Can Bearded Dragons Eat Grasshoppers?
| | |

Can Bearded Dragons Eat Grasshoppers?

Grasshoppers are very common insects. They are eaten because of their high content of protein. But is this safe for bearded dragons, can bearded dragons eat grasshoppers?  It is pretty rewarding to give the maximum level of care to your beloved bearded dragon. Feeding is the primary factor to consider when caring for the beardies, and this indicates that you need to provide a suitable and healthy diet. You should be very conscious about your bearded dragon’s diet. 

Related: Can Bearded Dragons eat Wax Worms?

The nutritional value of grasshoppers

You should offer the delicious and healthiest meals for your pet from time to time. The bearded dragons can eat a variety of insects as they are omnivores. However, not all insects are healthy and safe for your pet, as some are also dangerous or do not offer the essential nutrient that is required for healthy growth. Let’s discuss if grasshoppers are included in the food item that is fed to Bearded Dragons, or if we have to keep these off from the beardie’s diet.

Also read: Can Bearded Dragons Eat Kiwi?

Grasshoppers are preferred as the protein source food items, they also provide high contents of calcium, vitamins (A, B, and C), and ash. They also contain decent amounts of zinc, iron, carotenoids, and magnesium. Bearded Dragons can eat grasshoppers. In wild, Grasshoppers are a staple food for the beardies.

These feeder insects can supply high contents of proteins. Protein is an important nutrient for bearded dragons, especially for the young ones that are growing at a tremendous rate. Protein assists in the growth and maintains the good health of the bearded dragons.

People also read: Can Bearded Dragons Eat Fish? Safe or Not

Fiber is also a nutrient that helps the bearded dragons, and they are in high demand for beardies. Because of the fiber, your bearded dragon will get smooth digestion.

However, a huge amount of fiber is not healthy because it then causes diarrhea and other issues; hence, a limited portion of grasshoppers can be included in your bearded dragon’s diet. Also, by eating grasshoppers your bearded dragons can get benefit from vitamins A, vitamin B, vitamin C, and some other minerals.

How often can bearded dragons eat grasshoppers?

The bearded dragons get bored by eating the same things daily. That’s why giving them a variety of foods is more important than giving them the same food items daily.

While Bearded Dragons have some foodstuff that they can eat on regular basis, such as crickets, mealworms, etc., grasshoppers are the best when given as a treat and also occasionally. You should offer them one time in a week, that is recommendable.

can baby bearded dragons eat grasshoppers?

Yes, the baby bearded dragons can eat grasshoppers. Baby Bearded Dragons have more demand for protein. In their diet, protein content is almost 70%, and with this, if you want to feed grasshoppers to your pet you can increase the number of grasshoppers, and two times a week.

Can bearded dragons eat dried grasshoppers?

Dried Grasshoppers are fine if your pet accepts them. Not all the bearded dragons eat the dead grasshoppers. Some lizards will happily eat dead grasshoppers or any other insect. You can search what your bearded dragon prefers, live or dried grasshoppers? But beware one thing dried grasshoppers have less quantity of moisture.

Feeding canned food items are becoming popular for the bearded dragons. Some bearded dragon owners don’t like the live insect’s smell and noise, so they go for the dried one as the alternative to living insects.

But keep in mind one thing that live insects give optimum nutrients as compared to dried or canned feeder insects. Canned grasshoppers have a low composition of nutrition. You can give canned grasshopper, but keeping it off from the pets would be the better idea.

Can bearded dragons eat wild grasshoppers?

When you are in the form, your dear bearded dragon may be attracted to the jumping grasshopper and try to catch and eat it. You might get worried if this is good for your bearded dragons to eat wild ones. I would not recommend you to let your pet eat wild hoppers.

This kind of grasshoppers may come into contact with the chemicals such as pesticides and fungicides and parasites that are dangerous for the bearded dragons. If you leave the pet to eat such hoppers, you are risking your dragon’s health.

From where you can get the chemical-free live grasshoppers?

Pet stores, that are famous for selling live prey for lizards, including crickets, mealworms, grasshoppers, etc. These are the right places to purchase the grasshoppers as they are safe for your pet and are free from harmful chemicals.

How to serve grasshoppers to bearded dragons?

If you are feeding the live ones, you should take some grasshoppers from their container and give them to the enclosure. The movement of the grasshopper will stimulate the pet to catch it. This is an ideal way to serve live feeder insects to your bearded dragon.

Some people prefer hand feeding, it is also the ideal method to get to create a great bond with your bearded dragon. If you want to feed dead insects, you only have to put a couple of insects in a salad bowl and serve them to the bearded dragon.

What other things the bearded dragons can eat?

As you want to supply a variety of nutrients to your pet, it is vital to feed other prey like black soldier flies, crickets, butter worms, Dubia Roaches, Ants, etc., together with the grasshoppers.

Summary

Grasshoppers are the good food to feed your  Bearded Dragons as a treat. They are also great feeders because they provide huge content of calcium, vitamins, protein, fibers, and Ash. Also, the grasshoppers have maximum nutritional value and are also ideal for your bearded dragons. You can also offer dried grasshoppers. However, You should always avoid the wild grasshoppers. 

Similar Posts