Locusts and impaction

[Ryan williams]

hello everyone,
This is my first post on a bearded dragon forum.
I used to keep leopard Geckos and anoli when I was a a child (20 years ago) and I have now bought a bearded dragon for my daughter and I have a few questions about feeding him if that’s ok.
We got him from a pet shop that said he was 6 months old but he was only about 8 inches so I’m thinking more 4 months?
He pretty much refuses all greens and fruit except the odd bit of watercress. But he does love insects!
He was fed crickets at the store but I don’t like them. They smell awful! Escape and jump everywhere and hide in his tank.
So I tried him on locusts and he really loves them. But they were slightly bigger than the gap between his eyes! It’s hard to find small ones! His eyes are about 2cm wide and the locusts were about 2 1/2cm. He ate them with ease but I’m a little worried about impaction. I fed them to him yesterday at mid day and he has pooped this morning.
Are locust as bad a large crickets for impaction?
And how can I get hi. To eat his greens please.

Any help and advice much appreciated

 

[PatsyB]

I would just make sure he is hydrated. You can give him some hornworms for hydration or just drip some water on the tip of his nose and hope that he licks it off. The locusts may just be fine for him. Just remember they have pretty strong jaws and are good at chewing things up.