The Bearded Dragon Diet

Young bearded dragons need vegetable, fruit and insects for protein.  They are unable to eat meat.  Once the bearded dragon grows their diet will change.   Your bearded dragon needs a diet that is full of meats, fruit and vegetables.    In fact, they need more meat and some leafy green vegetables.  Add a small amount of fruit to their diet on a regular basis. 

Make sure you give the young bearded dragons 2 to 3 meals per day.   They need flies, small sized cockroaches, mosquitoes, wax worms, white meal worms , earth worms and crickets for their protein source.  Your adult bearded dragons eat small mice for protein.  Adult dragons require 2 meals per day.  Never feed your dragon lightning bugs or boxelders bugs; they will kill them instantly.

Use a spray bottle of water for the young dragon.  Just give them a misting of water.  Do not leave a water dish in their living space.  They do not require a lot of water. Some adult  bearded dragon learn to drink from a syringe or a hamster bottle.  They only need a cap full of water.

Adult bearded dragons need 20% fresh leafy vegetables in their diet.   They need nutrients from fresh greens like mustard, collards, turnips, chard, kale, escarole, spinach and bok choy.  They also can eat fresh broccoli, beets, peas, zucchini, sweet potato, carrots, mixed vegetables (frozen), okra and summer squash.  No canned vegetables, the preservatives can cause illness. 

Many of the vegetable are treated with pesticides to discourage bug consumption.  Fresh growing vegetables are also treated with fertilizer.  Be sure to wash all vegetable before serving them to your bearded dragon.

Bearded dragon also loves the sweet taste of fruit.  Cut all fruit into bite size so they can eat them.  They enjoy papaya, watermelon, apple, apricots, honeydew, cantaloupe, kiwi, dates, figs, grapes, peaches and strawberries.

Many pet food stores have bearded dragon food that is fortified with the correct amount of protein, fruit and vegetable blend.  This pet food will give your bearded dragon all of the nutrients it will need, no additional food will be necessary.