New to Dragons - Question About Feeding

[Sibelius]

I recently got an adult male bearded dragon, close to a year old. He's about 20 inches long.

I've been feeding him 3 nightcrawlers, 3 mealworms, and romaine lettuce daily. Sometimes, fruit, like watermelon, and other vegetables. He has a small water bowl and gets a daily misting.

Does that sound like I'm feeding him enough? I can't just go out and buy crickets everyday, so I can't just put in as much as he can eat for 15 minutes and then take the left overs out.

Also, I've been misting him with faucet water; bad idea, or should I get a gallon of spring water?

I wanna make sure I'm not abusing this guy.

 

[Reptilelady]

Hi,
Grats on your beardie. As far as food wise goes, your beardie should be consuming more greens/veggies/salads. Use fruit as a treat and sparingly (contains a lot of sugar). Note to your romaine lettuce: Bearded dragons can eat romaine lettuce, but it is not recommended because any type of lettuce has zero nutritional value for bearded dragons. Try offering some dandelion greens, mustard greens, collard greens are better choices. Check this website:
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

I would mist him with de-chlorinated water. Purified water works well. Or if you want to faucet water or tap water use with repti-safe water conditioner.

 

[Mysty]

As advised, its best to avoid all lettuce.

Collard greens, squash, mustard green, dandelion green are all healthy staples.

 

[Sibelius]

Thanks. I'll find better vegetables for him.

What about the 3 nightcrawlers and 3 mealworms a day, would that be under feeding? I'm not able to just give him dozens of insects a day.

 

[Reptilelady]

I dont think older beardies like around 1 years old is supposed to be eating a lot of insects per day.