🍖Feeding a Bearded dragon: diet, supplements, food refusals
Bearded dragon : An omnivore whose diet shifts with age: juveniles eat mostly insects, adults mostly greens (endive, rocket, edible flowers) with insects 2 to 3 times a week. Calcium supplementation is essential.
In short: 40 to 55 cm as an adult, 8 to 12 years of lifespan, suited to committed beginners. Diurnal, curious and people-friendly, it is often called the ideal pet reptile. A desert sun-basker, it needs powerful UVB replaced yearly and a genuine 40 °C basking spot: without them, calcium deficiency and bone disease set in fast.
The Bearded dragon diet, precisely
An age-shifting omnivore: juveniles eat mostly insects, adults mostly greens (endive, rocket, edible flowers) with insects 2 to 3 times a week, backed by calcium. Temperature governs digestion: a Bearded dragon kept below its 40-42°C basking spot digests poorly and eventually refuses food — faced with a refusing animal, check the thermometer before the menu.
Gut-loading and supplements: the invisible part
A cricket is only worth what it ate: feed your insects for 24-48 h (fresh vegetables, bran) before offering them — that is gut-loading. Add calcium dusting at nearly every juvenile meal, every other one for adults, plus a calcium dish available at all times.
Water and hydration
A stable water dish changed daily, big enough for a soak if the animal wants one — many drink little but bathe before shedding. Dehydration shows in skin folds and sunken eyes: that means the exotics vet, not the mister alone. The full profile is on the full Bearded dragon profile.
Frequently asked questions
What does a Bearded dragon eat?
An age-shifting omnivore: juveniles eat mostly insects, adults mostly greens (endive, rocket, edible flowers) with insects 2 to 3 times a week, backed by calcium.
Why is my Bearded dragon refusing food?
Check temperatures first (basking spot at 40-42°C): too cold means no digestion. Then shedding and settling-in stress — but measured weight loss calls for the exotics vet.
The guides that apply to you
- Corn snake: what a study on the metabolic cost of digestion changes about meal size
A study measured the specific dynamic response of corn snakes after a meal: an individual's response is remarkably repeatable from one meal to the next, with implications for choosing prey size.
- Breeding your own feeder insects: a cricket bin for your reptiles
Setting up a cricket bin at home: 20 to 40 € of equipment, escape-proof ventilation, feeding and yield to supply a gecko or bearded dragon.
- Water bowls and soaking dishes for reptiles: size, material and upkeep
Which water bowl for a leopard gecko, a corn snake or a tortoise? Size, material, placement and upkeep for consistently clean water.
- Live or freeze-dried insects: what should you feed your reptile?
Live or freeze-dried insects for reptiles? Nutritional value, appeal, price per kilo compared, and when dried feeders can fill a gap.