Bearded Dragon Feeding Chart By Age
| Age of Bearded Dragon | Quantity & Types of Food | Number of Meals per Day |
| 1-3 months | As many crickets as they’ll eat in 5-10 ... | 5 |
| 3-6 months | 50% veggies, 50% insects | 4 |
| 6-12 months | 50% veggies, 50% insects | 3 |
| 12-18 months | 50% veggies, 50% insects | 2 |
What is the best diet for a bearded dragon?
Our live food list tells you what meat your Beardie can eat:
- Crickets
- Kingworms
- Waxworms- these fatty worms should only be fed as a treat
- Earthworms
- Cockroaches
- Locusts
- Butterworms
- Silkworms
- Phoenix worms
- Crickets
How much should I Feed my bearded dragon and when?
- Avocado
- Dairy products
- Seafood
- Poultry
- Red meat
- Wild insects
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Onion
- Rhubarb
What is the best thing to feed a bearded dragon?
What Vegetables to Feed a Baby Bearded Dragon?
- Artichoke Heart
- Bell Pepper
- Orca
- Butternut Squash
- Celery
- Mustard Greens
- Yellow Squash
- Carrots
- Bok Choy
- Sweet Potato
When is the best time to feed your bearded dragon?
- Baby Dragons - Need a daily dose of Vitamin D3 and Calcium to stay healthy (since they are still developing and need the bone support).
- Juvenile Dragons - Need a Vitamin D3 and Calcium supplement with a meal 3-4 times per week.
- Adult Dragons - Need a Vitamin D3 and Calcium supplement with a meal once per week.
What should I feed my bearded dragon every day?
Young bearded dragons are omnivorous (approximately 50% insects and 50% plant matter). As they mature, they will eat more vegetables and transition to mostly herbivorous (approximately 90% plant matter). Insects - Feed gut-loaded insects (crickets or dubia roaches) 1x daily.
Do bearded dragons need to eat everyday?
How Often Do Adult Bearded Dragons Eat? Adult bearded dragons, or those older than 18 months, will need to be fed just once a day every day. Now, if you miss a day here and there it will by no means be the end of the world. But, you really should strive to feed your bearded dragon once daily.
How many mealworms should a bearded dragon eat a day?
Adult bearded dragons should eat 5 to 6 mealworms in a single feeding session but only once a week. For baby bearded dragons, provide a maximum of two mealworms 1-2 times a week and use them only as a treat rather than the main meal.
How many bugs should a bearded dragon eat?
Bearded Dragons should be fed three times per day and given as many insects as they will consume in 10 to 15 mins. After the feeding time is done it is best to remove as many remaining insects as possible. A typical juvenile can eat 20 to 50 insects each day.
Can a bearded dragon go a day without food?
So an average bearded dragon can go without food for 1-3 months in the wild. Juvenile bearded dragons would not survive that long since they don't have enough fat reserves. They can hardly last a week before their body demands food.
How often should you handle bearded dragons?
Bearded dragons usually tolerate handling better than other lizards. Regular handling helps bearded dragons get used to people, so you should handle your beardie daily. Doing so also minimizes stress during regular care, such as bathing or tank cleaning. They are generally gentle and easy to hold.
Can you overfeed a bearded dragon?
Overfeeding your baby bearded dragon can cause painful constipation, or worse, the formation of a food bolus, or mass, in his stomach. As a result of the bolus, pressure is placed on the spinal nerves, causing paralysis in the hind quarters. If not treated immediately, this condition is usually fatal.
How often do bearded dragons poop?
Baby bearded dragons that are 3 months old or younger usually poop one to three times a day because their diet is rich in proteins. A young bearded dragon (4 to 18 months old) will have a bowel movement every day or so, while you can expect those older than 18 months to poop 1-7 times a week.
How much food do bearded dragons need?
These baby dragons need 75% of their nutrition to come from live insects and just 25% to come from plants. You can split their feeding into five meals.
What is the best food for bearded dragons?
Dubia roaches are widely considered to be the absolute best live food for bearded dragons due to their incredibly high protein content. Furthermore, they’re very clean insects and tend to be much safer than crickets, which have been known to carry parasites. Phoenix worms are also a great choice.
Why is my bearded dragon not eating?
What to Do if Your Bearded Dragon Isn’t Eating. There are many reasons that dragons could refuse to eat. Stress is a big one. If you’ve recently changed your dragon’s environment, lighting, or diet, then they could be refusing to eat as a reaction to this, which will take a short time to sort out.
How many crickets should a dragon eat?
During insect feedings, allow them 10 minutes to eat as many as they can. This could be as many as 50 crickets each day. Once a dragon reaches three months, it’s considered to be a juvenile. Juvenile dragons need a diet that’s about 50/50 plants and live insects.
What is gut loading in dragons?
Gut loading is when you stuff the insects full of nutritious food before feeding them to your dragon.
Why won't my dragon eat?
Dragons might also refuse to eat when they’re shedding. You can tell they’re shedding when scales become dull-looking and the tip of the tail turns gray. Sick dragons may also refuse to eat. This could require a trip to the vet. Temperature can also have a major effect on a dragon’s appetite.
What to do if your dragon is eating everything?
If your dragon is eating every bit of the food you provide within the feeding window, then you might need to offer more food. On the other hand, if there’s always a lot of food leftover when the feeding window closes, then you should start reducing the amount of food you’re offering.
What do bearded dragons eat?
Bearded dragons are omnivores, meaning they consume both plant and animal matter. In the wild, they are not picky eaters! They will eat a variety of insects using their strong jaws to crush through shells and exoskeletons. They will also consume various plant matter such as leaves, flowers, buds and fruit.
How long can a bearded dragon go without food?
At the extreme, an adult bearded dragon in good condition may go up to 2 months without food. This is by no means encouraged in captivity, they should be fed daily. Mature bearded dragons can go longer without food if they are in better condition and have fat reserves to sustain themselves on.
What does it mean when a bearded dragon is gravid?
If you have a female bearded dragon that is housed with or was recently housed with a male and she is having a significantly higher appetite you may find she is gravid.
How many eggs do bearded dragons have?
If you incubate and hatch bearded dragons you will have up to 20 or so from a clutch of eggs. These little guys will be hungry constantly and need a lot of attention and feeding. Baby bearded dragons have a high metabolism and will digest food and absorb nutrients very quickly so they will need to be offered food often.
Why are bearded dragons more active?
Seasonal Changes. Bearded dragons will be more active when they are in ideal temperatures. In the wild, this will happen seasonally as the differences will be dramatic. In a captive setting, you should still provide them with seasonal changes to biologically stimulate them, but these changes may be more subtle.
Do bearded dragons stop eating?
Adult bearded dragons will stop eating when they are full are will rarely overindulge. It’s best to pay more attention to the quality of food they are consuming rather than the quantity, but you may find that your bearded dragon is eating more than normal. There is likely a valid reason for this.
Can bearded dragons eat insects?
This is most likely to occur if you only feed the foods your bearded dragon likes the most, such as insect s and do not offer enough veggies.
How Often to Feed Bearded Dragons Based on Age
Your dragon’s age plays a large role in how much and how often you will feed them. Babies will eat more often and mostly eat insect protein, while adults will eat less frequently and mostly eat plant matter.
What About Water?
Bearded dragons of all ages should have access to fresh, clean water at all times. Place a small, shallow water dish in their enclosure on the opposite end of their basking area. If the water is too close to the heating element, then the water will evaporate quickly and increase humidity levels in the enclosure.
What Can Bearded Dragons Eat?
A bearded dragon’s diet should be varied and include lots of healthy and tasty foods. Beardies are omnivores, so their diet consists of insect protein as well as vegetation.
What Should Bearded Dragons Never Eat?
Bearded dragons will eat what is put in front of them even if it is harmful, so it is up to you to make sure they stay safe.
Health Problems Caused by Incorrect Feeding Practices
There are many health issues that can arise if you feed your dragon too much, not enough, or improper foods. Here are some things to avoid when feeding your beardie.
FAQs on Feeding Bearded Dragons
Yes. Beardies will happily eat what is put in front of them. Overfeeding leads to health problems, so you should keep a regular feeding schedule.
At the Tail End of Things
It is important to know exactly what and how much your bearded dragon should be eating. It is equally important to know what is toxic and unhealthy for your beardie to be eating.
Why do bearded dragons grow so fast?
This is for survival. They need to get to a size where they can defend themselves and escape predators. To this end , they eat a lot of protein and high-fat insects to get to the size they need to be.
How many insects can a baby dragon eat?
Over a day and 3-5 feedings, a baby beardy can eat between 30-80 insects, depending on the size of the insects. A higher protein diet is preferable for a baby dragon. Their bodies naturally prize mass over nutrition in this stage, so greens aren’t as important.
What are some good insects to eat?
Make sure the live insect you choose are high in protein, moisture, and medium or lower in fat. Crickets, hornworms, and Dubia roaches, especially, make excellent choices. High-fat insects like mealworms are more like treats. They don’t have as much value and should only be eaten a couple at a time.
Can you feed a bearded dragon mealworms?
How Many Mealworms To Feed Bearded Dragons. Mealworms are a popular choice for feeder worms but they shouldn’t be. The mealworm has a hard chitlin exoskeleton making it difficult on the bearded dragon’s digestive tract and pose potential health issues.
Can you feed worms to bearded dragons?
Super worms are a decent source of protein but have high-fat content. Because of the high-fat content, this worm should only be fed to your bearded dragon on occasion. Mixing in different worms is fine as long as lower-quality foods don’t become the norm.
Can you feed waxworms to pets?
Phoenix worms. While some feeder insects are fine to feed your pet daily others should only be consumed as a treat on occasion. This distinction is made based on the nutritional breakdown of the insect. Waxworms are one example of an insect that should only be consumed as a treat due to their high-fat content.
Can you overfeed a bearded dragon?
You can overfeed bearded dragons and they will become overweight. Obesity in bearded dragons can become quite a problem if their diet is not kept in check and monitored. This happens when pet owners feed them a diet too rich in insects or too many fatty insects and not enough vegetable.
What kind of insects do bearded dragons eat?
Most likely, you’ll end up choosing one of the big three. Crickets, dubia roaches, or black soldier fly larvae are by far the most common choices of primarty feeder insects for bearded dragons. Between crickets and roaches, we strongly prefer roaches ( you can see why here in our comparison article ).
How often should a baby beardie eat live insects?
Baby beardies (up to about 6 months in age) should get live feeder insects one to three times per day, every day. This is when they are growing the fastest ( for a detailed review of just how big your beardie will get, see our article here ). Therefore, this is when they need the most protein.
What is the best food to eat for baby food?
Processed human food – Outside of pureed apple or pumpkin baby food, stay away from anything that comes in a can, box, or jar. Stick to fresh produce, fruits, and live feeder insects. Lettuce – This includes iceberg, loose-leaf, green, butter, and red. Lettuce, on the whole, is almost devoid of nutrients.
Do bearded dragons eat the same thing every day?
They start to treat them like little people instead of captive wild animals. While you or I would get bored eating the same thing every day, your bearded dragon does not. They are perfectly happy eating the same exact thing every single day. Bacardi never every gets tired of roaches….
Can a bearded dragon be vegan?
Another important point is that your beardie is an omnivore. It cannot be a vegetarian or vegan. Period, end of story. If you are not comfortable feeding your beardie live feeder insects then you should not have a bearded dragon. Beardie’s need a live protein source several times a week. And yes, it needs to be live.
Is lettuce good for beardie?
Lettuce, on the whole, is almost devoid of nutrients. If your beardie fills up on lettuce, they will not get the nutrients they need to be healthy. Choose more nutrient-dense and healthier greens. Mushrooms – Specifically portabella mushrooms, but all of them are a bad idea.
Can you buy organic bearded dragons?
Because of the small size of bearded dragons, we recommend buying organic if you can. Even the smallest amount of pesticide could cause problems for your beardie. If organic isn’t an option, make sure to wash your produce well before serving it to your bearded dragon. Acorn squash.
What do bearded dragons eat?
In addition to insects and raw produce, bearded dragons can also eat some edible plants including carnation petals, clover, geranium flowers, maple leaves, and rose petals. Feed juvenile and adult bearded dragons different ratios.
What is the correct ratio for bearded dragons?
The correct ratio for juvenile bearded dragons is 70% insects and 30% plants, while the ratio for adult bearded dragons is the opposite: 30% insects and 70% plants. ...
How old do bearded dragons get?
A bearded dragon is no longer considered a juvenile when it reaches approximately eight months old.
Is a bearded dragon hyperactive?
Bearded dragons are one of the tamest reptiles, and their interesting personalities only add to their popularity for reptile-keepers. When it comes to feeding, however, bearded dragons can become hyperactive, and this can cause difficulties without certain precautions.
Why can't my bearded pig eat?
Also, mask their meals with what they like, try hand-feeding, have terrarium plants since they can eat them, etcetera. Stress, being picky eaters, shedding, impaction, sickness, and internal parasites are the most common reasons why your beardie may not eat.
What are the best feeder insects for a roach?
Feeder insects. The best choice should be Dubia roaches, crickets, grasshoppers, silkworms, locusts, hornworms, and black soldier larvae or any other staple. Others include butterworms, waxworms, Only allow them to have mealworms, superworms, or those with hard shell (exoskeleton) ones they are at least six months as they may cause impaction.