When do the diets change?

[rattazzios]

My bearded dragon is about 15 months old now. When should her diet change from mostly carnivorous to mostly herbivorous? Right now she gets Phoenix Worms and Zilla food pellets and once a week she gets her greens. When should i start changing this?

 

[Taterbug]

Even young dragons should have access to greens daily. Give her more greens, and hopefully she will start eating them and you can cut back on the bugs.

Typically they shift the diet on their own around one year, give or take a few months. They can start slowing down the bugs around 8-9mo even.

 

[L27]

My beardie is about 8 months old now and she's started to really slow down on eating! I think she's grown tired of crickets too, can you suggest any other bugs to feed her besides crickets? One's that are okay for a 8 month old to eat of course!

 

[jarich]

Yes, totally agree with taterbug. A good variety of fresh greens should be offered daily no matter what age the dragon is. Each individual is a little different regarding when they switch over. Ive had some that didnt until after they were 2 years old, some that did while only a year. What they are being fed regarding live food also has an effect. A lot of fatty insects seem to make them take longer to switch over.

L27, there are many live prey available now for your dragon. Roaches are a common one as they are easy to breed and keep. That way you dont have to continually order and pay for them all the time (which can get expensive over the years). You can also get hornworms, isopods, phoenix worms (black soldier fly larvae), grasshoppers, silkworms, cicadas, some even eat earthworms. Make sure what you are feeding is well hydrated and fed before you give it to your dragon.

 

[L27]

Could I use any of those as her staple food? And if so, how many should I give her per day? She used to eat crickets like they were going out of style! Almost 100 a day when she was a few months old! Now she's about 8 months and it's like pulling teeth getting her to even consume 20 a day! I don't know if it's because she's naturally slowed down on her eating live prey or if it's because she's grown tired of the crickets! I was definitely thinking about roaches but I'm not sure what size to get for her!

 

[jarich]

Could I use any of those as her staple food? And if so, how many should I give her per day? She used to eat crickets like they were going out of style! Almost 100 a day when she was a few months old! Now she's about 8 months and it's like pulling teeth getting her to even consume 20 a day! I don't know if it's because she's naturally slowed down on her eating live prey or if it's because she's grown tired of the crickets! I was definitely thinking about roaches but I'm not sure what size to get for her!

I prefer not to talk about 'staple' foods. Dragons, like all lizards, require a good variety of foods. It allows the nutritional shortcomings of each item to be more easily overcome. So mix it up. Buy roaches one week, crickets the next, phoenix worm the next, hornworms the next, then rotate again. Offer as large a variety as possible. At 8 months old, she can eat pretty much any size roach. She is probably slowing down on her growing now too, so its not altogether surprising that she isnt eating as much. She will probably have times where she eats a lot, then others where its not so much. Is she eating 20 large crickets a day or are those small ones? Its good to keep in mind that dragons are ambush predators and as such are adapted to expending as little energy as possible. So when they start slowing down on their growing, their metabolism is really quite low. Make sure to provide a good mix of greens/vegetables each day, but there is no need to feed them live foods every day once they have hit their adult size.

 

[L27]

Yes I do provide her with veggies everyday. She has been a trooper with her veggies. I've had times in the past when she gobbles all her veggies down and some where she doesn't really touch them. That's a very good suggestion I didn't think of it that way! If I were to feed her roaches/worms one week how many should I feed? Should I treat them like crickets and let her eat as many as she will eat?

 

[jarich]

Yes I do provide her with veggies everyday. She has been a trooper with her veggies. I've had times in the past when she gobbles all her veggies down and some where she doesn't really touch them. That's a very good suggestion I didn't think of it that way! If I were to feed her roaches/worms one week how many should I feed? Should I treat them like crickets and let her eat as many as she will eat?

Yep, same thing really. And remember to always gut load your insects prior to feeding. Roaches and crickets are both very simple to do that with as they eat pretty much everything. Its best to give them what you give your dragon for veggies. This will make them as nutritious and hydrating as they can be, and fix some of the nutritional shortcomings they have.

 

[L27]

Yes I do I feed them both mustard greens and collard greens! Thank you for your help! I really appreciate it!!

 

[Tonja]

At approximately 1 yr old is when you start to change their diets to 80% veggie and 20% protein. They will not always do this on their own. They should get no more than 50 live prey per week and the rest veggie. Calcium can be reduced to 3 x per week and vitamins 2 x per week so dusting is not necessary every day for calcium. Staple foods usually are those that are safe to feed everyday which does not include kale or spinach as they bind calcium, those two are high in oxalates.