Bearded Dragon Eating: Habits, Supplies and Problems

Bearded dragon eating evolves with age, the same way a human's eating habits do. Parents or adults can eat fewer times and in greater quantities than the babies. While the babies are consuming up to 60 crickets a day over the course of 2-3 feedings, mixed with a bevy of greens, the adult bearded dragon is content to eat one larger meal during the day.

Your adult bearded dragon will want to hunt prey in addition to the plant foods you provide for it. Some people only provide crickets, but other pet owners put mice in the enclosure so that the pet can hunt it.

When it comes to plants that you provide for nourishment, avoid lettuce because it lacks vitamins and minerals in good quantities - try to feed your pet mustard greens, turnip greens or collards instead. Spinach is a bad choice since it binds to calcium and isn't digested easily by your friend.

You can also provide other vegetables like squash, potatoes and carrots (once in awhile). When you feed your pet one of these - make sure it's in small amounts and chop them up into small pieces. Then cook them so that they're mushy enough for the animal to eat and digest them.

Fruits can also be used, just avoid any citrus fruit such as oranges and grape fruit.
Water

If your pet's bearded dragon eating habits are worrying you because you fear it's not eating at all (or eating very little), it may not be anything to worry about.

Bearded dragons take awhile to adjust to their new habitat, so if you bought a brand new one, chances are it could lose its appetite temporarily until it feels at home in its surroundings.

You may also want to check to make sure the cage has of the recommended habitat and enclosure elements because the environment and your heating and lighting choices can have a direct impact on the eating habits of your beardie. You want the temperature your pet basks in to be set to between 110-115 degrees F.

One of the main causes of illness with a lizard is found in a poorly maintained Bearded Dragon diet. Sometimes the diet trouble stems from not feeding the lizard enough or feeding him too much. Other times, it's a matter of feeding him the wrong items or not feeding him the foods he has to have in order to stay healthy.

Just like the food pyramid suggests types of foods for humans to eat to stay healthy, the Bearded Dragon diet contains foods specifically targeted to giving your pet an optimal life full of bright eyed energy. Your pet needs to eat insects as a daily part of his diet. You can find insects through a store that sells them for that purpose or like some Beardie owners, you can use your own supply of insects. Just remember that it's not okay to catch any kind of bug and drop it in the cage. Some aren't good for him. You'll want to make sure you avoid giving him any kind of bug that has a hard shelled body and you'll want to avoid giving him toxic insects like spiders as well.

A Bearded Dragon diet must also consist of vegetables. Some parts of the vegetable are dangerous for a Beardie so make sure you know whether or not he can have all parts of the vegetable. For example, seeds aren't good for Beardies. Your lizard needs fruit in his diet and you can satisfy that need with fruits like strawberries or grapes.