Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have just one bearded dragon but wow i didnt know it would take so much time to care for him. I can only handle about 150 crickets at a time and he goes through 150 like every 4 days, and they cost about $13 everytime. Is that too many crickets to be going through in 4 days ? He's about 7.5 inches. I try to feed him his little salad everyday but he rarely eats it. Also i give him some mealworms but it just seems like he eats SO many crickets.
what to do ?

Basically, just keep buying him and feeding him his crickets. Baby beardies consume a LOT of crickets their first year (the amount you are feeding sounds about right, some will eat more then that though.) , and having to buy them just comes with keeping a baby beardie healthy. Any good care sheet will say just how much they consume their first year, so you should have been prepared for the cost before you got the bearded (not saying it to be mean or anything.) He should start to eat his salad when he gets a little older, just make sure you are always offering it to him. The younger dragons are usually not as interested in it right away.

If possible, you might wanna look around and see if any shops may sell them cheaper? Or you could look into ordering them online. I've never ordered crickets online so I'm not sure just how much cheaper they may or may not be. Good luck!
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~Melissa~
1.6 Leopard geckos
1.1 Bearded dragons
1.0 Hog Island Boa
0.1 Western hognose
0.1 Coastal carpet python
1.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Savannah Monitor
0.0.1 Sulcata tortoise
1.0 Eastern Collared Lizard
1.1 Ferrets
0.1 Chinchilla
2.0 kitty cats

i order from reptile food. com and they only charge about 20.00 for 1000 crickets so u might wanna try them.

Yes, definitely order online - a pet store will break the bank! I just switched to Premium Crickets and am quite pleased so far. They sell 1000 for 14.50. If you only have the one bd you might want to try their contract crickets, that's what I use. It may not be enough for you at this point but as he gets older it is a good deal.

Depending on his size you can gradually get larger crickets (just never longer than his head is wide - b/t eyes) but while you are feeding pinheads or less than 1/2" you will probably want to order by 1000 for a while.

lele
Premium Crickets

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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

I too thought I was gonna break the bank with crickets! I ordered online. Once your dragon is almost an adult, he/she will eat greens, salad, etc. I can now buy crickets here and there, a few mealworms. I've also got mine on a bearded dragon food that has ground crickets in it. He's thriving. And I don't have to buy a zillion crickets! He resisted greens for a long time...but now is eating them like a big boy! LOL I had to start by handfeeding.

yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Maleea

ordering online or in bulk is the best way to go. If you decide to buy a 1000 crickets, might be an ideal to order them one size smaller than what you need, this way, as they get bigger they won't get too big to offer your dragon. Some petstores will give cheaper prices if you order from them in bulk but most times this will be a bit more than what you would get by ordering online. (ie: cost of 1000 crickets, $15. Cost of shipping $15. (plus taxed as applicable) Local petstore may sell 1000 crickets for $35 plus tax (if applicable)).
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PHLdyPayne

Lady Payne - you wrote:
"ie: cost of 1000 crickets, $15. Cost of shipping $15" Did you mean $30 total? There are many places that sell them for $15 and it includes shipping. Just wanted to clraify - unless you are talking about overnight ship cost, then it would be probably be even more.

Another tip for original poster - try to deal with someone in your region or at least on the same side of the country. If you are in a northern state winter shipping can be tough if they are coming from the south.
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha

My example wasn't based on any actual company's shipping/cricket costs. Given people here can be from Canada, the US or abroad, shipping costs can vary extensively depending on the distance from the customer and the company. So I just used fictional values. If you like a more realistic value, the one place I ordered crickets, they were $18/1000 crickets Canadian, plus $20 shipping. The local petstore sells 1000 crickets for $44.95, which is about $6 difference, though I found somebody else local, who sells crickets $20 /1000 shipping included (well, actually I have to drive to the other end of the city to pick them up but even with todays gas prices, still is the cheapest option for me. There is another supplier who charges $19/1000 crickets, shipping included, but they only come into town on Mondays, which isn't good for me at all, as I work mondays and don't have anybody around to get the crickets for me.
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PHLdyPayne

sorry I was being very USA-centered
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info

0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skipper
0.3 Mad. Hissers (2 died ;(
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha