Crickets daily?

[reneeiv]

Trying to decide which bugs I can feed a bearded dragon, which I have not gotten yet. Decided crickets are best for me for they can tolerate heat better than the worms. I have strange allergies, thus I want to put the bugs in a shed behind my apartment until it gets cold. Then I can put them in friends basement for the winter which is better insulated.

I read at beautiful dragons that Cricket (before gut loading) are to be fed occasionally. Yet I see at Petsmart they feed the crickets daily. I would like to know from someone experienced how often do you feed the dragon crickets?

Also the term before gut loading confuses me for after the nutrient value suggestion Gut-load & dust to increase calcium

 

[Kathryn Kinney]

Crickets are okay as log as you gut load first and that goes for all feeders. I use cat food that I grind up and potato/carrot/fruit for moisture. I used to breed crickets and switched to roaches. There are a few downsides though. Crickets are noisy, stinky and their life cycle is only 2 months. If you buy adult crickets they more than likely will be dead in 10 days if not fed off. Also make sure no other critters will get in the shed and in their container which will need some holes for ventilation.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Trying to decide which bugs I can feed a bearded dragon, which I have not gotten yet. Decided crickets are best for me for they can tolerate heat better than the worms. I have strange allergies, thus I want to put the bugs in a shed behind my apartment until it gets cold. Then I can put them in friends basement for the winter which is better insulated.

I read at beautiful dragons that Cricket (before gut loading) are to be fed occasionally. Yet I see at Petsmart they feed the crickets daily. I would like to know from someone experienced how often do you feed the dragon crickets?

Also the term before gut loading confuses me for after the nutrient value suggestion Gut-load & dust to increase calcium

Keeping them in a shed outside will attract unwanted critters like ants and spiders.. It would be better if you could keep them in the friends basement. Yes their lifespan is really short I used to raise them for 5 years and they can be sensitive to strong odors/chemicals/big changes in temps...
I made my own cricket chow (corn meal, oats, fish food) I now have my own roach colony that I also make their food it's just cheaper and I know just what is in it.. Dubia's live up to 2 years and their GI track is very long making it easy to gut load and that goodness to get into the dragon eating the roach.
Babies need to be fed 3x a day with the last feeding a min of 2 hours before lights out.
juv dragons can be fed 2 times a day
adults it varies some feed the proteins 1-2 times a week
ALL dragons need to have salads available every day
Babies to juv will eat 80% bugs and 20% greens
Adults will eat 80% greens and 20% bugs
it varies from dragon to dragon you just need to figure out what they want to eat and go by that.

 

[reneeiv]

their lifespan is really short I used to raise them for 5 years and they can be sensitive to strong odors/chemicals/big changes in temps...
I made my own cricket chow (corn meal, oats, fish food) I now have my own roach colony that I also make their food it's just cheaper and I know just what is in it.. Dubia's live up to 2 years and their GI track is very long

Babies need to be fed 3x a day with the last feeding a min of 2 hours before lights out.
juv dragons can be fed 2 times a day
adults it varies some feed the proteins 1-2 times a week

I work 12hrs 4xs a week thus could not feed 3xs a day. What age is a juvi?

I need to research more about what bugs I can grow which I can keep in the basement.

 

[reneeiv]

Leaning towards the dubias roaches now.

I had assumed since the dragons only poop 1x a day that they only eat 1x a day. I will look for a bearded dragon around 2yrs of age

 

[Hdrydr31]

A Juv dragon is around 6months - a year approx
It really is dragon specific on how often they will poop.. My Izzy she's now a year old and she's only ever pooped 1 time a day to once every 6-9days, my Simon who is 4 months old so far has only pooped 1 time a day and he's eating 3x a day... I just know to get him in the sink right after his morning meal he goes within a few min..
I guess what I'm trying to say is there is no way of knowing how often any dragon is going to poop each day.. Izzy just went 9 days between poops.

 

[PatsyB]

When are you going to spend time with your dragon? When are you going to clean their tank? Their light cycle should be 12 hours on and 12 hours off mimicking what the light is outside, if you are gone for 12 hours a day, you are going to miss out on a lot of stuff they do and you aren't going to be able to know if there is anything wrong with them because they may be sleeping when you leave and when you get home. You need to feed them at least 2 hours before their lights go out for the night so they can digest and if they need a bath, that needs to be done at least 1 hour before lights go out so they can warm up and dry off. I have one dragon that poops 1x a day every morning in the same spot at the same time of the day. I have another one that used to poop 4x a day, yes FOUR TIMES a day, her tank REEKED! Now she only goes once a day every 3-4 days.

Maybe a nocturnal animal would be better for you. Something that will be awake during the night that you can feed and enjoy when you get home from work.

 

[reneeiv]

When are you going to spend time with your dragon? When are you going to clean their tank? Their light cycle should be 12 hours on and 12 hours off mimicking what the light is outside, if you are gone for 12 hours a day, you are going to miss out on a lot of stuff they do and you aren't going to be able to know if there is anything wrong with them because they may be sleeping when you leave and when you get home. You need to feed them at least 2 hours before their lights go out for the night so they can digest and if they need a bath, that needs to be done at least 1 hour before lights go out so they can warm up and dry off. I have one dragon that poops 1x a day every morning in the same spot at the same time of the day. I have another one that used to poop 4x a day, yes FOUR TIMES a day, her tank REEKED! Now she only goes once a day every 3-4 days.

Maybe a nocturnal animal would be better for you. Something that will be awake during the night that you can feed and enjoy when you get home from work.

Maybe I should look at the geckos.