Bearded Dragon Treats

Waxworms, hornworms and superworms are the usual bearded dragon treats, with a little fruit and the occasional flower on the side. Whether an insect counts as a treat or as a meal depends on the dragon's age, and that is the first thing to settle.

Insects as treats and insects as food

VCA Hospitals describes young bearded dragons as mostly insect eaters and adults as more plant eating. So the same cricket is dinner for a juvenile and an extra for a grown dragon, and the line between food and treat moves as the animal does. Settle which stage your dragon is in before deciding what counts as a treat.

Size is the other half of it. VCA Hospitals names calcium dusted crickets, mealworms and dubia cockroaches as the everyday insects, and a treat insect should go down as easily as those do. Hold the worm up beside the dragon's head before you offer it. One that looks long next to a small dragon is the wrong worm for that animal, however much it wriggles.

A treat insect is the one the dragon would pick over its salad. It is rarer, richer and more exciting than the staple, and that is exactly why it is a reward.

Waxworms, hornworms and superworms

Waxworms are small, pale and soft. Dragons go for them at once, and the keeper's trade off is just as quick to see: VCA Hospitals says waxworms and superworms are high in fat and should be given sparingly, not daily. A few, on a good day, is a treat. A tub is a different thing.

Count them out before the dragon sees the cup. A handful of waxworms looks like very little in the hand and is a lot of worms for one animal, so decide the number first and put the rest of the cup out of sight.

Hornworms are the showy ones. They are bright green, soft bodied, with a small horn at the tail, and a full grown one is several inches long, so size it against the dragon's head before you reach for the tongs. They are sold live in a cup, and they grow quickly in it, so a cup bought small can hold much larger worms a week later.

Use tongs, not fingers. A dragon strikes at whatever moves, and a finger moving next to a worm is a target too. Tongs also let you place the worm exactly where you want the dragon to look, which makes treat time easy to repeat from day to day.

Superworms are the bigger cousins of mealworms: longer, firmer and faster. They crawl and curl and keep moving, and movement is what a dragon is watching for. Offer one from tongs, held a few inches from the dragon's nose and moved slowly along the floor of the enclosure, and watch the head turn.

The reptile treats collection lists what is in stock, and dried insects for reptiles covers how a dried feeder compares with a live one.

Fruit and flowers

Fruit is the sweet end of the treat list. VCA Hospitals says fruit should be fed to a bearded dragon as a treat only, and the usual pieces are small ones: a blueberry cut in half, a chopped strawberry, a cube of mango. Cut it smaller than you think you need to, since a dragon's mouth is wider than a throat.

Flowers are the quieter treat. VCA Hospitals lists dandelions and hibiscus among the flowers a dragon can eat, and dried flowers sold for reptiles are the easiest to find. Flowers from a florist are grown for how they look, so use ones sold for animals, or picked from a yard where you know what has been sprayed on them.

A dragon decides quickly what it likes. One that spits out a piece of fruit is telling you something, and it is fine to take the piece away and try a different one another day. Nothing is gained by offering the same rejected piece three times in a row.

Offer fruit and flowers in the same dish as the greens, with the treat on top. A dragon that sees the sweet piece first may leave the greens behind, so put the greens at the front and the treat at the back.

Dusting and loading feeders

Two terms come up on every care sheet and every bag of feeder insects, and VCA Hospitals' bearded dragon page covers both. VCA describes dusting as coating insects with calcium powder, and gut loading as feeding the insects good food within 12 hours before they go to the dragon. Both are practices a keeper does with feeders, not features of a treat.

This page does not tell you which powder or how often. That belongs to the care sheet that came with your dragon and to a licensed professional who cares for it. Dust by dropping the insects in a cup with a pinch of powder and giving it a gentle shake.

Sniff and Shift makes its freeze dried and air dried treats in small batches in Malvern, Pennsylvania, for dogs and cats, so nothing in that line is suggested for a dragon. A house with a dog and a dragon can begin at treats for every animal in the house and go to each animal's own shelf.

Common questions

Which insects does a bearded dragon eat every day?

VCA Hospitals names calcium dusted crickets, mealworms and dubia cockroaches as everyday insects. Waxworms and superworms are the treat end of the list. Young dragons eat more insects than adults do.

Are waxworms a daily treat for a bearded dragon?

No, they are one to hand out now and then. VCA Hospitals says waxworms are high in fat and should be given sparingly, not daily. A few at a time on a good day is a treat.

What is the difference between dusting and loading insects?

VCA Hospitals describes dusting as coating insects with calcium powder before feeding. VCA describes gut loading as feeding the insects good food in the 12 hours before they go to the dragon. Ask a licensed professional who cares for your dragon which applies.

Can a bearded dragon eat flowers?

Yes, VCA Hospitals lists dandelions and hibiscus among the flowers a dragon can eat, and dried flowers sold for reptiles are the easiest to find. Avoid florist flowers. Use ones sold for animals or picked from a yard you know.