Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok guys it finally happened! my hatchling went after his first cricket today.. yay. Now i have a problem. he waited so long that all my little crick's are dead. all i have left are adults and mealies. i have small mealies but all that i have read says nothing bigger than the space between his eyes. the mealies i have are about twice that. (i know this sounds funny)If i pinch them in half and give him what is still moving do you think it will be ok....

If a dragon is that young then it is not a good idea to give it any mealworms. They are a lot harder to digest then crickets. Usually you want to wait a few months before you offer mealworms as a treat.

peace,
nate

You will need to go out and buy or order more pinhead - 1/4 inch crickets to feed him. You can keep them alive by feeding the crickets (keep them in a shoe box type container with a screen cover, just stable aluminum screen over a hole cut into the lid). Feed the crickets mixed greens and vegetables (basically the same greens you would feed your dragon) plus fish flakes, crushed dried low fat catfood (no dyes if possible) or skimmilk powder or a combination of the above. For moisture, offer slices of orange, potato, carrots or squash. Change greens and wet foods daily, dry foods can be changed whenever it looks full of cricket poop. The only other thing you need in the cricket bin is lots of egg crate (the paper kind) or similiar. (ie coffee cup holders, toilette paper tubes, scrunched up newspaper etc). Y ou can get large egg flats (crates) from most breakfast nooks or cafetarias, just ask the workers to keep some for you. This is where i get my stock. Once I have 10-20 flats, I stop collecting them as this lasts me for a long time.

If the crickets you do have are not fully winged...you can snip them in half and feed the halves to your bearded dragon (remove the large legs though). Other foods you can offer are small silkworms (half inch ones are ideal, even if they are larger than the between the eye distance rule. Silkworms are very soft bodied and are less likely to cause impaction or pressure on the lower spine. Just don't feed them too much. A silkworm is easily the same bulk and nutrition as 3-5 crickets.

Mealworms can be risky for bearded dragons, especially young ones, for the reasons already mentioned. However, if you have newly molted mealies, you can offer a couple of those (they will be very pale to white in color).
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PHLdyPayne

Thanks guys. I just didnt want him to be still hungry and me not have anything to give till i could get to a store. I think i will stay away from the mealies for now... thanks again