Bearded dragon supplementation

With Bearded dragons, supplementation is the addition of nutrients like amino-acids, vitamins and minerals to their diets. Supplements are added because commercial Bearded dragon foods are often deficient in these nutrients. Bearded dragon supplementation will ensure a happy, healthy pet by improving the overall value of their diet.

Bearded dragon supplementation is either done individually through feeding greens, or in combination with by dusting and gut-loading.

Feeder insects such as crickets, butterworms, Superworms, Dubia roaches and other feeder cockroaches should always be gut-loaded with an appropriate mineral / vitamin supplement and should be dusted two to three times a week with an appropriate calcium / vitamin D3 combination powder. Insect gut-loading should take place at least 24 to 48 hours prior to feeding.

Mealworms, waxworms, Superworms and Phoenix worms should also be dusted with a powdered Bearded dragon calcium source prior to feeding. Crawling foodstuffs can be offered in a shallow escape-proof dish containing powdered calcium to stimulate in intake of this mineral. Mealworms, waxworms, Superworms and nestling mice are also a good source for fat and fatty acids.

Natural Bearded dragon supplements

Wild Bearded dragons are adapted to eat a variety of food. Natural foods generally complement each other in the supply of all the nutrients they need. Vertebrates and invertebrates, an important food component in wild Bearded dragons, are also generally more balanced with regard to vitamins and minerals because they are fresh and exposed to the same balanced wild vegetation.

Greens as supplements

Luckily Bearded dragons are omnivorous, meaning they also get to eat plant materials. Fresh greens (fruit, vegetables, herbs, flowers and flower leaves) offer additional vitamins and minerals. Read more about what greens to feed Bearded dragons.

Bearded dragon calcium supplements

The most important supplement for Bearded dragons is calcium. This is especially true for growing and gravid Bearded dragons. A good quality lizard calcium supplementation includes some form of vitamin D3. Calcium supplements usually come in a powdered form that can be sprinkled over the greens or it can be used to dust insects with. Calcium supplementation should be supplied three times a week for growing and gravid Bearded dragons and two times a week for adult males.

Note that multivitamin / multi-mineral supplementation is not sufficient as a Bearded dragon calcium-only supplementation. When these supplements are used, it must be used in addition to a good calcium supplement.