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I was considering using silkworms as a staple insect intead of crix. Has anyone here done this? If so, could you please answer these questions and add any input of your own.

1) Baby beardies can down 60 crix a day, would one silkworm be equivilent to one cricket? Silworms seem sooo much more expensive, so if this is the case, then I really can't afford them.

2) If you have used crickets in the past and now use silkworms or visa versa, did you notice any difference in the health/vigor of your dragon(s)?

3) I remember I read somehwhere that size doesn't matter as much with silkworms as it does with crickets because they don't have the the hard chitin that causes impaction. any opinions?

4) I know every beardie differs, but on average, how many silkies a day would a baby beardie eat?

5) And lastly, if I do decide on the silkies, does anyone recomend a good place to get them?

I was also considering mixing it up between silkies and crickets. My problem with crickets is that the only place I would be able to keep them is in the laundry room and it's more damp in there and I was worried about bacteria growth. Also, I'm pretty sure my brother would kill me if I had crickets keeping him up all night, which led me to this next idea. Do crickets only make noise at night? If so, would it make sense to leave a light on at night so they think it's day? THe room stays 100% dark durring the day execpt for when we do laundry.

Sorry this is sooooo long, please bear with me here.

When our male beardie was a baby we used crickets--I ordered them by the 1000 online and usually at the 3/8 inch size...one batch would keep us going for a month. If any of the crickets developed wings they were immediately removed (they were usually too big by that stage for our baby beardie anyways). Once our baby was big enough to eat winged/adult crickets we would freeze the winged ones as soon as they were found. The frozen ones were thawed and added to the top of salads. My daughter kept a large rubbermaid of crickets in her bathroom (under the sink). Smell was not an issue as she was good about removing the old food before she added new and she DID NOT keep a top on the container--the container was deep and we did not have an issue with escapees. I think the secret is in ventalation.

Once we switched to silkworms we have NOT gone back to crickets. We switched when our beardie was an adult so I cannot comment on how many to feed out to a baby. Silkies are more expensive--if you get a colony of them established then the only cost is the silkworm chow--and it ends up being about the same cost as crickets.

Our beardies (we have 2 now) both prefer silkworms to crickets. Once we added silkworms we never had hydration issues. We have not had parasite issues since switching to silkworms.

If we were to get a baby beardie I'd probably go with a combination of crickets, silkies and pellets. Silkies get BIG (almost 3 inches and thicker than a pencil)--too big for babies unless you cut them apart (yuck!). For very young beardies I would order 1/2 inch silkies. For 3-6 month old beardies I would order 1 inch-1.5 inch silkies.

Silkies are meatier than crickets so the ratio is different depending on the size of the silkworm.

If I were you I'd try a sample pack combo of worms and food. I've ordered from both Mulberry Farms and California Silkworms. Silkworms are sensitive to heat and cold--so you may need a hot pack or cold pack depending on your weather.

HTH
DM

Thanks for the reply, it really helps a lot.

When you kept the crix, did they make a lot of noise at night? I wouldn't mind it, my concern though is my brother who is kind enough to let me stay withhim while I'm in college. I don't want him to associate my dragon with what's keeping him up at night (if they keep him up at night)

You mentioned that if you get a colony established, then the only cost is the chow which is about the same as crix. Is it hard to keep a colony of silkies going? I'm not expecting a full care guide, just your personal opinion. I think I'll look into this.

Thanks again!
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1.0 cat named Clyde
1.0 snow corn snake named Albert
many many fish (African cichlids and tetras (not in same tank of course))

Silkworms are very easy to breed. Feed them until they cocoon--(I put eggcrate in with them when they get big and they spin in there). The moths will emerge from the cocoon and pair up. Once "joined" I put the pair in a lunch-size paper bag and let them do their thing... The female will start laying the next day. The moths do not eat or drink and they cannot fly. They mate and then die (we feed them to our beardies as treats after they mate). The eggs need to set out at room temp for a few days until they turn a dark purple. I cut the paper around the eggs and place it in a zip-lock bag in the refrigerator. The eggs need to cool there for a few months and can be stored there for years. When I need more silkworms I set out some eggs--if the house is cool an incubator will help--in the summer I just leave them out at room temp. The eggs will hatch after a week or so. Feed them chow daily and in about 2 weeks they will be big enough to start feeding out to your baby. When you have your own 'colony' you can set out eggs every other week in small batches and have a constant supply of silkworms.

Crickets only chirp as winged adults. As long as you get rid of the winged ones you will not have a problem with noise. Even when we were purchasing crickets for a sub-adult we still purchased the crickets at 3/8 in. Drako would eat more of the smaller ones--but we would not have to freeze as many at the end of our supply either.

It is one of those things you will have to try for yourself.

I also recommend supplementing with Repcal juvi pellets. Pellets and salad make a good combo in a pinch--when you run out of live food. Our female beardie would happily live on pellets alone. I wish we would have started our male out on them earlier--he 'might' take one by hand--but he would STARVE himself if only offered pellets and salad (he is not a good salad eater). Many people raise happy healthy beardies on pellet/salad diets. I still think variety is good...

Thank you so much, this has been most helpfull!

I think I've decided to use both crickets and silkies while it's young and gradually phase out the crickets as it gets older.

Thanks for the advice about the pellets witht the salad, I'll deffinatley give it a go.

Funny I worry about all this now, I'm not even getting the dragon untill the end of december.

*copy and pasting this all into word for future reference*
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1.0 cat named Clyde
1.0 snow corn snake named Albert
many many fish (African cichlids and tetras (not in same tank of course))

Silkworms equal more crickets as the silkworms get larger. Small silkworms are pretty much the same as a same sized cricket by length. (ie a one inch silkworm is pretty much the same as a one inch cricket).

Because silkworms have more protein and calcium than crickets, they are a great source of food. They are a little higher in fat but for growing babies, this is a plus. Silkworms have less waste bulk as well, lacking the hard chitin of crickets. When feeding silkworms, bearded dragon poo does become softer and contains much more liquid. This is normal, a refletion of the softer bodies and higher water content.

Silkworms have benefits in the fact they never make noice (except the sound of th em eating chow...which you can only hear if you are standing right beside them while they eat. But th en again when I have silks I usually have a few hundred... Also, they don't stink, providing they are cleaned regularly and kept as bacteria free as possible (silkworms are very vulnerable to bacteria, mold and high humidity). The general smell of silkworms is the same as the silkworm chow, a kind of fresh cut grass smell. They don't escape... in fact they don't move much at all, unless it's from one slab of chow to another.

Adult male crickets will chirp at any time of the day, though bright light seems to quiet them but not always. The males are easy to distinquish from females even at a young age. By the time the crickets are about half an inch long, you can tell the males from the females easily, so feed them off first. Females will have a third black 'spine' coming from the end of their butts. Males will just have two tan or clear 'spines' forming a sort of 'V' on either side of the poop opening. The third one females have will be between these two and just above the 'poop opening'. This is used to deposit eggs in soil and can grow quite long in adult females...even longer than their total body length (about an inch or so).

It's always good to feed a variety of insects to dragons, regardless if one individual insect is a great stable. Bearded dragons in the wild eat many insect species so offereing crickets once in awhile as a 'treat' is a good ideal. Superworms, waxworms, butterworms, several species of roaches, locusts, and some other insects, can be offered as a change from just crickets, or just silkworms. Waxworms should only be treats, same as mealworms. However a feeding of superworms or the others, once or twice a week, is perfectly fine.

For adult bearded dragons, one 2-3" silkworm is easily the same as 6 adult crickets. My adult bearded dragon would eat only 2-4 large silkworms, and more smaller silkworms. I offered silkworms for the first time when my dragon was about 6-7 months old and I started with one inch worms..I fed up to a dozen of th ese to her at that time (she was around 12-14" at this time. Her adult size was about 19". She did very well on these, filled out alot and gained size/weight much faster t han she did on crickets, not to mention her poop was less hard looking and she went more regularly. WIth crickets and greens, she often didn't go more than twice a week, with silkworms and greens, she went every day.
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PHLdyPayne

Thanks a bunch, this all helps!

A little off topic, but I just saw my snake shed!!! I've had him for about a year and a half and this is the first time I have actually seen him sheD!

Thanks again
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1.0 cat named Clyde
1.0 snow corn snake named Albert
many many fish (African cichlids and tetras (not in same tank of course))

Silkworms are undoubtably the better food choice but variety is still king. Crickets have benefits. A silkworm only diet provides little fiber, Crickets are high in it. They are lower in fat and exercise your dragon when feeding because they have to catch them. The exercsie factor is very important.

I feed a combination of silks and crickets as an everyday staple, and sporadically add wax worms and supers. I'll buy some of the later a dozen at a time when i'm at the pet store and give them to my beardies as a treat once or twice a week. But silks and crickets everyday.

Only adult crickets chirp.

Take it from me, I keep on average 500-1500 crickets. They are about 12' from my head when I sleep. Even one... ONE adult chipring cricket is more than enough to make you loose sanity in a matter of days.

For this reason, I do my best to purchase crickets that are smaller than I need. I just feed more. However, any time you buy a large amount of feeders, you are guarenteed to have at least one adult that has found its way into the lot.

Good luck.

Personally I am using a good mix between Butterworms and Crickets. Butterworms are great to keep your chameleon hydrated, don't worry about impaction, they contain more than twice the amount of Calciumm as any other feeder. I am waiting for my silkworm eggs to hatch and grow.
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