My class has a pet bearded dragon. Her name is Venus. She never eats bugs... She eats salads and red pellet things I don't know what they are called. The only time she's had something live is when one person brought a cricket in from they're backyard. So I was wondering if a bearded dragon can be vegetarian?
Nope, she has to have 30+ crickets a day, and never EVER let a bearded dragon have wild caught crickets they can have parasites. Also those red pellets should be thrown away, those are never good staple diets for a young bearded dragon, and what kind of fruits and vegetables are in the salads that you give her? And can you take a picture of her enclosure and tell me what kind of lights you have for her
From baby to 14 months of age, they require 80% live bugs and, 20% veggies. I am going to guess that she is still small. Lives bugs provide the proper protein needed for good growth and, health.
After 14 months of age, the ratio switches to 80% veggies and, 20% bugs.
As the previous post said, NEVER feed wild caught bugs due to parasites and, possible herbicide or pesticed contamination.
This is exactly why I don't think they should be kept as classroom pets. People that don't know anything about them have no business caring for them. It takes a lot of research and, patients to properly care for a dragon.
She eats carrots, collard greens and celery. I cannot send pictures because it's in the school but the tank is 20 gallon she has a food dish and water dish with a log hide and a basking rock. Well she has a I've and uva light and basking light and a regular light to see her when the lights are off.
She eats carrots, collard greens and celery. I cannot send pictures because it's in the school but the tank is 20 gallon she has a food dish and water dish with a log hide and a basking rock. Well she has a I've and uva light and basking light and a regular light to see her when the lights are off.
It's good that she's eating some veges but I'd change it up a bit. Carrots and Celery aren't very good options as staples. This is a good list to reference for some ideas http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html. The more variety you can provide, the better.
I agree with the other posts about bugs. She will need live bugs at any age. Young dragons need LOTS of live bugs while older ones (1+ year) need less since their growth is much slower. It would be a good idea to set up a tank to hold crickets and keep them on hand (cheaper to order them in bulk). You could also start a dubia roach colony to have in the classroom too https://www.southtexasdragons.com/dubia-roaches.html You can also offer black soldier fly larvae and silk worms when you can get them. She will need a couple of bug meals per day if she's young.
Also, a 20 gallon is much too small to be her long-term enclosure, so it’s important that your teacher plans on upgrading her to a much larger tank as she grows. Since your teacher doesn’t know the first thing about what a young bearded dragon needs to eat, which is extremely basic and easy to acquire information, something tells me she also doesn’t have the proper UV lighting/basking temps. A picture of the setup would be helpful. At the very least, I suggest you show her this webpage so that she can check out the links other members just provided. And urging her to read the care sheets/what to buy guides would also be extremely beneficial.