There are more than 6,500 species of lizards worldwide that have been discovered so far. One of the most well-known lizard species is the bearded dragon. Bearded dragons are beautiful creatures and they make great pets as well.
But when you get a bearded dragon as a pet, you might be wondering how you should take care of it and, more importantly, what you should feed it. Keep reading and learn more about what you should feed your lizard pet and how often you should feed it.
What Should You Feed Your Bearded Dragon?
Bearded dragons are relatively large for lizards, and for that reason, you will need to feed your pet a good amount if you want it to remain healthy. When feeding your bearded dragon, you will need to keep in mind not only how often you feed it but also what you feed it. While this type of reptile can eat a variety of things, its diet mainly consists of different insects.
For example, this lizard can eat everything from silkworms and moths to slugs and spiders and beyond. Of course, this doesn't mean that you should stuff your lizard with all these different insects all the time. Instead, it is best to give your lizard a very balanced and nutritious diet.
That way, your bearded dragon will be as healthy as possible. One of the best things you can feed your bearded dragon is Dubia roaches. These roaches are unique because they are relatively small.
Most of them are about the size of a dime or even smaller, although they may occasionally grow to be slightly larger. Whatever the case, these roaches are specifically grown to be filled with plenty of nutrition for bearded dragons (and other reptile pets) to eat. These roaches are some of the best meals you can give to your bearded dragon since they are so balanced and healthy.
The Details
No matter how healthy these roaches are, you should never only feed your lizard one thing. Every pet needs a healthy variety of different foods. For bearded dragons, you can consider providing grasshoppers that have been fed beforehand.
That way, when the lizard eats the grasshopper, all the nutrients in the insect will be passed onto your lizard. For an extra boost of nutrition, you can consider giving your lizard crickets that have been covered in calcium powder. The extra calcium will help keep your lizard strong and healthy.
For an occasional snack, you can even give your lizard wax worms. The reason why you shouldn't provide these worms all the time is that they are quite fatty and eating too many of them can make your lizard unhealthy. There are also some vitamin and mineral supplements that you can give your bearded dragon on occasion, but they are usually not necessary as long as you provide a varied yet balanced diet for your lizard.
Overall, despite all these other meal options, Dubia roaches should still be the foundation of your bearded dragon's diet. But how many roaches should you give your lizard?
How Many Dubia Roaches Do You Need?
The number of roaches you feed to your lizard will greatly depend on the age and size of your lizard. For example, if you're dealing with a baby bearded dragon, then you will need to feed your lizard quite a lot. This is because baby bearded dragons grow very quickly and they need plenty of nutrition to make sure they grow to their proper size.
For that reason, you'll want to have a lot of Dubia roaches on hand for your baby lizard. Ideally, you should feed your lizard 25 to 50 roaches every day. This may sound like a lot, but keep in mind that you shouldn't give your lizard all of these roaches at one time.
Instead, you should split up these roaches throughout the day. That way, your lizard will better be able to digest the roaches in a healthy manner. Besides that, you should also make sure that you feed your baby bearded dragon roaches that are the right size.
What You Need to Know
If the roaches are too large, it will be difficult for the lizard to eat them. You can use the space between the lizard's eyes as a way to measure how small the roaches should be. As long as the roaches you use are smaller than the space between the lizard's eyes, you can give them to your lizard safely.
As your lizard gets older and larger, you won't need to feed it as much. That's because the lizard won't be growing as fast as it used to and its metabolism has slowed down. Besides that, you can give adult bearded dragons larger roaches so that they won't have to eat as many throughout the day.
Ideally, an adult bearded dragon should eat around 5 relatively large Dubia roaches throughout the day. Again, be sure to spread out these roaches rather than giving them to your lizard all at once. This will help your lizard's digestion and make sure that the lizard stays full throughout the day.
All About Feeding Your Bearded Dragon
Taking care of a bearded dragon doesn't have to be hard as long as you know how much to feed one. Dubia roaches are the foundation of a bearded dragon's diet and they are one of the most nutritious things you can give your lizard.
To get some of these roaches for yourself, click here.