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Curious About Feeding Bearded Dragons?
Bearded dragons are omnivores and must have a diet that consists of 20% veggies and fruits. Lizards consume all sorts of different varieties of invertebrates and small invertebrates in the wild, and therefore a variety of protein sources must be offered when they are in capitivity.
Insects For Bearded Dragons
Prey such as appropriately sized cultured crickets, mealworms, cockroaches, king worms and wax worms should be fed alongside pinky mice. In order to reduce the amount of tough indigestible exoskeleton the dragon must ingest, make sure that the invertebrates are freshly molted.
Exoskeletons sometimes cause intestinal impaction so the less exoskeleton the better. As the dragon grows, it is best to feed him or her frozen mice (pinkies, fuzzies, crews or young adults) instead of mostly insects. But keep in mind that any insect you feed your dragon should be smaller than the space between its eyes, so that it doesn’t have trouble eating and digesting it.
In addition, it’s important to time your bearded dragon’s feeding rather than measure out a specified amount. For both young and adult dragons, aim for 10-15 minute feedings. While still in their early stages of life, baby dragons should eat more insects than fruit and vegetables (although they should still be fed these as well) and they can typically eat 20-60 insects a day. Adult dragons, on the other hand, should only be given insects once a day. After the timed feeding is over, remove the insects from the tank to prevent overfeeding them.
Storing Your Bearded Dragon's Insects
Another element of your bearded dragon’s upkeep is insect storage. We’re sure you don’t want to go to feed your dragon and realize the netted containers you were keeping them in has been gnawed through and is now empty.
To prevent this, we recommend buying a container that is specifically designed to keep the critters enclosed which you can easily find at a pet store. Then, simply tuck the container out of the sight line of your critter-shy human houseguests!
Should You Feed Mice To Bearded Dragons?
Some reptile enthusiasts claim that pinky mice are extremely high in fat, and very low in calcium. This is, however, not true. Pinkie mice are comprised of less than 5% crude fat. Furthermore, their fat content actually increase as the mature into fuzzy mice, so pinky mice are actually on the lower end of the fat percentage spectrum. In addition to pinky mice, bearded dragon food pretty much consists of a healthy amount of fruits and vegetables such as collard greens, dandelion greens, endive, carrots, bok choy, turnip greens, alfalfa sprouts, strawberries, figs, blueberries and tomatoes. Make sure each fruit or veggie is washed thoroughly before being given as food for bearded dragons.
RodentPro and Your Bearded Dragon
As always, contact RodentPro for any questions you have about how to feed your bearded dragon and what bearded dragons eat. In addition, order some of our pinky mice for your bearded dragon as well as frozen reptile food for the other animals you care for today!
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