Very very hungry lizard here.

[valkryja]

Hey everyone,
Loki is the opposite of Wrex. I had to hand-feed Wrex his crickets for the first week I had him, and he was always finicky after that. As I'm typing this, Loki is on my shoulder, trying to eat my hair. He ate 73 crickets today (in two 15-minute intervals) and a big piece of collard green leaf. He's two months old, about eight inches long, and hungry and fiesty as they come.

What can I do?

I'm going out tomorrow to get a little mini fridge to keep greens and vegetables for the crickets, guinea pig and lizard in, and I figure I'd be able to keep some worms in there too. What vegetables should I try getting? I hear butternut squash has good results, but anything healthy that'll fill him up would be a great suggestion. Are there any kinds of worms that I can keep in a refrigerator that are healthy / safe for him at this age? I know mealworms are bad, but what about small supers / waxes?

At this point I'm just going to keep shoveling crickets down his mouth and I'm sure he'll eat anything else, too. At the local pet store I can get 200 crickets for $10 (and the lady there always throws in like 20-50 extra, since it's a pain to count them all). Would it be worth it to order online or do you think this is good?

I just want him to grow the way he's supposed to and not cost me a fortune, haha. He's so, so hungry.

 

[Pogie]

What vegetables should I try getting? I hear butternut squash has good results,

Butternut is Pogies favourite, she simply refuses to eat salad if there isnt butternut in it. LOL It keeps well in the fridge too.

Other veggies / leaves that keeps well and that I have had success with is

Green beans
Patty Pans
Baby squash
Endive
Rockette
Swiss Chard

So long as you store it correctly, it should last up to a few days.
My friend and I have also started buying together, saves money and nothing goes to waste as each pays half and each uses half, The veg and greens dont have time to go bad.

Maybe if you know someone close you can buy together as well.

Cant help you with the worm issue as we only get mealworms here, which I dont use and giant superworms... Far to big for P.

 

[corrine]

my dragons also love butternut. They also like bell peppers(daily or every other day) and cucumbers and watermelon(as a treat). Wax worms are very fatty and should only be used as a treat. Supers might be too big and hard to digest for your baby. Check out the nutrition sheet at beautifuldragons.com. It has a color coded list of foods that are good for beardies. It also tells you how often they can be fed.

 

[Craiger]

Hey everyone,
Loki is the opposite of Wrex. I had to hand-feed Wrex his crickets for the first week I had him, and he was always finicky after that. As I'm typing this, Loki is on my shoulder, trying to eat my hair. He ate 73 crickets today (in two 15-minute intervals) and a big piece of collard green leaf. He's two months old, about eight inches long, and hungry and fiesty as they come.

What can I do?

I'm going out tomorrow to get a little mini fridge to keep greens and vegetables for the crickets, guinea pig and lizard in, and I figure I'd be able to keep some worms in there too. What vegetables should I try getting? I hear butternut squash has good results, but anything healthy that'll fill him up would be a great suggestion. Are there any kinds of worms that I can keep in a refrigerator that are healthy / safe for him at this age? I know mealworms are bad, but what about small supers / waxes?

At this point I'm just going to keep shoveling crickets down his mouth and I'm sure he'll eat anything else, too. At the local pet store I can get 200 crickets for $10 (and the lady there always throws in like 20-50 extra, since it's a pain to count them all). Would it be worth it to order online or do you think this is good?

I just want him to grow the way he's supposed to and not cost me a fortune, haha. He's so, so hungry.

You can order crickets online for around $20 for 1,000 (there are fewer quantities available, depending on your needs, for slightly lower costs).

For nutritional information of greens, veggies, and fruits, you can refer to this site: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

 

[staylor]

Slyder is a very very hungry lizard too. I feed collard greens and butternut squash daily. The squash keeps great in the fridge. I also order my crickets 1,000 at a time every 10 days but I am sick of paying shipping so I am going to get 2,000 this time. He eats about 60-120 per day. The place I order from is $20.00 for 2,000 crix. I think 1,000 was $12.00 + shipping. They have smaller amounts as well as low as 250 crix.

 

[Craiger]

The place I order from is $20.00 for 2,000 crix. I think 1,000 was $12.00 + shipping. They have smaller amounts as well as low as 250 crix.

Wow! The price of crix has come down since I used to order them.

 

[staylor]

Most have the prices you listed...I am just dig and dig until I find what feel to be a good price. I went to Petco to get adult crix for Oscar and the FedEx guy came in to deliver their Crix and Petco gets them from the same place I do. If Petco pays the same prices I do they are making a $0.12 profit from every crix they sell. That adds up.

 

[northface75]

god, I got crickets at petco for about a month, long before I knew about this site. they are overpriced, and USUALLY half or more are dead. same with their superworms. terrible.

 

[staylor]

If I forget to order them I go to Petsmart to get some to hold me over. They are already gut loaded and ready to feed. Plus they have the amount I need. They have a big bin they just scoop out of. But they are still expensive. I just spent $6 today on 60 crix for Slyder. That is crazy but his shipment will be here tomorrow, 2,000 of them. Hope that holds him a little longer this time. He is killing me with the amount of crix he eats. I felt bad only giving him 60 today but by no means is that starving him. That is more then most his size eat, not to mention the salad he eats. He is up to about half the amount of salad as Oscar, 5 yrs old, eats and he eats and average of 100 crix a day. Little pooper is eating me into the poor house.

 

[northface75]

I guess so! At petco they "pre-package" like 25 crickets into a little plastic container, and they sit on the shelf until they sell... which can be for a long time it seems. and I think they charge like 20 or 15 cents per cricket as well. crooks.

 

[staylor]

I avoid the prepackaged ones. Petco does have crix in a bag you can buy. At least mine does. They are much better. Since Petco is much closer to me then Petsmart I get Oscars crix from there but only if they have them in bags. Today they did not so I had to drive 30 minuets to Petsmart to get crix for both.

 

[valkryja]

I refuse to go to PetSmart to buy crickets anymore, haha. It'd probably be cheaper to buy crickets online for bulk, but the little pet shop by my house that just opened up sells 200 crickets for $10. And since there's no shipping and they're already gutloaded, it's a pretty good deal. I also take into account that they never actually count and just eyeball it, so I can sometimes get as much as 300.

But yeah, Loki is fat and just wants to get fatter. He used to open his mouth and hiss in defiance when I picked him up and I'd stuff food in it (to get him to shut up), and now he just opens his mouth expectantly every few hours (when he's not even in his basking spot, so I don't think it's gaping.) I don't even bother counting crickets anymore, I just get a paper cup and fill it up about 2 inches deep in crickets, toss some calcium powder in, shake it up and dump it in his tank. In 15 minutes there are usually a few crickets that are left hiding in the cracks of the tiling, and he snacks on them all night.

He also eats collard greens like a champ and decimated the butternut squash I tried putting in. It's actually kind of funny - the crickets have this habit of sitting directly in his food bowl trying to eat the squash, and it makes dinner time a cakewalk for him.

 

[northface75]

you know, my girls seem to prefer collard greens above all as well. interesting... there's a very noticeable difference in the amount of greens they eat between collards and turnip/mustard/kale etc

 

[staylor]

Thats not a bad price. I don't have any good pet stores near me to get crix from. If I were to go to a real reptile store I would have to drive an hour away, so I order bulk.

 

[zebraflavencs]

You can do better than .20 each for crickets.
I've never ordered those, but I have seen the prices going around .07 each or less.

 

[Pogie]

Geezz you guys are so lucky. Around here crickets cost between 50 cents and 75 cents each...

Thats why I started breeding my own. Just wish theyd grow faster

 

[Craiger]

Geezz you guys are so lucky. Around here crickets cost between 50 cents and 75 cents each...

That's crazy!

 

[staylor]

I think I would breed too if I had to pay that. yes, I am lucky and only pay $0.01 per cricket.

 

[corrine]

Geezz you guys are so lucky. Around here crickets cost between 50 cents and 75 cents each...

And I thought I was paying a fortune at $.10 a piece.

 

[northface75]

no kidding jeez. then again, whats the US dollar like compared to the SA? the rand is like 7.5 to one dollar. so if you paid 75 cents a piece that's like us paying 10 cents.