Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is it true that giving mealworms everyday is not necessary for a mature bearded dragon? My bearded dragon just completed one year but still gets them everyday. He also gets crickets, about 15 large, once a week. I'd like to get him to eating leafy greens everyday and maybe crickets and mealworms twice a week.
Your thoughts?

Overall mealworms are a poor choice for Bearded Dragons. They have a high shell to meat ratio and Beardies don't digest them well so they are not very nutritious. Superworms are a better choice and are cared for similarly. Personally I think well gutloaded crickets are the best choice for a growing dragon.

Do you know how much your dragon weighs? And how long is he? Most dragons do not become full sized adults until 18-24 months. Therefore, they should be fed live food and offered a salad daily. After 2 years you can start to alternate live food and salad days.

Here's a good easy to use nutrition chart for salads.

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

My dragon just became a year old and is a little over 1 ft long and weights about 350 grams. He eats mealworms everyday along with his greens. He's got a fierce appetite. When he sees me with the mealworms, he jumps up in excitement. Thanks for the chart, it's very informational.

Yea he's a sub-adult so he should still get live food at least once a day with salad in between. He's about the size of a 13 month old female I have. I'd really consider other live food options. I never feed mealworms to dragons.

A little over a foot long doesn't seem very big for a dragon who is a year old...my dragon was about 16" or more at that age.

Best thing to do is get rid of the mealworms, they are not worth it for bearded dragons, especially when they are older. By a year old, one feeding of insects and salad all day is good...till they are about 14 months old, then they should have about 80-90% greens, daily. Typically after they reach 18 months, dragons will not eat as much, even skipping days, so they eat every other day instead of every day...but this depends on individual dragon and the sex of the dragon. With mine I found she just had a lackluster appetite if I feed her every day...but if I feed every other day she will eat her entire salad and worms, so i adjusted my feeding schedule to suit her...she will eat more when she's producing clutches and I also up her calcium dustings during this time too.

Good insect foods to use, besides crickets, are superworms, butterworms, silkworms, hornworms and various species of roaches.
-----
PHLdyPayne

Can you measure the dragon? At 350 grams, I bet that if you're guessing, you may be way off. A little over a foot can be close to 15-16". This is not meant as criticism...I find that people often guess at the length and are way off. The feeding suggestions already mentioned would still be beneficial and recommended,although I occasionally still use mealworms when other feeders aren't available.[ Usually due to weather conditions]

Angie,

Wow, you're not kidding. I just measured my dragon and he's 17 inches and 374 grams. I guess I didn't figure the tail being so long. What do you think of giant mealworms?

I thought he would be closer to that size. As for giant mealworms, if that's what you have on hand then feed them but use the other feeders mentioned in the previous posts. Superworms are the best choice still as far as that type of worm goes, they are easy to keep and last a long time.

I figured he was longer too. Mine is actually 17 and a half inches long but only 335 grams. She laid a cluch of eggs at 11 months and only 280 grams and hasn't been a very aggressive feeder since.

Getting an accurate weight and measurement does make a big difference...and dragon tails are usually a little less than the length of the body from nose to vent... From the size of your dragon and weight, he's a good healthy weight/size for his age.

If these Giant mealworms are basically mealworms fed steroids, I wouldn't recommend them...who know what the long term effects steroid fed mealworms would have. However I don't think there are that many of these type of mealworms...often superworms are called giant mealworms on feeder lists. The clue is the scientific name of the beetle the worms are the larva of. In the case of superworms, they are Zophobas morio. Mealworms are Tenebrio molitor.
-----
PHLdyPayne