Feeding Dubia Roaches Protein Filled Foods
Dubia Roaches vs Crickets For Bearded Dragons - The Ultimate Showdown
You have run out of crickets; your beardie is hungry. You put on your shoes, jump in the car, and run to the local pet store. Once there, you stare into the cricket enclosure wondering. You question whether or not this bearded dragon food is enough to keep him nourished to scurry along on his cute, inquisitive adventures. Despite the overwhelming supply of crickets in the pet world, you do have a right to second guess yourself. This is the turning point for you and all of your little pet friends, where you consider that dubia roaches are the best feeders for bearded dragons.
Are Dubia Roaches Good For Bearded Dragons?
Feeder roaches for bearded dragons are quickly becoming the status quo. There are many reasons why switching to a roach diet may be the perfect solution for you.
- Dubia roaches cannot bite or fight back, like crickets can, so your precious pet will be safe, even without your supervision. Their legs are surprisingly powerful when gripping your finger, but not strong enough to harm even the smallest of your reptiles.
- These feeder insects cannot jump or climb smooth surfaces, and while they have wings, they cannot fly. So assuming you keep your enclosure properly secured and sealed, no escape is possible. Can dubia roaches infest your house? No, so even if your feeders escape into the night, you will not need to worry about waking up to a house full of roaches.
- Adult dubia roaches are quite large, so instead of worrying about wrangling a handful of crickets, you can just drop in a couple large roaches for easy bearded dragon food.
- They can survive without any special care. While they will not breed, they can live at room temperature and average humidity, so unless you live in a dry or cold area, you can easily keep them. A great strategy would be to buy a month supply of feeder roaches, put them in a basic dubia roach enclosure, and simply order more after you've run out. This way you do not need to provide breeding conditions nor wait for them to do the deed.
- Last but not least, dubia roaches are energy packed cockroaches for bearded dragons. They are 23.4% protein vs the 15.4% protein of crickets. Additionally, they are much meatier than the fibrous exoskeletons of crickets. More protein for your pets means healthier bodies and higher energy, so they will thrive during a long, happy life. You can even boost the naturally occurring nutritional values through a method called gut loading.
What to Feed Dubia Roaches For Bearded Dragons
As mentioned, gut loading is a method used to transfer nutrients from the feeder insects to your reptile. While not necessary, by feeding essential nutrients to your dubia roaches, vitamins are stored in the gut of the insect, so the bearded dragon eating dubia roaches will release all of these vitamins. Generally, gut loading is accomplished by feeding cereals, fruits, and vegetables to the creepy crawlies. Gut loading dubia roaches is extremely easy, as they love anything with natural sugars. So when considering what to feed dubia roaches for bearded dragons, oranges, apples, and bananas are great options that will be consumed in the blink of an eye. Just remember to check on them periodically, as you do not want to leave rotting fruits or vegetables in the dubia colony. Calcium deficiency is a common occurrence among reptiles fed with live insects, particularly bearded dragons, so another option is to dust a calcium supplement on the live bugs before feeding. Dusting is an easy method to provide additional vitamins and minerals quickly. To dust a live feeder insect, just follow these steps:
- Place a couple pinches of calcium powder into a medium sized deli cup.
- Add all of the cockroaches you intend to feed into the cup.
- Gently shake until most of the powder is coated on the bugs.
- They will want to naturally clean themselves off, so dump the cup straight into a shallow feeding bowl in the terrarium for your lizard to enjoy.
Again, this is not totally necessary, but may be a good option if your beardie is lacking proper calcium levels.
How Many Dubia Roaches to Feed a Bearded Dragon
How many roaches should a bearded dragon eat? Luckily, instead of dozens of crickets, these bugs grow so much that a variety of sizes are available, and you can feed around three to five of the adult roaches every two to three days, depending on the size of your beardie. Of course, bearded dragons also need their diets supplemented with greens, such as kale, collard, and dandelion greens, and fruit, such as melons, mangoes, and peaches. If your lizard is young, the juvenile dubia roaches for baby bearded dragons should be fed everyday. They need a lot of protein to feed their growing bodies, so you can have a big, healthy adult in the future.
Breeding Dubia Roaches For Bearded Dragons
So you have decided these are the perfect feeder insects for your precious pet. Now what? Maybe none of the local pet stores carry these cockroaches, so you've turned to ordering online from our store. And while we greatly appreciate it, we also understand that bearded dragon food runs out quick with their immense appetite, so it becomes difficult to continually order roaches without needing to create a roach colony. Fortunately, we have laid out an easy to follow, step by step manual on how to breed dubia roaches for bearded dragons using your own dubia roach starter colony.
In summation, can bearded dragons eat dubia roaches? Of course! In fact, they should be! With unbeatable nutritional values and their helpless nature, feeding dubia roaches is the obvious solution to helping your beautiful beardie grow strong and live a long, healthy life with you. If you agree, you should check out our feeder insects for bearded dragons for sale. You will not regret it!
Source: https://roachrancher.com/blogs/guides/dubia-roaches-perfect-bearded-dragon-food