If you’re an experienced bearded dragon owner or looking to get one, you know that insects, especially crickets, are popular for them. Crickets play a vital role in the health of the reptile. Also, they are cheap and easy to find, which makes them the most popular insects to feed bearded dragons.
Bearded dragons require protein to grow strong and healthy. Crickets are high in protein, which makes them the popular choice for feeding bearded dragons. But you may wonder how many crickets to feed a bearded dragon?
So, how many crickets to feed a bearded dragon? For an adult bearded dragon, you can feed them 10 crickets a day. Bearded dragons that are under 3 months old, you can give them an unlimited amount of crickets within 10 minutes. From 3 to 12 months old, they can consume 20 to 60 crickets a week.
Why Are Crickets Popular With Bearded Dragons?
Crickets are popular with reptiles due to their nutrition value, low cost, available year-round.
Nowadays, crickets have become a staple diet for most reptiles, which include bearded dragons.
When it comes to cost, crickets are the best value for the money. It’s relatively cheap to buy them in bulk.
Crickets can be found all year round. When most other insects are available during certain seasons, crickets can be found at any time of the year.
The last thing is that bearded dragons enjoy eating them. The crickets are fun to chase around, and they taste great.
Cricket Amount By Age And Frequency
The number of crickets to feed your bearded dragons will depend on their age. Also, it will tell how often you should feed them too.
When feeding a bearded dragon, you should feed them as many crickets as they can eat within 15 minutes. This prevents them from overeating.
The crickets fed to them should be no larger than the distance between the bearded dragon’s eyes. This will prevent the beardy from getting impacted or choking due to the cricket being too large.
How Many Crickets Should A Bearded Dragon Eat At One Time?
Bearded dragons should eat as much as they can at one time. This doesn’t matter if they are baby, juvenile, or adult bearded dragons. They should be allowed to eat as much as they can.
For baby and juvenile bearded dragons, they should be given a 10-minute time limit. This means you can give them as many crickets as they can eat within 10 minutes.
For adult bearded dragons, you can increase the time limit to 15 minutes.
By placing a time limit, it will prevent them from overeating.
There are some instances where you may need to force-feed your beardy. If you do, don’t force more than 10 crickets at one time with adult bearded dragons.
Force-feeding a bearded dragon is something that should be the last option. It’s best to consult with a reptilian veterinarian before you do anything like force-feeding.
How Many Crickets To Feed A Baby Bearded Dragon?
For baby bearded dragons, you can feed them between 30 and 80 crickets per day.
Spread the feeding 5 times per day. For example, in the morning, give them crickets to eat. Then wait 3 hours before giving them crickets again. Do this throughout the day.
At each feeding, set the timer for 10 minutes. Give them crickets that they can finish within that timeframe.
Make sure the crickets are small. They should be smaller than the distance between their eyes.
How Many Crickets To Feed A Juvenile Bearded Dragon?
Once the bearded dragons are 3 months of age up to 1 year, they are considered juvenile.
However, some beardies reach adulthood at eight months, while others may take longer than a year.
A good way to tell if your bearded dragon is an adult is to look for a sign of brumation.
Juvenile bearded dragons should be fed 1-2 times daily. This is similar to an adult feeding frequency. However, their diet ratio is different. Juvenile should have their diet ratio close to 70% protein and 20% greens.
This means juvenile beardy should get 30 to 80 crickets per day. You can feed them other insects as well and not just crickets.
Since they will eat less throughout the day, you’ll need to feed them more crickets at each feeding. Expect to feed them between 15-40 crickets.
When feeding them, only give them crickets that they can finish within 10 minutes.
How Many Crickets Should An Adult Bearded Dragon Eat?
Once bearded dragons reach 18 months, they are considered an adult.
At this age, their diet needs to consist of 20% protein and 80% greens. This means the number of crickets should be reduced. Leafy greens and vegetables should make up the majority of their daily diet.
You can let them consume about 30 to 70 crickets a week. In a day, bearded dragons can eat about 5-10 large-sized crickets.
Can You Feed A Bearded Dragon Dead Crickets?
No, you should never feed dead crickets to bearded dragons. While the reptiles will eat them, they could potentially get sick from it. The longer the crickets been dead, the more bad bacteria that it has.
The dead crickets may look acceptable to you, but they could harm the beardies.
Also, it’s important to remove any dead crickets before feeding them.
Conclusion
The number of crickets to feed your bearded dragons will depend on the age. Baby and juvenile beardies can eat as many crickets as they want within 10 minutes. At this age, they are still growing and will need a lot of protein to help them grow strong and healthy. Once they reach adulthood, they no longer are growing and so you should reduce the number of crickets to feed them. Instead, leafy greens and a lot of vegetables should make up the bulk of their diet.
