feeding and weight oof eight month old bearded dragon should

[BrandySantana]

Our first dragon died from impaction. Our beardie now is eight months old. What us the maximum number of crickets or meal worms can i offerti my beardie each feeding and ho w Manyrl times a day should they eat this without overeating?

 

[ChristieD]

With dragons, you should never have to worry about over feeding. They will stop eating when they are done. However, a key rule to keep in mind to prevent impaction is never feed anything larger than the width of their head/ space between their eyes. They will attempt to eat things larger than their head if allowed. It's almost like choking. My beardie eats a variety of things but most I've heard with a young one (I believe mine to be about 7-8 months as well) 80% insects/worms. And 20% vegetables. Mine absolutely loves kale.

 

[RobertD]

To go along with what ChristieD said, make sure you are not using substrate/sand in the cage. Those can lead to impaction, especially in babies.

 

[Loz333]

I would stay away from mealworms their chitin is hard for beardies to digest and is known to cause impaction.

 

[Sauzo]

Mealworms have next to no nutritional value and a lot of chitin. As a rule of thumb, no mealworms till your dragon is 16+ inches long. From what I have heard, this is because small/young dragons have a kink in their intestine which doesn't "open" up till they get longer/bigger so they have a much higher chance of impaction. Try stuff like dubia roaches, hornworms, butterworms, silkworms, black soldier fly larva and my least favorite, crickets. A good staple veggie is collard greens too. It is very high in calcium and if you dust it with a little calcium, you got beardie superfood.