Diet: Snacks and Worse...
As omnivores they'll eat just about everything, but not everything is good
for them.
Never feed your dragon anything larger than the space between it's eyes.
I've broken the rule a few times with older dragons, but not by much. Any
non-leafy vegi, and fruits, should be shredded. Insects and other prey should
stick as close to this rule as possible for adults, and always for babies.
Here's an example of what I'm talking about...
(feeding size pic)
Fireflies are bad, very toxic. Most animals on the North
American continent know not to eat them, but Bearded Dragons do not.
Spinach is not on the "good" list, even
though you think it would be: "It contains a large amount of oxalic
acid, which binds with calcium, rendering the calcium unusable by the animal.
Over time, this causes metabolic bone
disease, with the body reabsorbing calcium from the bones to use for normal
metabolic and cellular processes. Most of the dark greens contain oxalic acid
but spinach contains the most. The high amount of oxalic acid may also cause
gout over a period of time..." Quoted
from one of my Sources.
Iceberg lettuce is not good for them, it contains no nutrients
but stll takes energy to break down.
Mice, other rodents, and their young, are very fatty
and can lead to health problems. More and more bearded dragon owners seem
to be leaning away from giving pinkies (the very young baby mice) to their
dragons. They can be given as an extremely rare treat, like one for a gravid
female dragon, but it is not nessicary. I believe it's better to feed lean
meats, like crickets, and avoid the health problems like fatty
liver disease. I say, if you really want to give your dragon pinkies,
only do it about once or twice in their lifetime. It's true that in the wild
dragons my eat rodents, but this fat is stored up for lean times. You should
never starve your lizard but, basically, that's the only way for them to get
rid of the stores. Imagine if you ate a lot of bacon and butter but couldn't
get the grease out of your arteries.
Waxworms aren't too bad, but they should
also just be given as a treat, not a staple. I hear they're fairly fatty and
low in other nutritional requirements.
Mealworms have almost no nutritional value
and a very hard shell. Your dragon really isn't going to get much out of eating
these, I've heard it said that a diet of these is like a diet of cardboard.
Gut loading them basically makes them like a hard to digest vitamin. Really,
they're not worth the money.
Pellet Foods: The ones I have seen contain
a lot of cereal, fillers, and dyes; not really the best thing to feed your
dragon as a staple of their diet. I do keep some around in case the pet store
is out of live food, and I also happen to run out of greens, but I've yet
to ever use a whole container. Many dragons wont even eat this stuff anyway.
Only my two new ones did because the breeder got them use to a wide diet from
the start. I haven't checked out the newer pellet products on the market,
maybe read the labels and do some reasearch if you'd like to consider these
an option.
Wild Reptiles, Amphibians, and Birds: Never
a good idea to feed these to your dragon for multiple reasons. Some are toxic,
some have been exposed to toxins, some carry disease and parasites (that your
dragon would not encounter in it's native home,) some have parts that can
injure or clog up your dragon, they can fight back and injure your dragon,
most are big enough that you risk impaction or paralysis, and most of all:
it's usually a federal offense. Most native wildlife is protected by federal
US law. Like the Migratory bird act. It's better to leave wildlife alone and
in it's place.
Wild Insects: I've given mine the odd grasshopper or katydid,
but at a risk. There is hardly a place left in the world where wildlife is
not exposed to toxins and pesticides. Just because you don't spray your yard,
doesn't mean the bug hasn't been hanging out in a yard, or farm, that has
been doused. These toxins may not kill your dragon right away, but they can
build up in it's system.
