bearded dragon food: horror stories about mealworms+crickets?

bite and small injuries from mealworms, crickets, locusts are well know. the mealworm eating its way out of the stomach is a rumour and reptile urban myth a mealworm could not survive 5 mins a a reptiles stomach.

i have seen a case where a leopard gecko grabbed a mealworm by the tail and the mealworm bit its eye causing blindness and mealworms and crickets can bite animals while they sleep (it would take days (or hundreds of crickets to remove a limb tho)

this is why u shouldnt leave any livefood in with your pets for more than 1 hour (normally less than 30 mins is better)

The stomach acid if not the chomping down by the dragon would kill the worms. Most of the time when the animal has died and the owner spots worms eating the area of the stomach they think they were eating their way out, when in reality they were probably eating their way in. The stomach skin is thinner and easier to break, then other parts of the body. I have had crickets bite a lizard or two but if the tank isn't overrun with them, the lizard should be fine. However if the lizard is dying or injured then the crickets would eat at the site of the injury. My horror story isn't as bad as the one you were told, but it still disturbed me. I had a collared lizard that had an open sore on it's tail that got infected before I knew it was even a problem and wasn't doing well, I knew that he wouldn't survive long. I went to sleep and the next morning he was dead, but what bothered me was the little sore on the tail was about half the tail thanks to the crickets eating on the flesh of the dead. I think the ONLY way that crickets could have eaten the legs off of a dragon was if there was thousands in the tank or he was dead.

I have never feed locusts to any of my lizards, so I don't know much about them.

For more info on beardies check out the following sites: bearded-dragons.com ot beardeddragon.org

What you have been told and/or heard about the meal worms are as others say; over exaggerated and just urban legends.

Now crickets have been know to bit at your beardie at night while it is sleeping and that is why you should only put a few crickets in at a time when feeding your beardie. Once he/she is done eating, do your best to get the remaining crickets out. They are more of an annoyance than they are "deadly." I have had live crickets left in my beardies cage and nothing has ever happened. Hey, that is just more for her to snack on the next day.

Meal worms and crickets are both highly recommend to be part of the bearded dragons diet. I personally don't feed meal worms, but that is my personal thing.

There are plenty of websites to look at, so just go look at a few of them and you decide what is best for your bearded dragon.

Best of luck.

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The story about the mealworms crawling out of your pet's stomach is false, and also the cricket's. But, what IS true is that crickets can and will attack your lizard if left in the enclosure. Also, if you kill the food items, he most likely will not eat them, so your lizard is safe, just like I said, remove the uneaten crickets after ten minutes, or if you see them attacking your beardie.

Do not give him meal worms. and yes you need to dust the crickets with calcium and it is great to gut load them as what they eat your dragon eats. Here's a good list of what to feed. FEED DAILY Collard Greens Dandelion Greens Endive Escarole Mustard Greens Turnip Greens Acorn Squash Butternut Squash Hubbard Squash Green Beans Peas Parsnips Turnips Scallop Squash Spaghetti Squash Summer Squash Sweet potato Figs Mango Papaya Raspberries Silkworm Cactus Pad/Leaf FEED OCCASSIONALLY Arugula Bok Choy Kale Bell Peppers, red & green Bell Peppers, yellow Celery Cucumbers Okra Potato, russet Pumpkin, raw Radish Spinach Watercress Yams, raw Zucchini, raw & peeled Apples Apricots Blackberries Blueberries Cantaloupe Cherries Cranberries Grapefruit Grapes Guava Honeydew Kiwi Nectarines Orange, naval Orange, mandarin Peaches Pear, not asian Pineapple, canned Pineapple, fresh Plums Prunes, canned Raisins, seedless Strawberries Watermelon Butterworms Silkworms Superworms Waxworms Basil Beans, garbanzo Beans, kidney Beans, lima Beans, pinto Cilantro Peppermint leaves Spearmint Wheat grass FLOWERS rose petals dandelions dahlias hibiscus nasturtiums RARELY Broccoli Brussel sprouts Carrots Cauliflower Green peas raw Rutabaga, raw Tomatoes Pomegranate Star fruit Bananas Rice, brown, long grain Soybeans NEVER cabbage Corn Lettuce Spinach Avocado Eggplant Mushrooms Rhubarb Chicken Ground beef Pork chops Spaghetti, cooked Meal Worms

This is just an urban legend. Actually, mealworms aren't good for your beardie, but for a totally different reason.

They have a rather hard outer shell, called chitin, that is hard for a beardie, especially a baby beardie, to digest. And when you compare the nutritive value of mealworms next to crickets, superworms or other types of roaches and worms, mealworms are not as nutritious.

It is true, however, that crickets will eat the skin of your beardie. I seriously doubt a whole leg was eaten off, but they will nibble, causing sores which can easily become infected. You should always remove any live prey that goes uneaten after your beardie's meal.

Please visit http://www.beardeddragon.org/ for the best beardie caresheets and tons of useful advice from the forums.

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Your friend likes to exaggerate

I lurk the beardie forums a lot and have never heard of a worm eating its way out of a beardie. When the beardie chews a worm the force and the bacteria in the lizard's mouth kill it almost instantly.

Crickets will munch on the lizard if you leave them in the enclosure and there is nothing else for them to eat, but it would take a long time and a lot of crickets to eat a beardie's leg. You would have to neglect it for several days.

you should not feed your dragon meal worms they are hard for them to digest and they can get impacted which means they cant digest their food properly. crickets should not be left in the cage because they can bite the dragon but as stated above it would take lots of crickets and neglect for them to eat a limb off the dragon.you should feed your dragon three times a day for 15 minutes each time. dust the crickets with pure calcium. vibrating bowls are very expensive as far as i have heard. i would not leave any live prey in the bearded dragons cage. but a bowl of greens should be avaliable for your dragon during the day.