Can my bearded dragon eat dead crickets?

Question
QUESTION: I have a about 6 month old bearded dragon named sunny. I am not aloud to keep
live crickets so we feed our bearded dragon dead ones. They are moist and have
guts in them still. I smashed one and goo came out. Anyways some people think
its wrong because he does not have to run and get exercise to get food. I let
him out to play and i saw a video of someone using a laser light to get their
bearded dragon to run around. I figure i can use that to have him move around to
get crickets i put vitamins and and vitamin c on them. He has a heat lamp and a
uvb bulb and i feed him fresh greens 2-3 different kinds every day and he loves
it. He has a 40 gallon tank so its big enough for him to run around in. I have
read that can-o-crickets is not bad for them its good with the right
supplements. I give him moist pellets in his salad food dish. His uvb bulb is a
30 watt 10.0 dessert reptiglo bulb. My big question is even though people think
its horrible to feed him dead prey will he still b
e healthy? Again i have vitamins and a supplement pellet diet he eat early both
the crickets and the moist pellets. So will he be healthy with what i am doing
and is using the laser light a good idea to encourage movement?

ANSWER: Hello Angel,

Where are you getting the dead crickets to feed?  If the crickets are clean then he shouldn't get sick from them.  Are you using the can-o-crickets then?
Normally feeding dead insects is not a good idea as there could be disease possibly.
Are you getting the crickets from outside?
Some feed dried insects which can be ok for them.
The vitamins & supplement diet with pellets in the greens should be fine for him.  How often do you give the calcium supplement?  At his age he needs calcium 4-5 times per week.  

It is not necessarily bad to feed dead insects, but I don't recommend it.  Really, a big portion of their eating is live prey so you are depriving him in that way.
He should be healthy if his nutritional needs are met.

The laser light is a lot of fun & can give good exercise too.  
The UVB light you are using though needs to be changed.  The Reptiglo 10 tube bulbs are not good bulbs & doesn't emit the proper wavelength for UVB.  The better UVB to get is either the Reptisun 10 tube bulb or the Arcadia D3 12% tube.   What type of basking light are you using?  Is it a bright white light?
What are the temperatures in the tank?

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------


this is the basking bu  

this is his lights   QUESTION: I am using two different bulbs and change them daily one is a a 150watt basking bulb which looks like a spot light and the light color is yellow color and the other one is i think 100watt which is more of a white light.  and its a very light blue color. His tank temperatures are 94.4 on his hot side and 79.8 on his cold side. I use digital probe thermometers. I am feeding him can-o-crickets but I also have live super worms. I give him calcium everyday for one of his two meals. We have spent almost $800 on him already because a breeder recommended the lights to use and right now i do not have the money to get him the other light will he be fine for a few weeks until i we get enough money?

Answer
Hello Angel,

Yes, he will be ok for awhile longer with the tube UVB light.  I am sorry the light is the wrong one.  It just is not strong enough.  
Great, the digital probe is a good way to measure the temperatures so they should be accurate.  Where are you measuring at?  The basking temperatures need to be 95-110 range.  Where does he spend the majority of his time basking?  
I would put the higher wattage bulb on one end, to focus a better basking light area for him while putting a lower wattage at the other end, taking the middle blue bulb out as a colored light is not usually recommended.  If it is a bluish bulb, then it most likely has a neodymium coating on the bulb which is hard on their eyes.
The cooler end needs to be more of a lower range around 78-82.  These variances just allow for a better thermoregulation.

That sounds fine, if he likes the canned cricket, then he can also have the superworms, too.    
Sunny need calcium once a day 4-5 times per week so your supplementation schedule is fine!
Do you have any pictures of him?
Let me know how he is doing.  

Tracie