Can Bearded Dragons Eat Grasshoppers? 4 Benefits | Full Guide

Being an omnivore, the bearded dragon can eat both plants and animals. But can bearded dragons eat grasshoppers? Are all types of grasshoppers fine for bearded dragons? 

Though they may not sound good, grasshoppers are a wonderful meal for bearded dragons. Eating insects is a big part of a bearded dragon’s natural diet, and the grasshopper is one of the favorite bugs of the bearded dragon. It provides sufficient protein, which aids in growth and development. Let’s get into depth and understand whether bearded dragons eat grasshoppers and the benefits and risks involved in feeding pet dragons with grasshoppers.

Can Bearded Dragons Eat Grasshoppers?

Yes, bearded dragons can eat grasshoppers. However, they must be specially bought from a reputable pet store or retailer. It would help if you only offered insects explicitly raised for consumption by reptiles. Never feed your bearded dragons wild-caught insects because they can contain harmful chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides. 

How Often Can Bearded Dragons Eat Grasshoppers?

You can offer them once a week, which is recommendable. When we talk about baby bearded dragons, you can feed them grasshoppers twice a week. Small reptiles need more protein in their diet than adults. 

Feeding a diet with nutrients and all health benefits is essential for your bearded dragon. Like humans, bearded dragon also gets upset and bored about eating the same meal daily in their life. Therefore, giving a variety of food is essential at all times. 

Bearded dragons eat fruits, veggies, and insets; honestly, it is the best for them. However, grasshoppers are also best when you feed them as a treat and occasionally. Along with grasshoppers, insects like slugs and beetles are also suitable for pet dragons.

4 Benefits of Grasshoppers for Bearded Dragons

Grasshoppers are a fantastic source of protein for bearded dragons, as well as vitamins B12 and B9, calcium, zinc, iron, potassium, and magnesium. Feeding grasshoppers to your bearded dragon can help your pet in many ways. A few benefits of feeding grasshoppers to your bearded dragons are listed below.

1. Fiber Promotes Regular Digestion

Grasshoppers serve as a good source of fiber. Feeding grasshoppers is essential for your bearded dragon because fiber promotes regular digestion. 

2. Calcium Protects from Metabolic Bone Diseases

Grasshoppers can be an excellent source of calcium when appropriately fed to your bearded dragon. The high calcium content in grasshoppers helps grow your bearded dragon’s skeleton and guards against metabolic bone diseases. 

3. Protein is Essential for Immunological Function

Bearded dragons need to eat a maximum of 20 percent insect-based food sources to get enough protein. Grasshoppers contain a good amount of protein. 

An owner of a bearded dragon will know that young dragons and babies require more insect-based diets to meet their rising needs for protein. Protein supports good immunological function, muscle and organ function, growth and development, energy levels, and bone health. However, feeding in moderation is necessary.

4. Vitamins A and C are for a Healthy Immune System

Grasshoppers are high in vitamins A, B, and C and low in cholesterol. Vitamins A and C are essential to a healthy immune system, vision, reproduction, and growth. 

Apart from all the healthy nutrients listed above, a few other nutrients help your bearded dragon and are essential. These nutrients include vitamins B12 and B9, zinc, iron, potassium, and magnesium.

2 Risks of Feeding Grasshoppers to Bearded Dragons

Grasshoppers are suitable for your bearded dragon, but apart from all the health benefits, they also have some risk factors. Before feeding grasshoppers to your bearded pet dragon, there are a few things to remember.

1. Risk of Teeth and Gum Injury

Make sure to remove the wings of grasshoppers’ before feeding them to your bearded dragon. It is beneficial because the wings could get stuck between their teeth and cause serious injury. 

2. Risk of Obesity

Grasshoppers are very high in protein and fat. Feeding a diet full of a high amount of protein and fat could lead to problems like obesity and other health problems in bearded dragons. Therefore always provide in moderation.

How to Feed grasshoppers to Your Bearded Dragons?

Feeding grasshoppers to your bearded dragons is not a difficult task, no chopping, boiling, etc. You only need to capture a grasshopper and let your bearded dragon enjoy its meal.

Offer Live

You can give live grasshoppers as a food source for bearded dragons. However, it is challenging to catch them because they jump a lot.

You can save your bearded dragon time. Make sure to cover the cage with a small net. And place a live grasshopper in it so your bearded dragon can enjoy hunting its prey and eating it. 

Dried Grasshoppers 

If you can not find live insects, no worries, you can also use dried grasshoppers as a substitute. Serving live grasshoppers is more complicated than this alternative. All you need to do is put it in a bowl and let the reptile eat. By disguising some dried grasshoppers about the cage, you may make feeding time more entertaining. 

Conclusion

So, now you know can bearded dragons wat grasshoppers or not. Grasshoppers have nutritional benefits, and it is also a yummy treat. Make sure you always feed the ones bought at a pet store or self-bred. It will ensure that they are not ingesting any dangerous herbicides and pesticides. It would help if you always read about the food you want to introduce to your bearded friend’s diet because the healthiest food can have risk factors.

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