can i feed bait shop crickets to my bearded dragon?

Question

at the pet shop the man there said bait shop crickets are not nutritious because they are not fed well he also said that pet shop crickets are well fed is this true or was he just trying to make a sale

Answer 1

Pet store crickets aren't healthy either thats why you should be feeding them before you give them to your dragon.

Answer 2

Bearded Dragon Shop

Answer 3

Yes it is true. bait shops do not feed their crickets so they will have no nutritional value whatsoever. But what you can do is what i do for my geckos/chameleon. I generally buy a buttload from the baitshop right around the corner and gutload them myself to make them nutritious for them. The bait store is a lot cheaper for me than a dozen for $1. 100 for $5 is a better deal for me. I have 4 herps that eat the same size crickets so it is cheaper for me. Like I said, if you do that make sure they have plenty of food/water/gutload. I use fish food for food, and Flukers gutload for water. I buy 2 weeks ahead of time also. Need to be sure the crickets are good and loaded before feeding them to my babies. It isn't an overnight method though, unlike pet shop crickets. Takes time to build up some nutritional value at least a week. They are all healthy according to the vet(except for leopard gecko, she is blind) and the youngest one is 5 yrs old so I am doing something right.

Answer 4

The bait store i go to uses the same calcium rich stuff the pet store uses but take precaution gut load dust etc. to ensure Healthy food for you beardie. someone up above made comment on catching them in your yard BAD idea people use pesticides and other chemicals that may not kill the cricket but will definitely kill your beardie. don't use outdoor food period. I contacted my friend who owns a bait store he purchases his crickets from the same person the pet stores do so I went to the place where I buy my ckrickets 2000 at a time. guess what? they sell to both.. dont worry gut load vary the diet your herps will be fine.

Answer 5

You can gut-load your own crickets. The question is not with what their not being fed, it's if they're wild caught. Wild caught crickets could have eated plants with bug poisons on them and this could harm your beardie. Just know where the bugs are coming from. (If they were caught in an ag field take warning...) Just put friut or veggies in your cricket keeper and they'll be well fed. If bait-shop crickets are cheeper go for it! :)

Answer 6

yes, it is true that pet shop crickets are "gut loaded" and hence are the best for your beardie. You can also buy your own cricket feed and feed them yourself before you give them to your beardie, but do offer a variety of food. They love meal worms, and silkworms, grasshoppers, and snails. Also, our beardie loves mangoes, pears, red, green and yellow peppers, carrots, kale, dandelion flowers and leaves, carnations and a variety of other flowers. They are not just carnivores, but you will find, just like people, that each beardie will have preferences, just offer them a variety and let them choose.

Answer 7

Hi,
Bearded dragons are my favourite pets!! In order to learn how to properly care them you should read some good manuals or books. This is a very nice one I read recently: http://www.goobypls.com/r/rd.asp?gid=571
Check it out. It's worth it.

Answer 8

bait shop crickets can contain poisons that would be harmful to your lizard. it would be like feeding them crickets out of your back yard. you never know what they have come in contact with.

Answer 9

Those will do fine, just don't let the little guy know that you are buying him the "generic" brand. He might get a little picky. I buy the generic Multi-meal cereal all the time and stick it in the brand boxes and the kids never know the difference, but if they find out, there would be a problem.

Just bring them home in the pet store cricket bags. lol.

Answer 10

yeah but feed them before giving them to your bearded dragon