Bearded dragons are commonly fed crickets to get their essential protein, calcium, and iron up to three times each day. The quantity can vary depending on the age of your bearded dragon, though. While younger specimens require more protein in their diets for development, older beardies might need crickets much less.
Crickets are often the primary source of protein for bearded dragons. They are relatively easy to feed, and they enjoy nutritious greens, which will allow your pet lizard to have a healthy meal.
Crickets are also easily purchased, and feeding them to your pets is a snap, so it’s no wonder owners want to know how many crickets to feed a bearded dragon?
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How Many Crickets To Feed A Baby Bearded Dragon?
A baby bearded dragon is a specimen up to three months of age. Baby bearded dragons have high protein requirements since they are growing rapidly. Baby dragons will need to be fed crickets several times a day. In some cases, they might need anywhere from 20-to 80 crickets spread out in various feedings.
Your pet beardies should be eating as many crickets (or other protein sources) as they can in a day at this young age. Remember that you’ll need to have a steady supply of crickets to keep up with the feeding schedule.
Every feeding session might take up to 15 minutes in some cases. Remember that it is essential not to force-feed your bearded dragon. They should eat as much as they are willing to eat. It is rather complicated for a bearded dragon to overeat, so forcing them can be counterproductive, and you might be putting them off the crickets by doing so.
It would be best if you also considered removing any crickets that have not been eaten from the bearded dragon enclosure. Crickets bite, and they can attack and even injure a young bearded dragon.
The size of the cricket also matters. While a bearded baby dragon might eat more crickets than an adult, the size of the cricket is also relatively small. You should be looking for something like pinhead crickets to feed a young bearded dragon; most pet stores will have these available for purchase. If you give them a fully grown cricket, the lizard might not want to eat it as it might seem too big for them to swallow.
Another thing to remember is never to feed your bearded dragon a dead cricket, it might have some disease that could be passed to your pet via consumption. This also applies to wild crickets. A wild cricket, or any other wild insect, might have parasites in its gut that can be passed to your bearded dragon.
Feeding a baby bearded dragon crickets can be easy. You can use small tongs with rubber tips, or if you aren’t squeamish, you can grab the crickets with your hands. However, I’m not a big fan of holding crickets because they tend to jump around a lot and, in some instances, can bite you. You can also leave a couple of small crickets in the enclosure to help baby dragons learn to hunt for their food.
Since baby bearded dragons tend not to eat leafy greens, you should try to feed the greens to your crickets instead. Then, your bearded dragons will consume the necessary vitamins and minerals leafy greens have through the guts of the crickets. It is also advised to sprinkle calcium powder on the crickets themselves.
After a bearded dragon passes the three-month threshold, they are considered juvenile until the 12-month mark. Juveniles will eat less than a bearded baby dragon but still more than an adult specimen. For example, a juvenile might consume anywhere from 20 to 60 crickets over three feedings in a single day. At this age, your bearded dragon will also require leafy greens in the diet to keep everything balanced.
How Many Crickets To Feed An Adult Bearded Dragon?
A bearded dragon is considered an adult once it reaches 12 months. Although once they are adults, a bearded dragon will eat fewer crickets than babies or juveniles, their consumption of leafy greens will also increase. The greens in the dragon’s diet are there for vitamins and minerals and provide a balance to the high protein and fat that comes with eating crickets.
When you feed crickets to your adult bearded dragon, you can do so with the rubber tongs mentioned, or you can just let a few of them loose in the enclosure. By the time the bearded dragon is an adult, it will want to hunt down its food. It is also healthy for them since hunting allows them to use their instincts and keeps them entertained.
Be careful, though, and only add a few crickets at a time; too many crickets all at once can stress out your dragon. Instead, owners can feed their dragons a few crickets with tongs and leave a few out in the enclosure. The entire feeding session should take around 15 to 20 minutes to complete. Adult bearded dragons eat 10-20 crickets per day and leafy greens as part of a balanced diet in two 15-minute sessions.
Medium-sized crickets are best for adult bearded dragons; the crickets are big enough to be a meal but still have relatively soft exoskeletons. Anything larger might be complicated for adult dragons to eat. Larger crickets also have harder exoskeletons that can stick to the back of the bearded dragon’s throat. When you head to the pet store remember to ask for medium-sized crickets, they should be anywhere from three to three and a half weeks old.
How Many Crickets To Feed A Pregnant Bearded Dragon?
Bearded dragons are old enough to breed, between 18 to 24 months of age. When a bearded dragon is pregnant, it is essential for the female with plenty of protein and calcium; this means she should eat as many crickets as she wants. Therefore, the pregnant specimen will require much more food than usual until she finishes laying her eggs.
Is It Important To Feed Live Crickets?
Feeding your bearded dragon live crickets (or other live protein) is extremely important. Feeding them a dead cricket can make your bearded dragon very ill. The cricket might already be decomposing or have parasites, which is enough to kill a bearded dragon.
Live crickets are also a source of entertainment for your beardie. A live cricket will walk and jump around the enclosure; this makes the bearded dragon hunt the cricket before consuming it. A bearded dragon stalks by looking for movement, so stationary or “dead” prey is not something they might want to hunt or consume. If they can’t detect it they might not want to eat it.
Keeping Your Own Crickets To Feed Your Bearded Dragon
It can be a good idea to have your cricket population, this might be cheaper in the long run, and you’ll always have access to parasite-free crickets. However, you’ll need three different containers to keep your own cricket population successfully.
You’ll need one container for breeder crickets, these should be the fully grown kind that you would not feed to your dragon because they are too big and…crunchy.
The second container is to be used to incubate the cricket eggs. These need to be separated from the first fed container because adult crickets might eat the eggs. Crickets have no issues with cannibalism, by the way. The third container is for the young crickets that hatch. In this container, they’ll be able to feed and grow to the required size.
Crickets make a lot of noise and can have a particular smell when the population becomes large enough, so breeding your crickets is not for everyone.
If you prefer to buy your crickets, remember to have a week’s worth of crickets and renew your supply.
Are Crickets An Important Part Of A Bearded Dragon’s Diet?
Bearded dragons are attracted to movement; they would hunt mostly by eyesight in the wild. Bearded dragons would typically go after cockroaches, crickets, and other quick-moving insects. Hence they are attracted to movement and want to chase their meals around.
In a controlled environment like a Bearded dragon enclosure releasing a couple of crickets will allow them to fine-tune their senses before a satisfying meal. It also provides the necessary exercise and stimulation for a healthy and balanced bearded dragon.
Crickets are also crucial to bearded dragons because they can provide an efficient source of protein and other vital nutrients essential for the growing and maintenance stages.
Crickets are also an inexpensive source of readily available protein. You can buy a few or buy enough for a couple of weeks. Crickets are also relatively easy to keep and feed to your bearded dragons.
