Crickets are a natural, nutritious food for baby bearded dragons. But how many should you feed your baby dragon? Too many and your dragon won’t want anymore – too few, and your dragon gets hungry…again.
It can be difficult to know how much you should feed your baby bearded dragon when it comes to crickets. The answer isn’t as simple as just buying a tub of crickets and feeding them by the handful!
In this article, we’ll discuss exactly how many crickets you should give your baby bearded dragon. I’ll also cover what size of cricket is best, which ones you should avoid, and more.
How Many Crickets Should You Feed A Baby Bearded Dragon?
When it comes to feeding your baby Bearded Dragon, it is essential that you provide it with the right number of crickets every day. To do this, you can have five separate feedings throughout the day, each lasting around 5-10 minutes. Make sure you have enough food on hand before starting each session to ensure a satisfying meal for your pet.
In terms of how many crickets you should be offered per day, aim for between 25-80 for baby dragons. As they grow older and move into adulthood, the number of crickets needed will start to decrease and should be supplemented with more greens in their diet. Alternatively, if desired, there are charts available online that take into consideration factors such as age, size, and health which can help estimate how many crickets your dragon requires for each meal.
Ensuring that your dragon is receiving all the necessary nutrition from its daily cricket meals, it will help promote successful growth into adulthood!
Baby Bearded Dragons
Baby Bearded Dragons require a little extra attention and care. Each feeding session should last between 5-10 minutes, allowing your baby bearded dragon to eat as much as it can.
Be sure to provide a variety of food options such as mealworms, insects, vegetables, greens, and fruits for optimal beardie nutrition. Additionally, make sure that you are providing them with the right amount of Vitamin D3 and Calcium supplements as a deficiency in these areas could lead to health issues down the line.
With the right feeding schedule and diet your baby bearded dragon will become the strongest it can be!
Juvenile Bearded Dragons
When it comes to juvenile bearded dragons, less is more when it comes to feeding them. At 3-12 months of age, your beardie should only be fed 2-3 times a day for about 5-10 minutes each session. This will ensure that they get the proper nutrition while making sure they don’t overload on food, as bearded dragons can get fat quickly.
You should also make sure to provide variety in their diet when feeding them. They enjoy eating crickets and mealworms as well as dark leafy greens like kale and collard greens. Bearded dragons may be small, but they still require quality nutrition at this age, and mixing things up helps them grow strong and healthy!
Adult Bearded Dragons
As your bearded dragon reaches adulthood, it’s important to transition them from a diet of best crickets to some greens. You can do this by reducing the amount they eat during feeding sessions or limiting them to a specific number of crickets per session.
Adult bearded dragons need only one feeding session each day, which should last 10-15 minutes and should include as many crickets as the dragon desires. If you need to, you can also split up their mealtimes into shorter intervals throughout the day. With this type of diet plan in place, your adult bearded dragon will be happier and healthier!
Bearded Dragon Cricket Feeding Chart
| Age | Feeding frequency of crickets | Crickets per feeding | Number of crickets per day* |
| Baby bearded dragons | Up to 5 times a day | As many as they eat in a 5-10 minute session | 25-80 |
| Juvenile bearded dragons | 2-3 times a day | As many as they eat in a 5-10 minute session | 25-60 |
| Transition stage (9-18 months old) | 2 times a day | As many as they eat in a 5-10 minute session but weaning to 5 minute sessions or a set number of crickets per feeding | 20-30 |
| Adult bearded dragons | 1 feeding per day or a set number of crickets spaced out during mealtimes | As many as they eat in a 10-15 minute session | 10 |
Bearded dragons are omnivores, so as they mature around 9 months you should start introducing greens and vegetables into their diet. As adults, the diet should be 80% greens/vegetables and 20% protein.
Why Should Your Bearded Dragon Eat Crickets?
If you’ve got a pet bearded dragon, then crickets should be a staple of their diet. That’s because, being omnivores, they need both a consistent source of protein and greens to stay healthy and strong. Crickets are the perfect option in this regard as they can provide your bearded dragon with the necessary protein without having the same risk of parasites that some other sources do.
Although there are some cons to using crickets (the chirping and the fact that they can be difficult to keep alive), for the most part, crickets make for an incredibly safe and nutritious food source. This is especially true when combined with gut loading them and dusting them with calcium and vitamins appropriately.
That said, while crickets make for a great form of protein for your beardie, I recommend switching to Dubia roaches at some point, as they have even more protein than crickets are cleaner, less likely to have parasites, and overall much better for your pet’s health.
How Many Crickets to Feed a Baby Bearded Dragon a Day
When it comes to feeding baby bearded dragons, the number of crickets they need each day is largely determined by their age.
For very young dragons, proteins should be given as many as five times a day and they can eat as much as they want during that period. As the dragon gets older though, fewer proteins should be given in favor of more greens to prepare them for an adult diet.
Dragons should not be given crickets bigger than the gap between their eyes. Doing so could lead to impaction and other nasty issues, so please make sure the size of your crickets is appropriate for your dragon before you feed them!
How Many Crickets Should I Feed a 1 to 2-Month-Old Bearded Dragon?
If you have a 1 to 2-month-old bearded dragon, it’s important to make sure they’re getting enough protein in their diet. The best way to do this is by encouraging them to eat as many crickets as they want during the day.
For dragons in this age range, feed them as many crickets as they can manage within a 5-10 minute time frame, 3-5 times a day. After 10 minutes, your dragon should be full and won’t take any more crickets. During these feeding sessions, dragons will usually consume between 25-80 small crickets per day.
It’s important not to worry too much about your dragon overfeeding themselves – unlike dogs, dragons won’t eat until their stomach explodes! By following these guidelines on how many crickets you should feed your 1 to 2-month-old bearded dragon every day, you can ensure that your beloved pet grows up healthy and strong.
How Many Crickets Should You Feed An Adult?
Adult bearded dragons should have a diet that is primarily composed of greens (80%) with a smaller proportion of proteins (20%). Most of the protein should come from insects, particularly crickets. Adult bearded dragons should be fed around 10 crickets per day or 20 every other day, in one feeding session of 10-15 minutes.
Some criteria which can influence how many crickets an adult beardie should be offered include the age of the reptile, its health, if female beardies are gravid (pregnant), where they live crickets come from, and what other proteins such as Dubia roaches or worms they’re being fed.
When they’re young, baby bearded dragons require more frequent feeds – 5 times a day – but as they become juveniles (around 3-8 months of age) this can be reduced to 2-3 feedings a day. When fully grown adults (18 months old), beardies will need less food than before so some experts suggest offering their pets crickets every other day or every third day.
Cricket Size Guide
If you’re looking for the right size cricket for your pet bearded dragon, it’s important to know a few things about crickets. First and foremost, be sure only to feed them crickets that are smaller than the distance between their eyes. This is to help avoid any issues with feeding, digestion, or impaction.
| Cricket Size | Description | Recommended for |
| Pinhead crickets | Small, wingless, 2-day old crickets about 0.04 inches in size (the size of a regular pinhead) | Hatchlings and baby bearded dragons |
| Small crickets | A bit larger than pinheads, 5 days old, 1/8“ long, soft bodied | Older baby beardies and juveniles |
| Medium crickets | 3 – 3 1/2 weeks old, 1/2“ to 5/8“ long, depending on breed, most commonly available | Juveniles and adults |
| Large crickets | Adult crickets about 5 weeks old and 1-1.5 inches long, depending on breed, harder and coarser exoskeleton that is harder to digest | Not normally used as feeder insects; more useful as bait |
What Are The Benefits?
Crickets offer some amazing nutritional benefits that make them an ideal food source for bearded dragons. They are high in iron, protein, and calcium – which are especially important when growing – and their exoskeleton is soft enough to be safe for even baby beardies. Plus, they can be gut loaded easily with vital vitamins and minerals like calcium and vitamin D3 by feeding them special supplements the day before your dragon gets fed.
On top of all that, crickets boast an impressive nutrition profile with 40.7 mg of calcium and 295 mg of phosphorus per 100-gram serving which makes it one of the most nutritionally dense insects out there. And due to their movement, crickets activate beardie’s natural hunting instincts which provides them with a stimulating activity.
Plus, since you can easily find crickets from pet stores or online, they are incredibly convenient and affordable for most reptile owners!
Are There Any Reasons NOT To Feed Crickets?
When it comes to feeding crickets to your bearded dragon, there are some reasons why you may want to think twice. Firstly, crickets are not as nutritionally dense and are smaller than dubia roaches, so if your dragon is picky or has a decreased appetite, it will have to eat more crickets for the same nutritional value.
They can also harbor parasites which makes it important to get them from reliable sources, and never feed wild-caught insects to your dragon. Crickets in large numbers may attack smaller dragons and this can cause stress unless their enclosures are cleared out after feeding sessions.
In addition, they tend to be quite noisy and smelly and can jump away very quickly if left unattended. So while they make a good food source for certain reptile species like bearded dragons – use caution when using these creatures as live feeders.
What About Juveniles?
When you own a bearded dragon, it’s important to know when they reach the juvenile stage. Juvenile beardies are typically between 3 and 8 months of age. During this time, their growth rate may slow down a bit compared to their first few months, but they will still be growing rapidly.
During the juvenile stage, it is important to maintain a protein-rich diet by providing your dragon with 3 meals per day of crickets and 25 to 50 crickets total. These feeding sessions should last around 5 to 10 minutes each time and your pet should be given as much as they’d like during that period.
After your beardie is about 9 months, they enter the category of older juveniles but not yet adults. Feeding them at this age should decrease from 3 times a day to 2 times per day, consisting mainly of proteins such as crickets or roaches.
As your dragon approaches the age of 14 months, start transitioning their diet from mostly proteins to more greens and vegetables. The adult bearded dragon’s diet should be composed of 80% greens and only 20% proteins in order for them to stay healthy and happy.
How Age Impacts How Many Crickets They Eat
It is important to understand the impact that age has on how many crickets a bearded dragon should eat. As a baby, it is not necessary to put limits on their cricket consumption, and it is not advisable to try and force them to eat more or less than they want to as this can be dangerous.
As your little reptilian friend becomes older, their cricket feedings should decrease over time. At around 13-14 months of age, you can start reducing the length of each twice-daily feeding session; for example, at this age, you can limit it to just 5 minutes instead of 10 minutes like earlier. This will ensure that your beloved pet is eating the right amount of crickets for its size and age.
The Importance Of Feeding Them Living Crickets
The importance of feeding your bearded dragon live crickets cannot be overstated. dead crickets can be hazardous for your reptile, as they could contain bacteria and mold that can make them very unwell. Reptiles, including bearded dragons, are naturally inclined to seek out dead crickets and insects, as their decomposition makes them even more appetizing.
That’s why it’s so important to only ever feed your beardie living crickets. Not only will they get the correct nutrition they require from the freshest ingredients, but they can also avoid the risk of ill health too.
After each mealtime, make sure to remove any leftovers from the tank too – both uneaten living crickets and wilting greens should be removed in a timely manner as part of spot-cleaning duties. Doing this will help ensure that your little pet is staying happy and healthy every single day!
Why Crickets Are Such An Important Part Of Their Diet
Crickets are an essential part of a bearded dragon’s diet and for good reason. They contain plenty of protein and exercise for your reptile – as they are naturally jumping around when in the wild. Crickets make it much easier to monitor the quantity of food you feed to your beardie, as compared to other types of protein-rich foods like super worms.
Moreover, crickets are relatively affordable and easy to find. But this doesn’t mean that they don’t come with a risk – there is a potential that these insects carry harmful parasites that can infect them if they eat them uncooked or not properly sourced. It is important to make sure you buy crickets from a reliable seller.
Treating the crickets with powdered minerals such as calcium or Vitamins before feeding them also increases their nutritional benefits for bearded dragons. That said, adding variety to their diet by supplying super worms is also beneficial for their long-term health but will tend to be more expensive over time than relying solely on crickets alone.
In conclusion, it’s clear why crickets are such an important part of a bearded dragon’s diet – they provide great nutrition while keeping costs low— making sure every reptile enjoys optimum health and well-being!
Conclusion:
When it comes to feeding a baby bearded dragon, the amount of crickets you give them is important. You want to make sure that they get enough food but not too much. By offering the right amount of food in the right environment, you can make sure that your little one stays healthy and grows strong.
Remember, no matter what age your pet is, it’s always important to research their nutritional needs and provide the best care possible.
