Bearded dragons love to munch on all types of insect prey in the wild. Even when captive raised, they love an assortment of insects in their diet.
Many bearded dragon owners may want to catch their own insects to vary their pet’s diet and help save a little cash. Although many people do this it is a practice that must be very selective.
Here are a couple guidelines to follow when feeding a bearded dragon wild-caught insects.
- Make sure any wild-caught insect is herbicide, pesticide and chemical-free before feeding it to your bearded dragon. These chemicals are sometimes sprayed on crops, then cling onto the body of the insects. If ingested by your bearded dragon, it could make it sick, or cause death.
- Never feed your bearded dragon an insect that you are unsure it can safely eat. Don’t go outside and just grab a bug then feed it to your bearded dragon!
- If you allow your bearded dragon to roam around outdoors, be mindful of any insect he may find. You don’t want it to accidentally gobble up an insect that you were not intending him to eat. They will go after an insect if they see it!
- Try to avoid feeding too many wild-caught insects because your bearded dragon may acquire a taste for that particular insect. This could cause your pet to only want to eat that insect. Once your supply runs out, it could refuse eating anything else. This could lead to it starving to death.
If you are going to feed your bearded dragon wild-caught insects, it is a good idea to store them in a cricket keeper, or something similar, for a few days and gut load the insects. This will help to increase the nutritional value of the insect prey, and provide better nutritional content to your bearded dragon.
Bad Insects
There are quite a few insects you should never feed your bearded dragon. These insects are toxic, vicious, and can be very dangerous to feed your pet
- Ants
- Bees, wasps, hornets
- Some caterpillars
- Centipedes
- Fireflies
- Lubber grasshoppers
- Scorpions
If at any time you are unsure about feeding your bearded dragon wild insects, simply use the insect feeders available from the pet store, or from reputable dealers online.
izabel says
i have a bearded dragon and a turtle and i feed my bearded dragon eragon meal worms and crickets and she loves both but meal worms are easy to keep crickets are allot harder and my turtle also eats meal worms and turtles love veggies bearded dragons love squash carrots blueberrys and most any veggies but look it up before you feed it anything knew and they need allot of tlc im thirteen and i have one but shes more work than i thought i think before you get one get a turtle so you can get in the habit of taking care of something like that no not a dog i have a dog to and a fish its nothing like that trust me i would say 12 and up for the beardeds and a turtle about 8 and up make sure you hold both things every day otherwise they get mean this is my words of wisdom good luck to all and god bless you
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owen says
If you feed dead meal worms to your dragon what would happen. and if a dragon starts eating enything green objects such as blankets,stufed animals or plastic what does that mean.
Erika Gray says
How do you make sure that the bugs are pesticide free??
tphazy says
u need to b in the wild… no where close to farmers crops
Ralph S. Mouse says
You, politely walk up to them introduce yourself and shake all 6 of their hands, then ask them if mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Walk up and introduce yourself. shake hands (make sure you shake all 6 of theirs). Then politely ask them if they have been contaminated by chemicals. If they reply yes, then offer an apology on behalf of your species, wish them the best of their final days. If they reply no, check to make sure nobody is looking, then snatch them up toss them in your duffle bag and run like hell. Don’t let anyone see your tag number on whatever car you choose to getaway in….Be safe! and good luck!
j dog dizzel quizzel says
sounds about right
Dc says
I know taking a risk of wild caught feeder crickets feeding to your bearded dragon what if I breed those caught crickets or breed them continuesly to make sure there pesticide free would that work
j dog dizzel quizzel says
If i have a bearded dragon will they eat while mating or just stay there and starve
j dog dizzel quizzel says
what should you do if your dragon will not eat what does that mean force feed him or not that will probably cause stress
Debbie Pedley says
Can I feed my bearded dragon a predasous water Beatle
Beardie says
Ants, bees, wasps, hornets and centipedes are not more dangerous for bearded dragons than a mealworm is… And if your dragon ever consumes poisonous plants/insects a good way to help them is to use activated carbon
owen says
Lizards rule