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Bearded Dragon Feeding
Bearded Dragon Tracking Sheet

Food:
Feeding Bearded Dragons is different for babies and adults. Babies require about 70% protein in their diet, whether it is acquired from crickets, silkworms, or hornworms, it does not matter. Silkworms are better because they are a good source of calcium. If you feed crickets to baby bearded dragons, make sure the crickets are gut-loaded with calcium or they are dusted with calcium. The rest of the babies' diet will consist of fruits and vegetables. I feed my baby bearded dragons with crickets once each morning. I feed them as much as they can eat in 10-15 minutes, and then give them the same amount before they go to sleep. Greens are offered to the babies once a day. Anything left over greens are removed at the end of the day.
An adult bearded dragon's diet should be about 80% fruits and vegetables and 20% protein. I feed adults with crickets once a day (about 10 per dragon) and give them continual access to greens. Any prey should have a calcium supplement added. An important note, any prey item offered should be about the size between the individual dragons' eyes. Anything bigger could very well cause impaction.

Staple Fruits and Vegetables:
Alfalfa; cactus pad/leaf (raw) - very high in calcium; collard greens - very high in calcium; dandelion greens - high in calcium, high vitamin a, beware of pesticides in wild greens; endive - high in calcium but it should be mixed with other greens; endive - high in calcium; figs - high in calcium and fiber; mango - high in vitamin a; mustard greens - high in vitamin a, vitamin c; papaya - high in calcium, vitamin c; raspberries - a great source of calcium and fiber; any squash is good for the bearded dragons but my personal favorite is spaghetti squash - it's high in calcium and fiber; turnip greens - high vitamin c and vitamin a;

Occasional Treats:
Pinky mice and wax worms are high in fat. I feed my bearded dragons pinky mice and wax worms before the breeding season begins to ensure a healthy female. Clovers are a good treat because dragons seem to enjoy them but they have very little nutritional value. Bearded dragons also enjoy large cockroaches, for instance Trinidad death's-heads and Madagascar hissing cockroaches. One large cockroach can be fed instead of one cricket feeding session.

Fruits and Vegetables that bearded dragons should not eat:
Any lettuce - lettuce has very little nutrition and it has been known to cause diarrhea. Avocado - avocados are deadly to birds, it's toxicity for bearded dragons is as of yet unknown. Rhubarb - rhubarb is poisonous to bearded dragons, it has been known to kill them.

For more thorough information, visit - http://home.comcast.net/~holachapulin/Nutrition.html

Hydration:
Bearded dragons receive their water in the wild by licking dew off of plants in the morning. There are several ways you can duplicate this. First, which you should be doing anyway, you can wash off their fruits and vegetables before giving it to them, this way you can wash off anything on the food items that might be bad for them and you also provide them the necessary water. Secondly, you can mist the cage once a day. The bearded dragons will lick the water off the sides of the cage. Finally, which I do anyway because I found it to be a good idea, you can give the bearded dragons a bath every other day in lukewarm water about an inch deep. This does two things, first it washes off the bearded dragons and it also rehydrates them. Their baths should last roughly about half an hour. Bearded dragons do not drink out of water bowls because they are unable to recognize standing water. They may drink out of their baths because they see the water move when they move. As long as the bearded dragon has not gone to the bathroom in the water it should be OK