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Bearded Dragon Diet Nutritional Information

DennisGart

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
3
Hi guys. I'm new here. I really neeed your help. I do not have a beardie myself even tho I want it so much. I am currently studying Animal Management and I am undertaking investigative project in which I need to investigate the nutritional value of feeding stuffs for a bearded dragons. I need some information on diets , feeding stuffs, what to prevent , feeding patterns and behaviours but also their requirements. I know there is many info on websites etc , I have used many the problem is I need some data of people, just like you , people who deal with them every day. I would be very very very greatful if you could help me in order to progress with my project and avoid failing it at the end.
Kind Regards
Dennis
 

Noella

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
2,802
Location
Georgia
Hi guys. I'm new here. I really neeed your help. I do not have a beardie myself even tho I want it so much. I am currently studying Animal Management and I am undertaking investigative project in which I need to investigate the nutritional value of feeding stuffs for a bearded dragons. I need some information on diets , feeding stuffs, what to prevent , feeding patterns and behaviours but also their requirements. I know there is many info on websites etc , I have used many the problem is I need some data of people, just like you , people who deal with them every day. I would be very very very greatful if you could help me in order to progress with my project and avoid failing it at the end.
Kind Regards
Dennis

Hi, Dennis.

Meet Allie on the left. To get her wonderful color, this is her requirements:

I've got a year and a half old female who'll eat twice a day morning and evening. She'll have her daily salad of turnip greens, sprinkle of calcium powder without D3, and an hour later 8-10 crickets each morning. She has no interest in crickets in the evening anymore. She doesn't like collards and mustard greens much, but I do try to vary her diet from time to time. Sometimes as a treat, an occasional superworm, banana slivers, strawberries, or a blackberry sliver, and sometimes baby food squash.

Her dosing supplements and schedules are:

Calcium without D3: Monday-Thursday, dusting of her salad
Calcium with D3: Friday, dusting of her salad
Herptivite Vitamins : Saturday and Sunday dusting her salad

The calcium helps prevent Metabolic Bone Disease-a disease that affects the bones and is deadly. It's not reversible, but with a vet's care and liquid calcium, you can stop it from occurring.

Calcium with D3 helps with calcium absorption.

Herptivite Vitamins helps give all dragons the missing vitamins they don't obtain from regular feeding. They're always missing something from their diets. My dragon gets all these supplements to prevent MBD and to keep her healthy. A healthy, happy dragon produces wonderful colors.

The foods or feeders she doesn't eat are as follows:

Spinach (Binds the calcium and prevents absorption)
Swiss Chard (Unknown. I use a guide that shows it's dangerous)
Romaine Lettuce (Causes runny stools)
Iceberg Lettuce (Same As Above)
Green Leaf Lettuce (Same As Above)
Red Leaf Lettuce (Same as Above)
Broccolli (Unknown)
Wild Caught-Grasshoppers (Deadly Pesticides, Parasites)
Lightening Bugs (Highly Potentially Fatal Deadly)
Ants
Outside Dandelions, Clover (Wild animals and dogs roam the area.) I've got three dogs. (Pesticides)
Milk-based yogurts (Not able to digest milk products and I don't give her yogurts.)
Endive (She didn't like this green very much.)
Escarole (I haven't tried her on this green yet.)

Other foods I do feed:
Mustard Greens (If in season)
Collard Greens
Dandelion Greens (Store brought only and if in season. I actually go to another state to go get these. It's once in a blue moon though.)
Butternut squash, summer squash (Frozen mashed or diced in a bag.)
Shredded red or green cabbage
Red Seedless Grapes
Seedless Strawberries (I trim the seeds off)
Blackberries
Blueberries
Celery Leaves
Carrot (Once in a blue moon.)
Celery Stalk (Finely chopped.)
Turkey (Once a year, Thanksgiving only)

Her behavior consists of mainly basking for about 12 hours with an hour break for exercise.
 

Germ

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
4,493
Location
North America
Feeding/Supplements: Bearded dragons are omnivorous and must be fed a diet consisting of both vegetation and live prey. Vegetables and greens should be offered daily and a wide variety of acceptable veg/greens is the best approach. There are several websites available that provide very helpful suggestions and information on preferred veg/greens based on their acceptability and nutritional content. An excellent and non biased place to start for this information is Veronica Reilly’s "Nutrition Content” page Here.

Staple prey items generally consist of crickets & roaches. Silkworms & Phoenix worms are a good frequent feeder, while insects such as waxworms, butterworms, mealworms, and superworms are considered "occasional" feeders. “Dusting” with appropriate calcium and vitamin supplements is a necessity to maintain good health. Dusting is a process that refers to lightly coating greens or live prey with supplements to ensure all of the additional requirements for proper growth and development are met. It is simplest to sprinkle the supplements into a plastic freezer bag that contains the prey and gently shaking until coated. Only dust live prey or greens, depending on the age of the dragon, but it is not necessary to dust both. Live prey should be “gut loaded” prior to feeding, this means your feeders are fed properly to ensure they have an acceptable nutritional value for your dragon. Live prey should be offered in a size that is relative to your dragon. A common suggestion is that prey should be no bigger than the space between your dragon’s eyes.

SandysFirstAdultDiscoid.jpg

General feeding/supplementation schedule:
For hatchlings and young juveniles (up to 2 months): Fresh greens/veg. 1-2 times daily - Live prey 2-3 times per day
Dusted: All Live Prey five days per week with phosphorus free calcium – one day per week calcium with D3 - One day per week with a vitamin supplement such as Reptivite or Herptivite.

For juveniles and sub-adults (2 months to sexual maturity): Fresh greens/veg 1-2 times daily - Live prey 1-2 times per day
Dusted: All Live Prey five days per week with phosphorus free calcium – One day per week with calcium with D3 - One day per week with a vitamin supplement such as Reptivite or Herptivite.

For adults (generally 1+ year): Fresh greens/veg 1- 2 times daily - Live prey every 2-3 days.
Dusted: Live Prey every other feeding with phosphorus free calcium - Twice per month with calcium with D3 - One day per week with a vitamin supplement such as Reptivite or Herptivite.

As there are different circumstances that may arise, this schedule is recommended only as a general guide and may be altered to accommodate individual situations. Using a tracking method of when you dust prevents unnecessary use of product and more importantly, potential harm to your dragon! With proper and effective UVB lighting, supplementation with vitamin D3 is not imperative but should be provided in small amounts. Excessive levels of oral vitamin D3 can potentially lead to the excessive absorption and utilization of calcium and/or toxicity as can the excessive use of supplements containing high levels of vitamin A. Over use of any supplement can have the potential to cause serious health problems, stick to an appropriate supplementation schedule.

Read More: http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/index.php?threads/basic-bd-care-sheet-a-place-to-start.5177/
 

DennisGart

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
3
Guys THANK YOU !! you absolutely cant imagine how much you have helped me and to be honest after doing all this research and now having your information i am almost done with my project. found out so many things about beardies i love them and i want one of them shame my mum dnt let me -_- sooon im movin out tho and deffo getting one.
Thanks again !! you're awesomeeeee
 

2pops

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
16
Location
Los Angeles, CA
I think this list is great. I shop for all of the green colored veggies. Then, I chop 'em up into little bits for her. Try to give her something leafy, something crunchy (like squash), and something sweet (strawberry or banana), but very little of the sweet stuff and not every day. :)
 

maxxdout

Juvenile Dragon
3 Year Member
Messages
231
I am a little conflicted as to what I should dusting with for vitamins. How often should I use my calcium w/d3, regular calcium, and multi vits. Just curious what everyone else is doing. Getting a lot of different answers. Need feedback asap :)
 

RaceDiva

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
33
Saw mention of kelp. Does anyone know if dragons can eat Nori that seaweed used to wrap sushi rolls in as well?
 

RaceDiva

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
33
What are other good alternate protein sources?? Scotty stopped eating crickets (why?), doesn't always digest the superworms and wax and phoenix worms a bit fatty. Are there any good veggie sources? Other insects? Before anyone suggests these, afraid not nearly enough $$$ to tempt me to touch roaches :( - for me, total freakout. What about one of those all-natural fresh pet foods?
 

PatsyB

Super Moderator
Staff member
1,000+ Post Club
Beardie Club
Messages
9,390
Location
Chicago
What are other good alternate protein sources?? Scotty stopped eating crickets (why?), doesn't always digest the superworms and wax and phoenix worms a bit fatty. Are there any good veggie sources? Other insects? Before anyone suggests these, afraid not nearly enough $$$ to tempt me to touch roaches :( - for me, total freakout. What about one of those all-natural fresh pet foods?

I don't like roaches either! They totally creep me out and my dragons really didn't care for them (yay me). Your Scotty probably got bored with crickets. Mine have been off crickets for months now. Every now and then I try to reintroduce them(I still buy them for my frogs) and I get the infamous nose up, eyes closed. Right now we are on super worms and hornworms. Out of the two the hornworm is the favorite. They both go nuts for them. I will put them in a bowl to tong feed to Luci and as soon as I open his tank he jumps out into the bowl, LOL! Hornworms are something like 68% protein and like 20% fat or something like that. They are also high in calcium.
 

RaceDiva

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
33
I don't like roaches either! They totally creep me out and my dragons really didn't care for them (yay me). Your Scotty probably got bored with crickets. Mine have been off crickets for months now. Every now and then I try to reintroduce them(I still buy them for my frogs) and I get the infamous nose up, eyes closed. Right now we are on super worms and hornworms. Out of the two the hornworm is the favorite. They both go nuts for them. I will put them in a bowl to tong feed to Luci and as soon as I open his tank he jumps out into the bowl, LOL! Hornworms are something like 68% protein and like 20% fat or something like that. They are also high in calcium.
Hi Patsy, where would I find hornworms (he's 16" long so I think he's big enough), how do I care for them? Do Ihave to behead them like the superworms so they won't hurt him?
 
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