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Bearded dragon feeding

22 14:52:32

Question
Hi
I got two 24 inch long bearded dragons they are about 2 yrs old.  My question is how many times a day and how many times a week should I feed them?  And what do I mostly feed them vegetables or insects I know you feed both but what do you give most of?

Thanks

Answer
Dear thomas,
thank you for your question.
Adult dragons should get a diet of 70-80% vegetables and leafy greens and 20-30% insects, with juveniles it's just the other way around.
Feed them once per day, best in the morning because that's when they are most active and it gives them time over the day to digest their food properly. One day per week can be diet day, with no food at all. Vegetables/leafy greens should be on the menu three times a week and insects two times. Try to vary the diet as much as possible. Apart from crickets and locusts, you can offer locusts, roaches (for example Blaptica dubia or Panchlora nivea, juvenile hissing roaches are also fine), earthworms (lots of calcium), snails and woodlice (although some dragons won't eat those), zophobas/superworms, waxmoths and- worms and buffalo worms (all three are very fatty and should only be fed occasionally).

Zucchini, squash, carrots, parsnips, green beans, cucumber (mainly for their water content) and fennel are good vegetables. Dandelions as well as Leotodon hispidus (looks a lot like dandelion), chickweed, daisies, clover (red, white and yellow), ribwort, bearbind (Convolvulus arvensis) are wild plants that can be fed when they are not treated with pesticides, you can also offer pansie flowers - bearded dragons love the colours. Most fruits contain a lot more phosphorus than calcium and should be avoided. Mango is an axception, but shouldn't be fed too often, too.
I hope I was of some help to you
Jennifer