Feeding Bearded Dragons..question?

LadyVipertx · Joined: 19 Dec 2007 Posts: 28 Location: Texas

What do you feed your beardie?

Mine loves super worms, but I have heard that aren't good for them..Anyone else feed superworms?

also

Does anyone feed frozen mixed veggies?

I currently feed him the following diet,

crickets-daily
fresh salad (mixed greens) with carrots, apple and other fresh veggies lightly sprinkled with calcium,d3- daily, every few days I mix a few super worms in his salad, because he loves them.

He is a good eater, but are there other things like yogurt he has been eating in the past..Any suggestions on what is safe to add to his diet?
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**Justin** · Site Admin Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 94 Location: PA

I personally dont have any bearded dragons but family friends have one, and i have done a lot of research for/ along with them.

Ive heard that meal worms are better than super worms. I honestly have no idea of the reasoning but i swear i have read that some where. During the summer you can catch flies and throw them in there for him.
You can try mix veggies but i dont know personally if he would eat corn...green beans, peas, pumpkin, green and red bell peppers, spinach, collard greens, and clovers are all great veggies for them. he also might eat spiders that you find around the house but that is not always the best idea. What ever you do, do not feed fireflies. They will kill your beardie.
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Jackal · Joined: 20 Mar 2008 Posts: 16 Location: London (GB)

ZJBDragon · Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 55 Location: Westminster, MD

I have a normal-colored bearded dragon that's currently 20 inches in length (full tail) and 11 months old. Here's what I feed him:

Daily:
- Crickets (medium to large)
- Super worms
- Greens (normally collard, turnip, or dandelion)
- Rep-Cal Bearded Dragon Pellet Food (they're red, green, and tan colored pieces--normally just a little bit because he eats this stuff rarely or by accident)

Occasionally:
- Wax Worms
- Phoenix/Calcium Worms
- Leftover dinner veggies (peas, carrots, a piece or two of corn, romaine lettuce, or green beens)
- Fruit (strawberries are his favorite, banana, cantaloupe, rarely a couple of grapes, etc.)

Once in a blue moon:
- Shrimp (shred it up--it's too tough to chew)
- Chicken (shred it up too--it must be moist/juicy)
- Common House Spider or Fly (Taz normally catches these on his own--it was a real show to see him pick a fly out of the air)

Taz (my beardie) goes nuts for super worms. They definitely seem to be his favorite. He also really likes phoenix/calcium worms too. Crickets are normally welcome, but I have to switch things up sometimes and get different sizes and colors or else he gets bored of the same taste it seems like. I just change where I buy crickets from sometimes and that works perfectly. He normally gets all he wants to eat once a day, although sometimes I cut him off a little early if it seems like he's had way too much. Greens and pellets are always available 24/7 regardless of how much he ate. I should also mention that Taz gets daily exercise and social interaction with me, my family, the dog (chocolate lab), and sometimes toys like wind up cars, dog bones, or strings to chase.

I've always read from breeders on Repticzone.com that meal worms are bad. Eh, what do they know, right? Well, I tried feeding meal worms to my late water dragon a long time ago and he crunched one up, spit it out, and wouldn't eat them again (he'd go bonkers over finely shredded shrimp or live fish in his water fountain). The same situation happened with Taz when he was little. It seems like meal worms have too much shell and their small size makes what's inside worth the crunch. That's why I think Taz likes super worms better, because there's more inside. Back when I bought those meal worms I didn't realize they weren't so great, but both lizards quickly told me they didn't like them.

There's a lot of other things you can feed your beardie. Most have been mentioned. Some people feed their beardies pinky mice, but if I were to do it I'd only try that once every 3 or 4 months because of digestion concerns.

Also, I do use calcium (no D3) supplementation along with vitamin supplementation. This is done on a random basis normally once every week or two since I use a mercury vapor bulb.