My bearded dragon isn't getting enough nutrients. What should I feed?

Thanks for reaching out about Smaug and including photos. Adult bearded dragons are omnivorous eating bugs and vegetation. With the vegetables, red, yellow and orange vegetables are also important. Insect have inverse calcium to phosphorus ratio and are a poor long term diet. Gut loading the insects is important to provide appropriate nutrients. If he doesn't get as much bugs, he might be hungry and eat the vegetables. By the photos, he is a little overweight indicated by the thickness of the tail and fat pads in the axillary (armpit) area. Good luck.

Thanks for reaching out about Lexi. Mealworms are generally bags of fat, and needed to be gut loaded to provide any nutrition. But other insects must be offered to provide a healthy diet. Don't forget UVB radiation and the proper heat support. Bearded dragons also should eat a wide variety of vegetables. Good luck.

It sounds like you are doing just fine but I would say that the insects should be offered only once per day. So when you feed him, give him as many insects as he can eat within a 10-15 minute time frame and then remove the remaining insects from their tank. Fresh salads should be offered daily and consist of greens such as collards, dandelions or mustard greens as their staple vegetables (should be included in every salad). When you give your beardie insects you will need to make sure that the insect isn't too big. If it is longer than the space between it's eyes, then it is too large. Insects should be sprinkled with some calcium and a multivitamin before feeding. VERY IMPORTANT!! Hope this helps. Best wishes!

Some of it depends on the age of the beardie. If young, make sure any live food is small enough for it. Meal works, crickets or even pinkie mice Here's a good recipe for a reptile salad. Basic Salad Recipe 1/2 cup shredded raw green beans 1/2 cup shredded raw orange-fleshed squash (such as acorn, banana, kabocha, spaghetti, and pumpkin) - you can occasionally alternate with carrots 1 medium or 2 small raw shredded parsnips (in areas where these are seasonally hard to find, you can substitute with asparagus or cooked or canned lima, navy or kidney beans that have been well rinsed and minced or mashed. If you use beans, add extra calcium to offset their high phosphorus) * 1/4 cup mashed/minced fruit (strawberries, raspberries, mangos, papaya, figs, cantaloupe, cactus pear) Alfalfa ** Multivitamin and calcium supplements * If parsnips are a seasonal vegetable where you live, you can use 1/2 cup shredded asparagus, trading off with 1/2 cup drained, rinsed, and chopped canned cooked lima beans, plus additional calcium to make up for the lousy calcium:phosphorus ratio in beans. Cooked beans are acceptable for short term use only due to their phosphorous content and other chemicals that can impede the uptake of minerals and trace elements. Asparagus is comparable in protein to parsnip, but does contain oxalates, so should not be a long-term staple. ** The quantity of alfalfa you use will depend upon the alfalfa product you are using. You want to add about 15 grams of protein. That is about 1/2 cup of alfalfa rabbit pellets, or about 1/4 cup or less of alfalfa leaf tea or a tablespoon or so of alfalfa powder. The older the healthy iguana is, the less protein they need, so you may end up using only a couple of teaspoons for an adult iguana. Thoroughly mix all the Basic Salad Recipe ingredients together. Makes about 3.5-4 cups. Add in a multivitamin supplement (any multivitamin supplement for birds or reptiles is fine, but the best, actually, is powder from a crushed Centrum tablet) and a calcium supplement. You do not need to get a calcium supplement that has phosphorous or D3 in it, as the iguana is already getting considerably phosphorous from the plants and multivitamin, and their D3 is best manufactured in their bodies by regular exposure to direct sunlight or special UVB-producing fluorescents. And more good info on husbandry and feeding isnhere. If temperature is not correct they also may not eat. http://www.anapsid.org/bearded.html

Reptiles can be very subtle in showing when they don't feel well, and often a decrease in appetite is the only sign that they will show. Sometimes they will only be willing to eat their favorite items, so that may be a reason that Cosmo is eating certain things. Alternatively, they may be easier for him to eat somehow as well. Another hard part about reptiles is that they take a long time to show that they are sick, so something could have been going on with Cosmo for quite a while and he just hasn't shown you until now. I would recommend having Cosmo evaluated by a veterinarian due to the decrease in appetite. They will evaluate your husbandry and diet for Cosmo, and may make recommendations for them. This may include adjustments in the diet, as the items you are feeding right now have a great deal of calcium oxalates in them. Calcium oxalates can decrease absorption of calcium by the body, and calcium is very important in reptiles. The items that you are feeding with calcium oxalates include kale, mustard greens, and collard greens. These items should be fed a maximum of 1-2 times per week. Protein in the diet (insects) should be fed about twice weekly. In addition to a husbandry evaluation, your veterinarian may recommend blood work to evaluate systemic health, as well as radiographs (x-rays) to ensure that Cosmo's bones look like they have enough calcium in them.

Thanks for reaching out about Perceval and including a photo. First, check heat and other husbandry parameters, and fix any concerns. If too cold, there appetite center is depressed. Reptiles will often not eat because of other illnesses such as intestinal parasites or infections, kidney disease, dental disease, etc. A veterinary visit is recommended to help. On the photo, Perceval appears thin. Offering a Gerber's baby food (chicken, beef etc) might provide some nutrition until the primary cause is determined. Good luck.

Since lettuce is mostly water it is not nutritious for bearded dragons. Because of this it is best to avoid feeding your bearded dragon lettuce or any greens with the word "lettuce" in the name. Spinach is also another food to avoid. While spinach is healthy, calcium binds easily to it which can make it hard for your bearded dragon to digest. Do not feed your bearded dragons avocados. They are toxic, but their toxicity levels are unknown so it's best to avoid them. Your Bearded Dragon's diet should replicate what she would eat in the wild. It should include insects, vegetables, fruit and greens. Insects: Crickets Mealworms Kingworms Waxworms Earthworms Cockroaches Locusts Fruits: Figs Kiwi Melon Apples Mango Papaya Dates Peaches Apricots Plums Strawberries Vegetable list: Broccoli Ocra Peas Green beans Butternut squash Sweet potato Bell pepper Greens: Kale Collards Parsley Clover Dandelion greens Turnip greens Mustard greens Endive Here are some items they can eat occasionally: sprouts, tomatoes, blueberries, pears, grated carrots, banana, grapes and cucumber. You will need to prepare some of fruit and veggies by taking the peel off and/or cutting it down into bite-sized pieces. This is a good article that has more information that may help you: http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/bearded-dragon-nutrition-data.php#fruit Hope this helps. Best wishes.