being available always (which they eat more of than the other 2 anyway). Sorry it just sounded like you were a bug hater when you said vegetarian which I took to mean lack of bugs.

Sean
Heart Mountain Herps

LOL no sorry ...thanks for the info...im just going to keep leaving pellets there all day like you said and hopefully theyll start to take them soon