Insect and cage Question

[Crowfingers]

Looking into getting a beardy for my fiance (and myself) later this year - but I'm having trouble researching these two topics.

As far as bugs go: I have easy access to crickets, either through pet stores or online ordering and I already raise mealworms (though it seems they are a poor choice for dragons), but for other insects I'm not so sure I could get them reliably. Hornworms seem possible if expensive, dubia are occasionally found in my local shops, however my Fiance has a near on phobia of roaches, so having a colony would be a no go. I've found one online supplier of phoenix worms that has mixed reviews for quality, but again they seem expensive for insects.

I have also used Repashy Grub Pie (https://www.store.repashy.com/grub-p...ar.html?tt=111) as a supplement for native skinks in a rehab settings but it was always for short term nutrition and I have no idea how it would work as added protein for a dragon.

My second question is for caging. I know that they require much more space than an adult ball, something in the 120gal size, but was wondering how the PVC cages work for them. I love my AP cage, however would they be able to shred the plastic with their claws? My Iguana had the bottom half of her wire cage filled in with acrylic and it very quickly became very scratched up from her. Also would an AP cage retain too much humidity - everything I've read suggest around 30-40%.

I'm not going to get an animal that I can't reliably get proper food for, so any input will be greatly appreciated.

[Aerries]

I just spent 20$ on 50 hornworms at joshsfrogs.com also crickets are nasty bugs, I use them as a last resort. Roaches are best, I get it about the phobia deal. But imo us as keepers of these animals need to over come our fears....my husband did his phobia of snakes and now freely takes care of his own Banana ball python. I have a 75 gal tank for each of my dragons, I would imagine the AP cage would just get shredded through out the years, and humidity would be too great. Anyways this is just off my experience with having my two for the last year and they’re both good to go.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ladywhipple02]

Superworms are what I used to feed my beardie, as well as a mixture of butterworms and waxworms for treats. Supers are very easy to keep - I bought a couple thousand online, purchased a tall plastic tub, three or four boxes of rolled oats, and viola! Pour the rolled oats in the container, pour the supers in the oats, and throw in a couple sliced potatoes for water (not too many as they will mold and kill your worms). As long as there are enough of them in the container, they won't pupate and turn into beetles.

The supers have a softer chitin than a mealworm and they move a lot more too, which entices your dragon to eat them. I remember my beardie loved them. You can get smaller ones for a baby beardie as well. A small note is that the supers CAN bite, so I always used non-latex gloves when I was digging through the oats for them.

Also, as they get older, it's better to mix in more greens, fruits and veggies for your dragons.

[Crowfingers]

Thanks for the input. I may have misread the pricing on the horn worms (from greatlakeshornwormscom), apparently the quantity is the number of 25 (worm) count cups, not individual worms lol. Also, I don't really have a problem ordering some roaches for food - it's the having a breeding colony that I am not sure about.

As for the super worms, if mealworms are high in fat and the chitin can cause obstructions, wouldn't super-worms have the same problem? I have had a colony of them in the past, but only used them for box turtles, some aquatic turtles, and small mammals/opossum. They were also more often than not fed per-drowned if going to the turtles. I never noticed them having any major thickness differences when I chopped them up either.

So I guess that brings my question to could a baby beardy grow and thrive on a combination of staple veggies and of crickets and hornworms with occasional roaches, occasional mealworms/superworms?

Aerries: any particular reason you don't recommend crickets? Other then the stink of having large numbers of them and possible munching on the lizard if the uneaten ones are not removed?