I've heard that....

[XxReptileGrlxX]

Beardies only eat greens once they are older.... is this true? I wouldn't think that they could go without a protein source... So.... do they go vegetarian?

 

[pcircle85]

You should offer them greens as a baby, they're less likely to eat them and need to be enticed to do so. They should eat their veggies for the span of their life. But just as human kids say "No, I don't wanna!" to eating veggies, so do beardies. As they get older they'll eat less crickets and more greens, but they still need crickets!

 

[Grixxly15]

Bearded dragon's still need a source of protein when they are adults. Assuming you are feeding crickets your bearded dragon will need 40-60 a week versus that many in a day with a baby bearded dragon. Of course as you move up in the quality of feeders (such as hornworms, silkworms, and dubia) They won't have to eat as much to get their fill of protien.

 

[ddma]

They're like kids, don't eat thier veggies or greens alot when they're younger but as they get older they will eat them,more so than crickets. even if they are young and don't eat them, offer them anyway, i have 2 - 4 month old dragons and one 2 month old. i got the 2 older ones when they were 6 weeks old, didn't eat much of thier greens, but now they pretty much devour them, my 2 month old, doesn't eat them very much at this point , but i still offer them every day. i give them thier greens in the morning and feed them crickts in the afternoon and evening. i replenish thier greens later in the afternoon.

 

[XxReptileGrlxX]

Ah okay thanks. I know that they don't like to eat greens when they're little, but I don't have to worry about that because both of my beardies love greens and crickets. It's just that I just wanted to know if they could go with ONLY greens when they're adults and no crickets, but thanks for clarifying that.

 

[ddma]

i'm really not at the adult stage yet, but from what i've read and heard, when they get to be adults they need to eat more greens than protein (crix, worms) i heard some people feed crix only 3 to 4 times a week when they're adults. personally , i will feed my beardies every day no matter how old they are.

 

[vicster821]

I read that as adults you should reduce the protein feeding to about 25% of its diet, but as babies it's definitely higher, like 75-90%. So in order to placate the adult, you'll need to start feeding it much more veggies.

For juvies though, should it be 50-50%? I wouldn't think going cold turkey one day is a good idea, lol.

 

[ddma]

i think that naturally ,maybe as they get older they'll eat less. my beardies devour thier greens, i just up thier serving of salad little by little . when it's feeding time with crickets they don't eat as many because they are filling up on salad.

 

[XxReptileGrlxX]

Yeah about the protein... So it's definitely not okay just to only feed them greens? They have to have a protein source? My sister wants to put her beardies on only greens and I don't want her beardies to suffer.

 

[ddma]

yes they definately need some kind of protein

 

[diamc]

Adults do need the protein and can have 50 small feeders (like crickets) or about 30 to 35 large feeders (like hornworms, supers, etc) per wk. If they don't get protein in their diets, they will start losing weight, please let your sister know that.

 

[XxReptileGrlxX]

Okay, thanks for letting me know!! I will let her know right away!!