gYes, bearded dragons can eat grasshoppers but only from the pet store and not the wild ones. They cannot eat insects from outside open environments as they can contain and have contact with harmful chemicals like herbicides and pesticides that could be very harmful to the health of your pet.
So it is better to avoid such things. We should give a treat to our pets frequently and offering treats to the pets also build a bond between owner and pet. Bearded dragons are omnivores and can eat a variety of insects including grasshoppers.
They should be given a balanced diet that includes both plant-based and insects. Grasshoppers have a lot of protein which is beneficial for bearded dragons. One of the facts about grasshoppers and bearded dragons is beardies can eat both dried and live grasshoppers depending upon their availability.
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Nutritional aspects of the grasshopper for bearded dragons
It is recommended to offer your bearded dragon a healthy and balanced diet in rotation with variety on time. A grasshopper is something that provides a good nutritional value to the pet. Here is the list of various nutrients that are offered by the grasshoppers.
- Dietary fiber – 11%
- Carbohydrates – 2%
- Ash – 2.5%
- Fat – 40%
- Calcium – 27%
- Carotenoids – 900µg/100µg
- Iron – 5%
- Protein – 39%
- Iron – 5%
Grasshoppers are a good source of protein and apart from that also provide a good amount of vitamins like A, B, and C, calcium in high amounts. Grasshoppers also provide zinc, magnesium, a high amount of fibers, and calories. From the nutritional point of view, grasshoppers are an essential part of a dragon’s diet.
How often bearded dragons can eat grasshoppers?
Bearded dragons should give a variety of food on time as they also get bored eating the same things again and again like humans. Therefore giving a variety of food to pets is necessary. In daily diet, bearded dragons require a good amount of proteins around 70% and for this, you can increase the feeding of grasshoppers to dragons to twice a week. Once a week is also okay but if your dragon digests easily and does not show any symptoms then offer them twice a week.
When bearded dragons grow up, they need more plant-based food than the insects and other animals so in that case, the consumption of grasshoppers may decrease slightly or offer once in a week o two depending on your diet chart.
Can bearded dragons eat dried and canned grasshoppers?
Bearded dragons can eat both canned and dried grasshoppers. They are okay with serving dried grasshoppers to them but most of the dragons love to eat live and moving things as hunting will give them happiness and natural thing too. But there is also the possibility that some dragons like dead grasshoppers to eat. So you have to find out the preference of your bearded dragon and serve accordingly.
But the thing is canned food is just an alternative food to the live ones but does not have that much nutritional value that a portion of live food has. Some owners do not like the smell and noise of live prey so they offer canned grasshoppers to their dragon which is an easy method. But it is important to know that live food provides more nutrition than canned food. Therefore the conclusion is that live grasshoppers should be served to the bearded dragon rather than canned one you can serve canned grasshoppers but it should be of minimum time.
Best ways to feed grasshoppers to bearded dragons
There are different ways to serve grasshoppers to the bearded dragon but it depends on whether you are serving them live or dried.
- If you are serving them a dried grasshopper then you can spread them in the enclosure of the bearded dragon so that dragon will take time to find them and eat which includes a fun factor in it.
- Another way to serve a dried grasshopper is to mix them with a bowl of salad and serve them. This is also one of the best methods so that there would be a variety and it also provides a good amount of nutrients to the pet.
- Another way in which you want to feed live grasshoppers is that you should take out a few grasshoppers from the container and put them into the enclosure of the dragon. But due to their movement, the bearded dragon has to chase them to eat which is one of the methods to serve live grasshoppers.
- Some bearded dragon’s owners prefer to feed the grasshopper with their hands to the lizard so that they don’t have to run for them. One of the thoughts behind this is by feeding the pet with their hands builds trust between them and creates a strong bond.
Are grasshoppers good as well as safe for bearded dragons?
Grasshoppers are safe and good for bearded dragon’s health. Bearded dragons require high protein when they are young because 80% of the food includes insects only in their diet at that time and grasshoppers provide a lot of proteins to them.
Therefore grasshoppers are one of the best insects for bearded dragon’s health. But with the change in the age, the insect intake reduces and shifted to the plant-based nutrients. So you don’t have to worry about feeding grasshoppers to the dragon but remember try to feed live grasshoppers than dried ones.
Can bearded dragons eat wild grasshoppers?
No, bearded dragons cannot eat wild grasshoppers from outside the environment. The reason behind this is there is a possibility that they might have been exposed to the various chemicals in the environment that may be harmful to the bearded dragon’s health.
The pesticides and chemicals outside they come in contact with can cause fatal problems if consumed by the pet dragon. It is better to buy them from the store and feed them properly.
Can baby dragons eat grasshoppers?
Yes, baby dragons can eat grasshoppers when they are properly prepared and it is safe to feed bearded dragons a wide variety of insects but for baby dragons, all types of insects are not safe. The reason is sometimes the hard skeleton of insects damage the developing teeth of baby bearded dragons while a fully grown dragon has strong teeth and eats all kinds of insects.
Grasshoppers are safe to feed baby dragons but the limit is as they are very high in protein and their prey should be around 5% of their body weight.
Benefits of eating grasshoppers
- Grasshoppers provide a lot of proteins and minerals as well that keep bearded dragons healthy. It is shown as when bearded dragons are adults, they just eat 20% insect-based food and grasshoppers have the ability to fulfill the need for proteins.
- One of the reasons for feeding grasshoppers frequently to bearded dragons is that they are very low in cholesterol.
- Continue feeding grasshoppers will not affect the health of bearded dragons.
- Grasshoppers will not affect the digestive system of dragons unless they eat apart from their capacity.
- Grasshoppers are also rich in essential minerals, vitamins A, B, and C, and other elements like zinc, and magnesium that are beneficial for the health of a bearded dragon.
Other insects that bearded dragon can eat
Grasshoppers provide a good amount of proteins and necessary minerals but there are some insects also that are beneficial for the health of bearded dragons. Here are some insects that are suitable for your pet.
- Mealworms
- Roaches
- Phoenix worms
- Crickets
- Silkworms
- Hornworms
- Wax worms
Final thoughts
Bearded dragons enjoy eating grasshoppers and they also provide sufficient proteins that bearded dragons require from insect-based food. Mixing grasshoppers with salad is the best way to serve them. Feeding grasshoppers only from the store and avoiding the wild ones because they can pose some danger to the health of your bearded dragon. So avoid wild grasshoppers and ensure they are not spreading any dangerous pesticides or chemicals to them.
