[richnlou]

up until recently we were feeding spike medium crickets, but he now seems to eat them grudgingly, but if i feed him locusts he is on them like a lion on antelope. we also have medium meal worms which he will normally take form our hand, and occasionally from the pot.
But even though i tend to put the crickets right under his nose, he takes them grudgingly, and now has one running free in the viv. Although i have put a leaf in there to attract them so that the cricket doesnt eat Spike.
As far as Greens are concerned, Spike likes strawberries, but doesnt eat alot else, we have tried cabbage, lettuce, peppers, sprouts, in fact all the thing on the list that he should eat.
Any tips please :gasp:

 

[Smigsy]

Assuming spike is a bearded dragon then try cutting up his food really small and mixing it all up, mine really loves apple so I grate apple, butternut squash, carrot and they finely chop dandelion greens and carrot tops, mix it all up and then when he tries to pick out the apple he gets a bit of everything. As for live food variety is the spice of life will all my lizards they get a mix of locusts, crickets, meal worms and roaches so they don't get 'bored' with the same bugs all the time.

 

[Ben678]

There is no major difference between locusts and crickets however My lizards seem to prefer locusts. I use locust as a staple now the only downside of course is that they are more expensive.

 

[richnlou]

thanks

ok sounds like good advice, yes Spike is a beardie, original name i know. but my main prob is the cricket verse locust, locusts are same price as crickets but less in the box. But Spike seems to turn his nose up at crickets now

 

[richnlou]

Ben

thanks, didn't see your response before my last reply. And any tips on re catching the remaining cricket, as Spike does not seem interested in it at all : victory:

 

[oscarsi001]

ok sounds like good advice, yes Spike is a beardie, original name i know. but my main prob is the cricket verse locust, locusts are same price as crickets but less in the box. But Spike seems to turn his nose up at crickets now :bash:

try to think about the actual bio-mass of whats in the box , there might be fewer locusts as individuals but the actual food mass is not that different.

also, locusts are far better from a nutritional point of view, they dont escaope into the smallest crack under the floorboards making your house sound like the tropics, and if you feel your beardie is not eating-his-greens then feed the greens to the locusts and the locust to spike , job done !:2thumb:

if the cost is a concern, try looking online to see if you could save money by buying the locusts in larger quantities and think about setting up a dubia roach colony as an (almost) self-perpetuating food colony.
my beardies do the whole 'lion/antelope' thing for dubias and roaches will not survive if they escape, well, they dont in my house but dont quote me on that ! lol :whip:

 

[richnlou]

dubia/ roache colony

ok, we are new to all this, so how would we set up a colony, and are they likely to escape as Lou, will not like if i am likely to infest the flat with roaches :notworthy:

 

[richnlou]

oops

dont think we have the space for a colony, just watched a video on youtube. dont think Lou would like it

 

[Jazzy B Bunny]

I prefer to use locust, but the last 2 times I've gone to buy live food, I've bought crickets aswell. As much as I hate crickets, I own some very greedy frogs and locusts just don't satisfy them :lol2:

 

[Ben678]

I had a cricket that was in my leos tank as it came in with a box of locusts we just waited until we could see it and then put a glass over it (spider catching method :lol2 or some say that you can hoover them up. they are little devils when it comes to catching them

 

[oscarsi001]

dont think we have the space for a colony, just watched a video on youtube. dont think Lou would like it

i,ve literally just a plastic shoe-box sizes colony which i keep on-top of the viv which seem to be warm enough , no escapees as they cant climg up the sides of the box, and anways it has a v.firmly fitting lid on !, with just a few ventilation holes. this provides me with enough food for 3 beardies.......

 

[richnlou]

Wow

sounds rivetting, sorry had to start with a laugh. i didn't know you could have pet frogs.
i know my neice has a corn snake, i have a beardie and i know there are other lizards but never knew you could have frogs.

 

[richnlou]

ok

i might try it, i will have to bounce it off my other half first. Spike has just done a very watery poop, which i am gonna have difficulty in clearing up unfirtunately.

 

[Jazzy B Bunny]

sounds rivetting, sorry had to start with a laugh. i didn't know you could have pet frogs.
i know my neice has a corn snake, i have a beardie and i know there are other lizards but never knew you could have frogs.

I keep 4 different species of tropical tree frogs. Amazon Milk frogs, Whites, Squirells and red eyes :flrt: They are not revolting, they are cute!

 

[richnlou]

I keep 4 different species of tropical tree frogs. Amazon Milk frogs, Whites, Squirells and red eyes :flrt: They are not revolting, they are cute!

never said they were revolting was just surprised

 

[Jazzy B Bunny]

Most people think I'm strange, I'm known as the frog and gecko lady :lol2:

 

[polaris2582]

Locust vs. Crickets

I much prefer locusts, they are much cheaper to buy in bulk online than from the pets shop, ebay or Surrey pets have great quality.
A box of 100 usually is enough for my beardy, 2 leo's and 6 frogs, for just under a month and costs about £18 from theroachfarm on ebay.
I hate crickets personally, and locusts are far less likely to nibble on what they shouldn't!, and easier to catch in the house. I once found a locust on my loo brush, just watching me have a wee..... :no1: :lol2:

------

If anyone knows a locust/roach breeder in Glasgow area though let me know!!:flrt:

 

[richnlou]

ok thanks

never thought of using the internet for buying live food, are they always in tact. Also i went to my box of crickets this morning and a fair percentage were dead, not sure why, I have given them the cricket food i was given, plus a varying diet of greens and calcium so that Spike gets his full dose of nutrients.
I was also advised that it is better to give Spike his crickets or locusts in on go, rather than tweezering one at a time, but i am concerned at the fact that he is leaving them or they are managing to hide. what is everyones opinion on this matter.
I have done as of you suggested and cut his green food small and his strawberries so he is getting a mixture and this seems to be working, as i am watching him right now tucking into them.
plus i have three locusts prep'd with a cabbage leaf and some calcium and cricket feed. Is the cricket feed for their benefit or Spikes as it says to give it to them the night before you intend to feed them to the Dragon

 

[polaris2582]

never thought of using the internet for buying live food, are they always in tact. Also i went to my box of crickets this morning and a fair percentage were dead, not sure why, I have given them the cricket food i was given, plus a varying diet of greens and calcium so that Spike gets his full dose of nutrients.
I was also advised that it is better to give Spike his crickets or locusts in on go, rather than tweezering one at a time, but i am concerned at the fact that he is leaving them or they are managing to hide. what is everyones opinion on this matter.
I have done as of you suggested and cut his green food small and his strawberries so he is getting a mixture and this seems to be working, as i am watching him right now tucking into them.
plus i have three locusts prep'd with a cabbage leaf and some calcium and cricket feed. Is the cricket feed for their benefit or Spikes as it says to give it to them the night before you intend to feed them to the Dragon

i don't believe in crick/locust feed, all my bugs die when fed that smelly crap (i'm talking about the gels and stuffs).
I get the BEST quality from internetreptile/surrey pets/theroachfarm(ebay). They arrive ALL LIVE, lovely and bright and way more lively than you probably want them lol. Far better than bugs that have been sat in a shop for god knows how long!!
I feed them digestive biscuit/crushed wheat-a-bix, and dark greens. They LOVE cucumber peelings, but wont really eat the flesh. And this is a good way of keeping them hydrated too.
I use dusts for getting the calcium and vitamins in, and the gut load seems futile to me. Sorry if anyone disagrees, but how small is a locusts stomach, in comparison to outer surface area???? I feed non-dusted then dusted, as he wont eat a second one if he gets a dusty one.
For calcium I also use earth worms from the garden, you don't need to dust if you feed these semi-regularly and their not as fatty as other worms, pure protein. Very very good for your dragon.
As my dragon wont eat anything that's had dust near it, they are great for him.
Give me a shout if you want any feeding tips/info.

 

[richnlou]

earth worms

ok mate you make a lot of sense esp re gut loading, re the earth worms as i live in a flat i am assuming i would be ok, buying a pot from my local fishing supply shop. They do dendrobinas, lobs Etc:mf_dribble: