Where to find cost effective food?!

[Bluesky1019]

Hi guys! I have been looking for food for my Beardie EVERYWHERE and the prices are never lower than $35. Of course I will pay that price for him but I really would like to save some money and buy him healthy food. So does anyone know a good website that ships in the US for either Phoenix worms, Dubai roaches or super worms?

Thank you

 

[Beardomania]

I love that question. Cost effective is my specialty LOL

I like superworms a lot. Rainbow Mealworms has the cheapest superworms that I could find and they are very large and very high quality, but they only have medium now. $15 per 1,000 big ones plus shipping and 10% off your first order. Still, I'll breed them myself afterwards.

Dubia roaches your best bet is hunting craigslist and the surrounding cities for someone willing to sell you a large established colony for $80-100 and keep them on a heat mat (90 degrees) so they breed for you. It can seem like you're saving money by buying 10 males and 20 females or some other colony starter pack from a feeder shop but you're really losing money because that colony takes pretty much a year before it can sustain being fed off. No feeder shops will sell you a large producing colony, which is what you need.

Black soldier fly larvae are about the healthiest things you can feed to a beardie. Phoenix worms and Calciworms are heavily price-inflated. The cheapest I can find are GrubTerra, who will sell you 1,000 large shipped for $18 ($42 for 3,000). I think their prices went up due to the winter as it used to be $17 for 1,000 and $50 for 5,000.

If you want to maximize your savings further, 15,000 freeze-dried black soldier fly larvae cost only $7 (https://www.amazon.com/FlukerS-15000-Dried-Soldier-Chicken/dp/B075D1CGJ7/ref=sr_1_32?crid=WHFTTXENAP9P&dchild=1&keywords=black+soldier+fly+larvae+dried&qid=1609183246&sprefix=black+soldie,aps,181&sr=8-32) but your beardie might not eat them. So, mix dead and alive together in his food bowl and he'll eat both cus he can't tell which is which. That's how I play it.

Hope it helps.

 

[Sadie]

I do not recommend freeze dried food frozen food pellets canned or jarred food -- its like feeding your dragon McDonalds every day fresh is best live is best -- here is a list of websites to shop for food - granted some now may not be shipping because of the holidays
www.dubiaroaches.com great roaches super worms horn worms - this is a good place to shop
www.reptilianarts.com great silk worms super worms and roaches as well
www.mulberryfarms.com spendy on shipping but have good horn worms and only place for butter worms
www.joshsfrogs.com have never used this place but others have
www.coastalsilkworms.com they have east and west coast suppliers
www.rainbowmealworms.com not happy w/ these people but others have had better luck than I did
www.aafeeders.com have not used them either but they have bundled packages
www.symptonbsf.com great BSFL
www.hornworms.com I had one bad experience w/ them a few months back but they made up for it ended up refunding the money and shipped the order anyway --
Some of these places ship differently some ship in butcher block paper w/ no food and not cupped others ship w/ food in cup so make sure you are checking to see how they are shipped --
Please shop around

 

[Beardomania]

I do not recommend freeze dried food frozen food pellets canned or jarred food -- its like feeding your dragon McDonalds every day fresh is best live is best --

I think the freeze-drying process specifically preserves the nutrients. At least I don't see anything in the crude analysis that suggests a significant loss of anything other than water. Certainly, protein and calcium are not lost on dried black soldier fly larvae.

Have you read some scientific research that says that dried food is unhealthy for a bearded dragon? Please post here if so.

 

[Sadie]

I think the freeze-drying process specifically preserves the nutrients. At least I don't see anything in the crude analysis that suggests a significant loss of anything other than water. Certainly, protein and calcium are not lost on dried black soldier fly larvae.

Have you read some scientific research that says that dried food is unhealthy for a bearded dragon? Please post here if so.

The only thing I can think of the for the freeze dried food is it dries your dragon out horribly and dragons get a lot of their moisture from the gut loaded insects that are fed -- also the other stuff sold in pet stores has a lot of preservatives in it so that in itself is not a good thing --- what you feed your insects the dragon is going to get that is why I suggest if your feeding the roaches carrots for hydration do not feed your dragon carrots too -- to much Vit A --- they will get the nutrients from the insect feeder - the same w/ salads if your dragon is eating a lot of good salads you dont necessarily haft to dust the insects w/ the vitamins they are going to get those nutrients w/ the good salads your feeding --

 

[Beardomania]

@Bluesky1019 In addition to breeding your own feeders after the initial purchase (kinda hard/nasty to do with black soldier fly larvae), my other advice if budget is on your mind, is to stay away from reptile specific products as much as you can. Industrial goods or farm goods are your best bet. For example, a Fluker's light hood with clamp could be $15-20 but a Bayco regular clamp light (100W max) or chicken brooding clamp light (300W max) actually has greater wattage capacity but only costs $6 to $9. Black soldier fly larvae for reptiles are 1-2 cents each minimum (a lot more from name brands) but dried ones for chickens are, like I said, 15,000 for just $7. Think scaly chicken, not bearded dragon LOL. Instead of using a $7-$20 reptile food bowl, use a $1 cat food bowl at the Dollar Store. Large water bowl to soak in? $1 Large dog bowl at the Dollar Store. $15 Reptile feeding tongs? Free! Just fashion them out of a pair of single use chopsticks from the Chinese restaurant (plus a rubber band and the wrapper rolled up. Buy a basking stage? Nah, find a 2 bricks/a cinder block/rock somewhere. $25 hide? Make one out of a shoebox. 40 gallon breeder tank or melamine viewing tank with sliding glass doors? Neither! I use a huge free medical supplies box/crate. So basically, I go minimalist but still strive to meet all of my beardie's needs.

 

[Beardomania]

The only thing I can think of the for the freeze dried food is it dries your dragon out horribly and dragons get a lot of their moisture from the gut loaded insects that are fed -- also the other stuff sold in pet stores has a lot of preservatives in it so that in itself is not a good thing --- what you feed your insects the dragon is going to get that is why I suggest if your feeding the roaches carrots for hydration do not feed your dragon carrots too -- to much Vit A --- they will get the nutrients from the insect feeder - the same w/ salads if your dragon is eating a lot of good salads you dont necessarily haft to dust the insects w/ the vitamins they are going to get those nutrients w/ the good salads your feeding --

OK cool. I looked on my dried BSF larvae bag and it lists BSF larvae as the only ingredient. Says it's 100% natural so I assume there's no preservatives. I'll give my dragon a bath every day to every other day and he drinks out of his water bowl so I'm not horribly worried about the dehydration. Thanks

 

[Bluesky1019]

I love that question. Cost effective is my specialty LOL

I like superworms a lot. Rainbow Mealworms has the cheapest superworms that I could find and they are very large and very high quality, but they only have medium now. $15 per 1,000 big ones plus shipping and 10% off your first order. Still, I'll breed them myself afterwards.

Dubia roaches your best bet is hunting craigslist and the surrounding cities for someone willing to sell you a large established colony for $80-100 and keep them on a heat mat (90 degrees) so they breed for you. It can seem like you're saving money by buying 10 males and 20 females or some other colony starter pack from a feeder shop but you're really losing money because that colony takes pretty much a year before it can sustain being fed off. No feeder shops will sell you a large producing colony, which is what you need.

Black soldier fly larvae are about the healthiest things you can feed to a beardie. Phoenix worms and Calciworms are heavily price-inflated. The cheapest I can find are GrubTerra, who will sell you 1,000 large shipped for $18 ($42 for 3,000). I think their prices went up due to the winter as it used to be $17 for 1,000 and $50 for 5,000.

If you want to maximize your savings further, 15,000 freeze-dried black soldier fly larvae cost only $7 (https://www.amazon.com/FlukerS-15000-Dried-Soldier-Chicken/dp/B075D1CGJ7/ref=sr_1_32?crid=WHFTTXENAP9P&dchild=1&keywords=black+soldier+fly+larvae+dried&qid=1609183246&sprefix=black+soldie,aps,181&sr=8-32) but your beardie might not eat them. So, mix dead and alive together in his food bowl and he'll eat both cus he can't tell which is which. That's how I play it.

Hope it helps.

Thank you so much this helps I will check out GrubTerra!

 

[Bluesky1019]

I do not recommend freeze dried food frozen food pellets canned or jarred food -- its like feeding your dragon McDonalds every day fresh is best live is best -- here is a list of websites to shop for food - granted some now may not be shipping because of the holidays
www.dubiaroaches.com great roaches super worms horn worms - this is a good place to shop
www.reptilianarts.com great silk worms super worms and roaches as well
www.mulberryfarms.com spendy on shipping but have good horn worms and only place for butter worms
www.joshsfrogs.com have never used this place but others have
www.coastalsilkworms.com they have east and west coast suppliers
www.rainbowmealworms.com not happy w/ these people but others have had better luck than I did
www.aafeeders.com have not used them either but they have bundled packages
www.symptonbsf.com great BSFL
www.hornworms.com I had one bad experience w/ them a few months back but they made up for it ended up refunding the money and shipped the order anyway --
Some of these places ship differently some ship in butcher block paper w/ no food and not cupped others ship w/ food in cup so make sure you are checking to see how they are shipped --
Please shop around

Thank you so much this really helps too! Also thank you for taking the time to reply.

 

[Sadie]

Thank you so much this really helps too! Also thank you for taking the time to reply.

Here is some input on the dried food thing this comes from someone who has had bearded dragons for over 20 years experience
Fresh or live is usually best but freeze dried/ canned is O.K at times but the beardie would need extra attention to hydration and veggies to facilitate bowel movements + keep them from possibly becoming impacted.