Food amount and size+storage

[Dray]

Hey all! So this is my first post and I'm sure is a frequently asked one. I have a beardy that is approx 6-8 months old and around 8-9 inches. He's had a bum eye since birth so grabbed him because everyone deserves a chance! He's very happy and healthy! He's currently in a 10 gallon tank with some climbing material. Haku is his name for any anime fans my main concern is food. We currently have a " large " cricket container from Petco that holds approx 250 crickets and I'm tired of ordering them every week ( a few die on the trip and don't seem to last long from fluckers farms) I'm curious about a storage option for the Crickets that won't be too intrusive on my small house but can hold a larger quantity. I'm currently feeding him what they described as 3/8 size but come closer to 1/4" I'm also interested in your thoughts on amount of feeding. He gets approximately 15 crickets two times a day with around two large tablespoons of mixed greens. I dust the Crickets every other day with calcium and every third day with vitamins. he gets super excited when he sees me walk anywhere near his cricket cage so I'm nervous that he might be too hungry. He often has large poops with a nice white tip so he seems to be getting enough water. maybe I'm just a nervous Nelly but I'm looking for some opinions especially about a cricket container that won't take up too much space. I have an area in my basement that I could store some kind of a container that would hold the study temperature around 70 degrees. He has a 100w heat lamp during the day with a side mounted heat mat and a ceramic heater for night because we keep the house cold. Also a reptisun 10.0 t5 lamp ontop

 

[Dray]

On some side storage notes I've seen a lot of people use a rubber made tote but that would be pushing the limits of our space. Possibly a bucket or something? Is it fine to store the crickets in darkness all the time? Also in the picture you can see his "bad eye" he can still see out of it but he ( or she ) needs to tip his head up.

 

[Dray]

Also Im concerned about the smell a large colony of crickets will produce in my small house. My upstairs is 800sqft and the finished portion of my basement is around 600 sq ft with an enclosed laundry room and furnace space

 

[BeardedHippy]

Hi, thats a cute beardie, but he is quite small for 6-8 months old. He is about to outgrow that 10 gallon tank, so you should start thinking about upgrading now. Various places have sales when they are at bargain price, keep your eyes open for that. Depending on what kind of lighting you are using, bugs need dusting with calcium 4x a week, calcium with D3 twice and the multivitamin once. If you have a high output UV light D3 is needed only once a week and 5x with calcium. He will be needing all of that calcium for bone growth.
As for the crickets, yeah they smell, no escaping that. The more you have the more they will smell, I cant stand them. You can keep them in almost any type of container so long as it has a lid and plenty of air holes. They are short lived and cannabilistic so you will always get casualties, they shouldnt mind being in the dark, in fact they like dark places to hide, put tubes and egg crates in the box and they will hide in them happily.

Cant see the eye , you will need to post a clearer picture

 

[Dray]

My wife just got home and he was apparently born in January and total length is closer to 10/11" I know pet value sells a nice corner cage which we are planning on purchasing very soon!! Thanks for the quick response and advice

 

[Dray]

Ignore the poo I haven't picked up yet today :/ the base of his tale is about the width of my thumb.

 

[Hdrydr31]

My wife just got home and he was apparently born in January and total length is closer to 10/11" I know pet value sells a nice corner cage which we are planning on purchasing very soon!! Thanks for the quick response and advice

I don't know if a corner cage would give enough floor space for your dragon

 

[Dray]

Hmm the tank I was looking at says 54 gallons but the footprint is somewhat small. If he needs a larger rectangular tank then he will have to move to the basement because of space. Any other thoughts on a cricket container? Maybe a 5 gallon bucket? They would be in total darkness but then again so are the crickets at say Petco. Would they be able to find their food in the dark?

 

[Dray]

Also where do you order your crickets from? I've gotten around 5 orders from fluckers farms and they say 250 for $13 shipped. I've second guessed the quantity each time, this time I counted and i got somewhere around 90........

 

[BeardedHippy]

you ordered 250 and got 90? that is really bad, you should complain and get your money back. You have know way of knowing if thats happened everytime. I think when they box them they weigh them rather than count them, so it would be no great shock if the count was out by a few, but that many is beyond incompitent.

 

[Dray]

I agree. I have the large Petco tank and when we would but 175 from them the tank was jamming! Tubes full and ground was bustling. This order had a corner of crickets

 

[PatsyB]

That tank looks bigger than a 10gallon. If it truly is a 10g, get a 36x18x18 tank for your dragon and use the 10g get a metal top, for the crickets. That's how I store my bugs in the basement in a 10 gal with a heat lamp over them during the day. Crickets stink because they need to be cleaned out every couple of days.

Remember that your dragon is not going to swim in a tank, so gallon size is irrelevant. A bigger gallon size sounds good but if the dimensions are off then it's worthless. Your dragon needs a home that is at least as long as an average adult dragon can get, and as tall and wide as an average adult. That's why the 36x18x18 is the perfect minimum size to get.

Also get a temp gun to measure your temps. 100watts of heat is a lot for a small tank.

 

[Dray]

On top of the base of the driftwood it's 101 give or take a few on where my heatgun is pointing. You're probably right on the tank, we originally bought the smaller bearded dragon starter tank and replaced most of the lighting it came with. This is the tank we we're thinking about https://www.google.com/shopping/pro...MI0MSNrNWF3AIVQSOBCh0NVAxkEAQYASABEgITKvD_BwE

 

[Dray]

Not sure if the top of the tank will work out, I'd have to go to the store to look at it but I feel like it's almost time to swap him out

 

[Dray]

I was reading another post here about dubia roaches. Seems like 1 roach is worth way more than 1 cricket? Might be an easier food to keep for him, thoughts on these little bugs? I'd have to research how to keep em alive and such. They also seem considerably more expensive per compared to crickets

 

[BeardedHippy]

Actually, when you factor in the 1 dubia to 7 crickets thing they dont work out that much more expensive. There are other bonus's too, dubias have a much longer lifespan and will live for a year, whereas crickets live for no more than 3 months. Crickets are canibalistic and smelly, dubias not so much. Dubias are really easy to keep, almost as easy to breed if you want to and they are hardy little fellas. All in all they are worth they few extra £$ just because they make life a bit easier(imo).

 

[Dray]

I'm sure I can just Google the answer but I'd rather have a real person tell me so they can also share experiences. Can I keep these roaches in the same container I had my crickets in? It's the Petco large cricket container with the tubes in the side. Do they eat the same food and water jelly stuff?

 

[Dray]

Ok so I looked it up just to have a heads-up, they seem super easy to care for. It seems like they will enjoy the current cricket cage as it has 4 tubes built into it. I guess my next thought would be how many to feed my little guy? He's currently powering down at least 30 crickets a day with a good size pinch of dandelion leaves and red peppers ( cut small).

 

[Dray]

Also some recommendations on a site to purchase them from would be great. There's lots out there so I'd much prefer a personal reccomendation

 

[Dray]

Sorry for so many posts but i keep getting more thoughts as I research and want to post em before I forget. Would 1/4" be what I'm looking for? I'm currently ordering 3/8 crickets.