Bearded Dragon care and feeding?

I was given a large bearded dragon: he's 19" and maybe a pound or so in weight. Seems to be in great condition, skin perfect, fat tail base, enthusiastic eater and active. I'm a little daunted by feeding him. What worms/bugs are best and how much food does he need per day? Where should I buy these online to ensure he's getting high quality (I've ordered some from a place called Mulberry Farms)? What kind of greens and houseplants are safe and which dangerous? Does he need a heat lamp at night as well as during the day? I plan to change his sun lamp bulb every six months. How often do they shed? Any other information I haven't thought to ask about is much appreciated!

Bearded Dragon care and feeding?
Dont be to daunted by feeding him, if he's 19 inches he's probably 10-12 months old. Beardies are great pets and hardy little beasts :D





At that size you can feed large crickets, roaches, and a wide variety of worms. Super Worms, Horn Worms, Silk Worms, Phoenix Worms, Wax Worms could all be used. Super's and Horn (Tomatoe worms most call em, big green guys) are great sizes for a full grown dragon, if you want you can break off the horn on the horn worm if you are worried about it. Despite the urban legend, a super worm can NOT chew it's way through your beardies stomach, it's a myth. Phoenix worms I wouldnt suggest as a staple, they are pretty small and can be quite expensive. Silks are a little bigger but require a lot of maintence and are prone to dieing if not taken care of properly. Not to mention they require a specilized diet. Roaches you can use are dubia's, orange heads, lobster's and a variety of others, most people suggest just buying a breeder colony and breeding your own.. Large brown crickets are cheap and easy to find. Adults probably only need to be fed live feeders once a day, the amount depends on the feeder. Adult dragons diets are 80% greens 20% bugs.





Feed dark green's, endive/escarole, collard, mustard, dandellion etc, mixed with squash and some other choices. Leave the salad in the tank, offer it all day.





Mulberry farms can be good, I havent heard many negative things about them. There's tons of online sites to buy from. I just buy my feeder's and plan on breeding roaches come summer.





At the bottom of the page I have linked inr efrences it list house plants and greens that are safe to have in the tank or feed the dragon.





You only need a heat lamp during the day, as long as your ambient temps dont drop below 65 at night you are fine. If they drop lower then that look into ceramic heat emitters. Basking point temp should be 105-110 surface temperature, 85 ambient on the warm side, and 75 ambient ont he cool side. Make sure your light puts out adequate levels of UVB, or use a UVB flourescent bulb, reptiglo 8.0 and reptisun 10.0 are good choices. Only the UVB bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months, if it's just a heat bulb it's not neccesary.





How often they shed depends on how fast they are growing, so theres no definite answer for that.





Make sure you have a 40 gallon breeder tank or larger! A few climbing area's and stuff will be good as well :) If you want to use a particle substrate go with sifted play sand. Calci-sand is well known for causing impactions and killing dragons. That and a 50 lb bag of playsand is 2 bucks where a 10 lb bag of calci sand is like 10-15 bucks, rip-off! :D You can also use non-particle susbtrates, repticarpet, slate tile, paper towel, non-adhesive shelf liner.





Good luck with the dragon!
Reply:I really suggest looking up a caresheet.





Feed him crickets a few times a week and veggies like Squash, peas, mustard greens, dandelion greens, bell peppers, collard greens every day. As long as your house is kept at a comfortable room temp. at night..no need for a heat light at night at all. You can also just go with Bearded dragon pellets instead of live food as well.
Reply:Congrats on your new friend. Beadred Dragons can make friendly wonderful pets.





He should be eating crickets as his main insect food, also can be supplemented with meal worms, silk worms and wax worms (these should all be fed to him live). You can get these at any pet store. The rule with beadies is that you should give them the amount of insects they will eat in 10 minutes. This will very according to your beardie but he will probably eat 20 crickets a day maybe a little more.





The older a beardie gets the more veggies they will eat. The best veggies to give him are kale, mustard greens and collard greens. Do not feed him lettuce as it has no nutritional value.





They also enjoy a piece of fruit now and then for a treat.





Your beardie should have a 10.0 uvb bulb on during the day and a heat lamp during the day. The day temerature should be around 90°f and drop at night to around 75°.





Make sure one half of his tank is cooler with water he can soak in to regulate his temperature.





How often they shed depends on how quickly the grow. Every couple of moths is about right, but it will depend on your beardie.





email me if you have mroe questions
Reply:I feed mine crickets. He definitly needs heat. Don't use heated rocks...they can cause burns. Sub-adult to adult Beardies only need to eat prey items once a day along with fresh greens. Once they are this age you can also offer them Locusts, Cockroaches, Mealworms, Waxworms, Zophobas worms, Silkworms, Butterworms, Red worms, Earthworms and just about any other worm available. All these should be used as treats though with crickets and greens being the stable part of your Dragons diet. DO NOT feed your Beardie insects that you have caught in your backyard.





There is a wide variety of greens that are available that are good for your Beardie. Dandelion greens, Collard greens, Mustard greens, Bok choy, Kale, Turnip greens, Escarole and Chicory are among the easiest to find and the best to use. If the greens you are wondering about say Lettuce anywhere in the name avoid them. Most types of lettuce are composed mostly of water and hold little or no nutritional value.
Reply:Bearded dragons are omnivores, so they need both animal and veggies in their diets.





Some veggies I recommend for your beardie would be turnip, romaine, dandelion, endive, escarole, mustard, and collard, green beans, squash, peas, sweet potato, and cilantro.





Animals/bugs you can feed your beardie would be crickets, mealworms, wax worms, silkworms, superworms, and maybe a pinkie mouse from time to time.





You can also offer your beardie some fruits including blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, mango, kiwi, and grapes. But only offer them these 1 -2 times a week because too much can cause diarrhea.





You can also provide your beardie with a vitamin/mineral powder supplement 1 to 2 times a week, just to ensure they are getting the right amount of vitamins they need.





Your beardie does need heat, as he is a desert animal. He should have a basking area that reaches about 100 to 105 degrees F. Day time temps in his tank should be about 80 to 85 degrees F, and night time temps should be about 68 to 75 degrees F.
Reply:here is a good list of common house plants that if your big guy or any kids eat they will be just fine. all other info given in earlier answers is nothing short of great info. you will learn to love your beardie in my opinion they are by far the best lizard or dragon you can get.
Reply:Hey, I have a bearded dragon as well. I named him Godzilla and I have had him since he was a small baby. He is about 9 months old now and including tail he is about 16 inches. He is very healthy and green yellow in color.





Sometimes Bearded Dragons can be very difficult to feed. Firstly I would ask the person who you got it from what he was feeding it, because from experience I know that these reptiles don't like change much. If you can't get back in touch with the previous owners then here are a list of things I feed my Beared Dragon and I list of things I wish I had started feeding him earlier because now he wont touch them.





Give him some fresh crickets and make sure to shake them in calcium powder. I use Dragon Dust by T-rex. I also feed him wax worms and meal worms. Be careful whom you by these from because I always find that if I don't open up the container and check the worms before I go home that the container will have about 20 alive worms and 30 stink dead ones. He also likes mango, banana, papaya, carrots and strawberries. You can also give him specially designed dry food for bearded dragons like "Exo terra dragon adult food". If he is still not eating then try using a stimulant to entice his appetite, they sell flavor sprays and also bite sized soft moist food (nature zone).





Things that he should eat but my Dragon doesn't because he never got use to it are: thawed frozen peas, french cut beans, red leaf mustard, kale leaf, summer yellow squash, collard greens, dandelion greens (leaves and flowers) and hibiscus blooms and other non toxic flowers as an occasional treat. When they are adults some people feed them pinky mice, but I would never do that.





Care is relatively easy. Make sure you have the appropriate size tank. Bearded dragons need at least a 40 gallon tank for adults. If not they will not grow well and will not eat either. Make sure to provide him with enough natural sun light or sun from a over head bulb. I do not recommend a hot rock for he will sit on it all day and it could burn through his skin without him or you knowing. Also provide him with a log that he can lie on top of or go inside it to get shade when he wants to sleep etc. About 12 hours of sunlight is good enough. They love it.





Make sure you buy him sand if you have him in a tank. It comes in assorted colors. A nice back ground is good also. Godzilla likes to try to jump on the fake plants. Get a good water and food dish. Provide lots of water. I give mines bottle water to avoid tap water, but they also sell things that will make the tap water safe.





Also if you can, take him out of the tank once in a while and let him roam freely. If he has already poop for the day, chances are he won't again. Get a poop scoop, definitely recommend and maybe a spray bottle to wash him off. Although I just wet mines in the sink, to give him a nice cleaning. Godzilla like to walk all of my floor and carpet and climb up on my chairs and jump to the next chair. Very fun to watch. Also watch those sharp nails.





Have fun with you new addition. They are very special and a great pet. Hope I haven't forgotten anything but if I have check out the book I listed in the source list.
Reply:Do you live in Scotland?