Your Bearded Dragon is an omnivore, implying he requires a nutritious diet of beef and plant matter. A hatchling dragon will eat often tiny insects. As your dragon grows, he’s going to start to eat more plant matter. The diet of a juvenile dragon ( 2-4 months of age ) will be made of roughly eighty percent insects and twenty p.c. greens. Young dragons should be fed 2-3 times daily. If inadequate food is fed, young dragons may nip at the tails and toes of their cage buddies. Beef food sources for your Whiskered Dragon can include pinky mice ( for adults ) and insects like : * Crickets ; pinhead crickets for minors * Mealworms * Wax worms – high in fat, so feed carefully * King worms * Earthworms * Cockroaches Freshly molted insects are simpler for your Hairy Dragon to digest. You should coat feeder insects with a calcium supplement ( powdered calcium carbonate or calcium gluconate ) 3-5 times per week for adults ; each day for juveniles. Feeder insects also should be “gut-loaded,” implying the insects are fed delicious and vitamin-rich foods before they’re given to the dragon.

Feed your feeder insects food like : ground legumes, corn meal, carrots, sweet potatoes, collard greens, mustard greens, broccoli, spinach, apples, oranges, cereals, and rolled oats. Many commercial products, created to be rich in calcium and vitamins, could also be used to gut-load feeder insects. Insects may be acquired or wild-caught ( without the utilization of insecticides ).

Did You Know? Fireflies are deadly to Bearded Dragon, other reptiles, amphibians, and birds. Feed insects by placing them in a little bowl. After feeding, check that not one of the insects escaped and fouled the water supply in the cage.

You may employ a specifically designed feeder rock, which permits insects to feed, but not escape till you are prepared to feed your dragon.

To boost cleanliness, some owners wish to have another cage for feeding the meat-based portion of their dragon’s diet. Meat Food Sources be certain the scale of food you feed is proportionate to your dragon’s size. Malnourishment, fits, and abdominal blockages can happen if hatchlings and minors are fed insects too massive for them to capture or digest. Plant Food Sources Plant matter should make up roughly twenty percent of your dragon’s diet and should are generally composed of green leafy veg. You could also include other veggies. Fruit should make up the tiniest portion of the diet. Shred or tear veggies and fruits into little pieces and mix them together to urge your dragon to eat all that’s offered, and not just pick out his fave foods. Following is a catalogue of some favored plant-based dragon foods.

Greens

* escarole
* kale
* collards
* bok choy
* Swiss chard
* parsley
* clover
* alfalfa pellets
* dandelion greens
* turnip greens
* mustard greens
* beet greens-only occasionally
* spinach-only occasionally
* NEVER iceberg lettuce

Vegetables

* broccoli
* okra
* peas
* green beans
* zucchini
* squash
* grated carrots
* sweet potato
* bell pepper
* frozen mixed vegetables

Fruit
* figs
* kiwi
* papaya
* melon
* apples
* grapes
* dates
* peaches
* apricots
* strawberries
(seeds removed)
* plums
* tomatoes
* bananas (with skin)

Share and Enjoy:
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Twitter
  • Technorati
  • Live
  • LinkedIn
  • MySpace

Tagged with: • • • • • •

Filed under: bearded dragon food

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!