Can Bearded Dragons Eat Crickets? 3 Benefits | Full Guide

Bearded Dragons

Can bearded dragons eat crickets
05 Jun, 2024

All the new pet owners have serious concerns about what and how to feed their bearded dragons. Bearded dragons can eat veggies and meat and mainly feed on insects. 

As Bearded dragons can eat grasshoppers, rolly pollies, etc., can bearded dragons eat crickets? Most beardie owners have this question, and sometimes they need help figuring out how many crickets they can feed to a bearded dragon.

Can Bearded Dragons Eat Crickets?

Bearded dragons can eat crickets. Crickets have good nutritional value and are healthy for your bearded dragons. When we talk about feeding crickets, it depends on a bearded dragon’s diet and its age group. Babies and juveniles need 20% vegetation and 80% insect protein, whereas adults need the opposite. 

How Often Can Bearded Dragons Eat Crickets?

Bearded dragon owners must have five daily feeding sessions, about 5 to 10 minutes. They should know how many crickets they should feed to a little reptile. To get some help feeding your crickets, you can assess the number of crickets by referring to feeding charts that factor in age, health, size, and so forth.

How Many Crickets to Feed Your Bearded Dragon?

According to a bearded dragon’s age, you should feed a certain quantity of crickets. Adult bearded dragons do not need many crickets—the fewer, the good. However, babies and juveniles need to eat more crickets to help their growth.

Baby Bearded Dragons

A bearded baby dragon needs crickets for good healthy growth and development. Bearded dragon owners should always feed a three-month-old reptile 3-5 times a day. And make sure to let them eat as much as possible in 5-10 minute feeding sessions.

Juvenile Bearded Dragons

As for juveniles about 3-12 months, make sure to decrease the feeding sessions to 2-3 times per day for about 5-10 minutes.

Adult Bearded Dragons

Adult bearded dragons need more greens than insects in their diet. Make sure to feed more green vegetables and lessen the crickets’ length of your feeding sessions. In a particular session, let them feed on as many crickets as possible in a 10-15 minute session once a day.

How Many Crickets to Feed Your Bearded Dragon

How many Crickets to Feed a Baby Bearded Dragon?

Owners should feed a baby beardie 3-5 times a day. A bearded dragon is considered a baby until three months of its age. Baby bearded dragons need frequent daily feedings to maintain their health, maximize their lifecycle, and grow big and strong. Baby bearded dragons can eat up to 25 and 80 crickets in a day. It’s essential to allow your baby dragon to eat as many crickets as possible during each feeding session.

3 Benefits of Crickets for Bearded Dragons

In the wild, bearded dragons hunt insects like crickets. They love chasing, stalking, and chowing down on their cricket prey. Crickets are rich in nutrients.

1: Protein Helps in Good Growth

Crickets contain protein essential for all bearded dragons, and protein helps bearded dragons to grow faster. Baby bearded dragons and juveniles need protein the most—crickets as a primary protein source in their diet. 

2: Good Nutritional Content

As you know, bearded dragons need iron, protein, and calcium when they are growing. Crickets contain good nutritional content, and these nutrients are excellent for a bearded dragon. 

3: Calcium Necessary for Bones

Crickets have all essential nutrients, such as calcium and vitamins. They contain 40.7 mg of calcium. Calcium is necessary to strengthen the bones and improve other body functions, and vitamins help in boosting the immune system of a bearded dragon.

Crickets also contain moisture (69.2%), protein (20.5%), fats (6.8%), and fiber (2.2%), in addition to all the vitamins and nutrients, including calcium. 

2 Risks of Feeding Crickets to Bearded Dragons

Apart from all the nutrient benefits feeding crickets to a bearded dragon can also be harmful to a bearded dragon.

1: Harbor Parasites

Like other insects, crickets can harbor parasites, affecting a bearded dragon’s health. To prevent this, purchasing crickets from a reputable source is essential, and it would help if you were never fed any insect you catch from the wild.

2: Risk of Stress

Crickets make noise that can give your bearded dragon stress. Crickets can attack small bearded dragons, so make sure to clean the surroundings after every feeding session. 

How to Feed crickets to Your Bearded Dragons?

Feeding crickets to a bearded dragon is easy, and you must follow a few steps. Below are a few steps you should follow.

Using Live Crickets

Feeding live crickets are a great way to attract your bearded dragon during feeding sessions. Bearded dragons will hunt the crickets and make their feeding session fun for them. Place a couple or a few crickets close to your beardie.

Choose the Correct Size

Bearded dragon owners should always pay attention to the size of the cricket before feeding it to their bearded dragon. You should never feed giant crickets to a baby or juvenile bearded dragon; these beardies have developing jaw and digestive systems. Make sure to buy pinhead crickets from pet stores for baby bearded dragons. 

Remove Uneaten Crickets

Always clean the bearded dragons surrounding them after every feeding session. Remove all the uneaten food from your bearded dragon’s cage. It will ensure that uneaten crickets will not disturb or attack your bearded dragon. The noise made by crickets causes stress for your beardie, so it’s best to clear them out.

How Many Crickets to Feed Your Bearded Dragon

Conclusion

Hope you got the answer to the question can bearded dragons eat crickets? They can eat crickets and are great for reptiles like bearded dragons. You can easily feed it to your bearded dragon, which also has good nutritional value. Reptile owners can quickly get crickets from a pet store, which are affordable. However, make sure to select the correct size for your bearded dragon. 

FAQs

Can baby bearded dragons eat crickets?

Yes, baby bearded dragons can eat crickets. Crickets promote healthy growth and development. There should be 3 to 5 sessions, and you should let them feed on as many crickets as possible.

Do bearded dragons like crickets?

Bearded dragons love eating crickets because they have good nutritional value and are healthy for your bearded dragons.

Are crickets safe for beardies?

Yes, you can give a bearded dragon crickets as long as you don’t give it one that is larger than the area between its eyes. It will help you avoid feeding or digestion problems that might cause impaction.

Can bearded dragons eat dead crickets?

Yes, you can feed a bearded dragon dead crickets, and these are a bit more convenient if you want to avoid handling live crickets. However, you cannot provide them with crickets that have died in the container or that you have found outside.

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