It’s an exciting time when you first bring your baby Bearded Dragon home, but you’re also likely to have a lot of questions, such as what to feed them.
I’ve produced this post to answer all of your feeding questions so you can focus on the joys of having a new family member while also ensuring that you’re raising a healthy and happy Bearded Dragon.
So, what should a baby Bearded Dragon eat? Prey food, such as Pinhead Crickets, and greens, such as Kale, should be offered to baby Bearded Dragons. Vitamin and calcium powder should also be fed to your infant Bearded Dragon. Any prey foods supplied should be no bigger than the baby’s head, and any greens offered should be finely diced to facilitate digestion and reduce the risk of choking.
Continue reading to learn more about what a newborn Bearded Dragon can eat, how often they should eat, if you can overfeed them, and much more.
Let’s start with a closer look at what newborn Bearded Dragons can consume and what they should avoid.
A Closer Examine of what to feed baby bearded dragons?
The nutrients you feed your Bearded Dragon while it’s a newborn are crucial. They’re growing at a breakneck pace, and they need to eat the correct meals to keep up.
Bearded Dragons are omnivores, which means they must eat a variety of insects, plants, and vegetables, as well as calcium supplements. Knowing which foods to feed them and which to avoid will have a significant impact on their growth in the first few months of life.
You should give your kid approximately 40-60% protein from insects, with the remaining 20-40% of its diet coming from greenery. Beardeddragon101, who also gives the same counsel, supports this.
Let’s take a deeper look at what they should consume so you can be sure your newborn Bearded Dragon is happy and healthy.
What Vegetables Should You Feed Your Baby Bearded Dragon?
Vegetables are essential for your Baby Bearded Dragon’s diet. You should provide them with vegetables at least three times per week, but every day is preferable. Offering kids vegetables from an early age will help them develop a liking for them and allow them to enjoy them as adults.
It also won’t harm to offer vegetables every day, as this will help them become more acclimated to them and keep them healthy.
Any vegetables should be chopped tiny to avoid choking and to make the eating procedure as easy as possible.
After feeding times, you may leave the veg in the tank so your baby Bearded Dragon can come back to it whenever it wants.
The veggies that are advised include, but are not limited to:
- Heart of Artichoke
- Pepper (bell)
- Orca
- Squash (Butternut)
- Celery
Greens with Mustard
- Squash, Yellow
- Carrots
- Chinese cabbage (bok choy)
- Potatoes, sweet
- Beans (green)
- Peas
What Kinds of Greens Can a Bearded Dragon Eat as a Baby?
Greens are comparable to vegetables in that they should be served at least three times each week, and I would consider serving them every day.
It’s critical to encourage your Bearded Dragon to like vegetables and greens as soon as possible so that eating them daily becomes a normal procedure for them as they get older.
Greens can be left in the tank after meals, much like vegetables, so they can eat them anytime they like.
It’s also a good idea to serve a variety of vegetables and greens together, and don’t forget to slice everything up a little to avoid choking and aid digestion.
Greens that are recommended include, but are not limited to:
- Kale
- Parsley
- Clover
The Greens of the Dandelion
- Greens from the turnip
Greens with Mustard
- Coriander
- Parsley
- Rocket
- Collards
What Fruit Should You Feed a Bearded Dragon Baby?
While many fruits are healthy for Bearded Dragons to consume, they also contain significant levels of sugar.
Sugar consumption by your Bearded Dragon is bad for their teeth and can lead to obesity.
Bearded Dragons do not require fruit if they consume vegetables and greens, as these provide the majority of the nutrients.
If you wish to let your Dragon eat fruit, that’s great; just keep the portions small and don’t serve fruit daily.
Fruits that are safe for your Bearded Dragon include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Strawberries
- Plums
- Figs
- Apples
- Cherries
- Blackberries
- Cranberries
- Raisons
- Pineapple
- Melons
- Pears
- Grapes
- Peaches
Supplementing Vitamins and Calcium as Baby Bearded Dragon food?
Vitamin and calcium supplements should be provided to bearded dragons at every stage of their lives, beginning when they are babies.
Bearded Dragons are known for their calcium deficiency, which can cause long-term health issues similar to metabolic bone disease.
You can easily enhance their vitamin and calcium levels to the needed levels by simply dusting their prey food with Vitamin D3 and Calcium daily.
You’ll be able to lessen the amount of supplementation they require as they get older.
There are a lot of calcium supplements on the market that are of poor quality. For a variety of reasons, I strongly advise you to use Rep-Cal.
What Not to Feed a Bearded Dragon Baby
It’s also crucial to understand what foods you should avoid giving your newborn Bearded Dragon.
Most of the foods on the list below will apply to them at all stages of their lives, so it’s crucial to remember that if they’re off the list as a newborn, they’re most likely off the list as an adult as well.
Bearded Dragons are not allowed to eat the following foods and plants:
Mealworms are a type of mealworm (fine for adult Dragons but the hard shell can be hard to digest for baby Bearded Dragons)
- Avocados
- Lettuce
- Spinach
- Rhubarb
- There are fireflies (or any insects that glow)
- Insects collected from the wild (they can carry parasites)
- Oak
- Ivy
- Buttercup
Tulip Elderberry
There is a large list of plants that you should avoid feeding your Bearded Dragon, but the important line is that if you are unsure, always get advice from your veterinarian before feeding your Bearded Dragon anything.
What Are the Favorite Foods of Baby Bearded Dragons?
Your Bearded Dragon’s favorite food is mostly a matter of personal taste.
There are additional factors to consider, such as what it has been fed since birth, and sometimes they simply grow tired of specific foods and become picky eaters.
In my experience, a Bearded Dragon’s favorite food is either Pinhead Crickets or Wax Worms, depending on the circumstances.
However, if your Bearded Dragon prefers something completely different, it is perfectly normal and acceptable; they are not robots and have their personalities.
How Often Should You Feed a Baby Bearded Dragon During the Day?
Baby Bearded Dragons will grow to 90 percent of their full length in the first 12 months, so they’ll need to eat a lot of food to keep up with their rapid growth.
Baby Bearded Dragons typically eat 3-5 times per day, with each sitting lasting approximately 10-15 minutes.
You should feed them as much live prey as they can eat during this time, which could be anywhere from 20 to 60 insects per day.
This will be determined by the age of your newborn Bearded Dragon as well as the insects you are feeding them.
When a Bearded Dragon refuses to eat, what should you do?
The temperature being too high or low due to improper setup, impaction caused by swallowing loose substrate, shedding skin, parasites, or stress are all common causes.
Your Beardie’s appetite may also be affected by brumation. More information on this can be found in our Bearded Dragon Brumation article.
Refusing to eat does not automatically indicate that something is wrong. Bearded Dragons do get full, and adults may go a day without eating, or if it’s too hot, they may merely be thirsty. If they’re losing weight, however, this is cause for concern.
Check the temperature, which should be 35-43oC on the basking place with a cool-down area of 27oC-32oC, and make sure your Beardie hasn’t been eating loose substrate if they aren’t eating. Excessively large food may be rejected by dragons; a good rule of thumb is to stick to insects that are no larger than the space between your Bearded Dragon’s eyes.
Check to see if your dragon’s UV is up to current. The lifespan of a bulb is around 12 months, and this information may be found on the package. Make sure it’s the right distance from the basking location and that you’re using a reflector.
Check to see whether your Bearded Dragon is losing its skin, as this might cause them to stop feeding for a brief period.
Diarrhea, a lack of vitality, and droopy or puffy eyes are all signs that your Bearded Dragon is sick.
Summary
For beginners, caring for a Baby Bearded Dragon is simple.
They’ll need a secure 20-gallon terrarium with a screen lid, to begin with.
Their habitat and diet are two of the most crucial things to remember:
Feed 20 to 40 crickets three or four times a day for ten minutes each time.
Maintain a temperature of 95 to 105°F in their basking area, with a humidity of 30 to 40%.
You may expect your beardie to be quite tame and live for 7–12 years if you do your homework and take care of it.