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Fact
Files & Care Sheets |
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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.
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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;
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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.
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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.
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For
more thorough information, visit - http://home.comcast.net/~holachapulin/Nutrition.html
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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
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