Rep-Cal Beardie Food

I'm curious as to what you guys think of this stuff, because if it's as great as it looks... Karen and I would love to get a dragon in the future. She fell for them hard at the last expo, but both of us are spoiled by f/t rats and not having to deal with live prey. We'd rather skip bugs, which is why we assumed we'd never have a lizard. As a treat sometimes, sure, but not all the time. If this stuff is as good as it looks, we're sorely tempted... if not, oh well, we will covet other people's dragons and stick with snakes!

http://www.repcal.com/foods.htm

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Originally Posted by MedusasOwl

I'm curious as to what you guys think of this stuff, because if it's as great as it looks... Karen and I would love to get a dragon in the future. She fell for them hard at the last expo, but both of us are spoiled by f/t rats and not having to deal with live prey. We'd rather skip bugs, which is why we assumed we'd never have a lizard. As a treat sometimes, sure, but not all the time. If this stuff is as good as it looks, we're sorely tempted... if not, oh well, we will covet other people's dragons and stick with snakes!

http://www.repcal.com/foods.htm

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With my limited knowledge of Beardies, I know they need insects and lots of them. As they get old you can cut down on the amount of insects and feed more fruits/veggies.

you can try to trick your beardie by putting their dead food on a little dish that makes them jump but from what i've heard in the beardie world (and after having 3 myself) they just turn up their nose and walk away.

they looooove silkworms and you can have them thrive on those instead of those nasty crickets... add in some butterworms for variety (silkies very high in protien, butters high in calcium) and you'll have a very happy beardie!

even as an adult... you want to offer them insects 2-3 times a week.

Awh, dang, so the claims of this guy are bogus? He says he has all his adults completely switched over to pellets and bug free, and I wondered if that was too good to be true. Here's a quote from his site.

We have done away with feeding crickets/mealworms and vegies to our older bearded dragons, except for occasional snacks. We now feed them Rep-Cal bearded dragon food (a dry food - pellets in a jar). A small dish of the juvenile food daily for hatchlings up to 6 inches SVL, followed by hand feeding the little ones once a day (usually evenings). The little ones under 8 weeks old still get small crickets. At 10 weeks old (when we sell our babies) they are eating the pellets on their own. Larger dragons 6 inches SVL and up, we give 5-6 of the adult pellets daily. Watch your fingers if you hand feed them these pellets. For both the juvenile and adult food, you soak the food in warm tap water about 5 or 10 minutes before you feed it to them. The food should feel spongy.

your link doesn't work.

i can only speak from my experience and those beardie owners i've talked with over the net... no one i'm aware of has had any luck with 'dead' food...

but that doesn't mean i'm right! just my experience is all. i suppose if you offered nothing BUT that food... the beardie may learn to accept it or die? i don't know. sorry.

sheree,

do you know anything about silkworms? no smell (except when preparing the food and it's a henna smelling stuff) - i have some info on my link page here:

http://www.timelessspirit.com/enclosure.html

I feed mine Rep-Cal.........they are juvies.......however I feed them crickets and mealworms also! With a side salad about once a week.

You can get them used to the prepared food then put crix or mealies on the prepared food and they will usually eat it no problems.

You will have to feed them insects a few times a week though if you want a healthy happy dragon!

Believe me though, THEY ARE SOOOOOO WORTH IT!

dont deprive any lizard of LIVE insects. unless ofcourse the lizard is herbivorous.

Blarg! Sorry, here's the link again except actually leading somewhere. :nerd:

http://www.vandivers.com/

I have heard of silkworms, although Amarin's not had the best experiences with them with her quail. She said they tend to squish really easy and make more of a mess on the floor than make it into her birds bellies. They're mostly on seed with bug treats now and then, so we watch her mess with them and kinda go "Urgh... not for us..." She's bred crickets for her emperor scorpion, and silkworms and ... I forget what those fat grub looking things were... mostly for her birds. Someone else recommended certain species of roach but Karen vetoed that pretty quick, lol! Also, the dead crickets I know the beardies don't care for and I don't blame em. Yick. That's why pellets sounded like such a sweet deal.

We'd be happy to bring home a few bugs for treats every so often, but keeping them around not so much. And as much as we love dragons, we don't want to get them if their care isn't something we'd want to keep up with! I mean, I love retics too but I'm not going to get one because I know we couldn't handle it! Same goes for a whole slew of gorgeous herps!

We only want one if we know we'd be a good home for one of the lil deserty cuties. :) That's why I wanted to check.

I feed my beardy Phoenix worms. They are soldierfly larva, which is extremely high in calcium. They are kept at room temperature and have no smell. the only downside is that they cost me around $26 for 400 large worms. We supplement his diet with a mixture of collard and trurnip greens which are finely chopped. I guess my critters eat better than I do.:P

hey Sheree, i keep lobster roaches and before you go "eeew yuck! heck no!!!" let me explain. lol. it might change Karens mind also.

they dont eat NEARLY as much as crickets, they breed like CRAZY so you never run out (good for a beardie as they'll go threw a lot of insects). they have no stink at all which is awesome as crickets will wreak like crazy if not cleaned every other day. roaches wont die unless practically squashed or frozen and crix will die at the drop of a pin. roaches dont bite, and you only have to clean the cage every 2 months or so. roaches also have more meat to chitin then crickets so their a more nutritous feeder. with crickets all your animal is getting is whats in the crickets stomach.

theres nothin not to like about them if you understand them (just like our herps) and i think they're pretty interesting (watching breeding, egglaying, etc.). trust me, they really are awesome.

they do climb glass and plastic but that can easily be solved by putting a strip of vaseline or a commercially available "bug stop" around the top of the tub. its not a problem at all.

definitely consider them, and have Karen read my post to see what she thinks:)

P.S. they're not creepy at all. not like the ones you find on the sidewalk at night or anything. they have wings (cant fly though) and look more like a cool looking beetle, IMO.

I'll run that by the Mrs, Python, but I think she stops listening at the word "roach" ;) Worse come to worse, we cuddle dragons at every expo and stick to snakes, but dang if they aren't super adorable!

I'm actually not too easily squicked, it's more that I find crickets annoying and noisy and stinky than gross, lol. Quiet stinkless lobster roaches don't sound too bad to me, but I think Karen may disagree! Also, my Mom may never visit ever again, rofl! But hey, worth a suggestion! :D

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Originally Posted by MedusasOwl

Also, my Mom may never visit ever again, rofl! But hey, worth a suggestion! :D

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If only I thought this would work for me, I would have a colony in every room of the house!

ROFL, Jamie!

If I was actually trying to keep Mom out, it'd be easy. All I'd need was one nice big hairy spider. And it wouldn't matter where it was in the house, she wouldn't come in! Ever. :bolt:

I have a lobster roach colony, it's easy! They breed like mad, so you always have a ton of sizes to choose from. I feed all my tarantulas and my new bearded dragon them. They are fast, but once you dust them with the calcium or vitamin powder, it slows them down just enough for the beardie to snatch them up. DELICIOUS! If you only have one bearded dragon to feed though, the colony might be too much. Oh, to answer the original post, I feed my young beardie, it's about 6 inches, the Rep-cal, with a salad daily, he loves it. I give him insects every other day.