The bearded dragon, or Pogona Vitticeps, is arguably one of the best types of lizards to have as a pet. Like humans, bearded dragons are awake during the day and sleep during the night, making it easy to interact with them. Bearded dragons are very alert and playful, demonstrating great enthusiasm over feeding time, especially when chasing around crickets. When it comes to feeding a bearded dragon, live food can provide a healthy, balanced diet. Continue reading to learn more about bearded dragon care and the benefits of Dubia roaches for bearded dragons.

Benefits of Dubia Roaches for Bearded Dragons

Bearded dragons really love to eat, and they sure eat passionately! It’s quite a fun activity to watch. As omnivores, their diet consists of plants, insects and small rodents. Young bearded dragons consume approximately 80% insects and 20% plants. In comparison, a full grown bearded dragon eats the opposite amount — 20% insects and 80% plants.

When it comes to insects, we highly recommend Dubia roaches for bearded dragons because they offer a great number of benefits. Dubia roaches provide a diet advantage consisting of everything your bearded dragon needs to stay active and healthy. Along with macro and micro-nutrients, these insects contain high amounts of protein.

For your bearded dragon, live food advantages go beyond nutritional value. For one thing, Dubia roaches don't smell like other feeder insects. They're also easy to store — simply keep them in a container placed in a warm, dark location and give them food and water. In the unlikely instance they escape, Dubia roaches typically die rather than reproducing. As a result, you won't have to worry about them causing an infestation within your home.

Best of all, bearded dragons enjoy the taste and experience that comes with eating Dubia roaches. They typically can't get enough of these insects, so you won't have any trouble providing them when it's feeding time.

Care for Bearded Dragon Tip There are additional ways to provide even more nutritional value with roaches for bearded dragons: dusting and gut loading. Dusting this live bearded dragon food consists of lightly coating it with vitamins and minerals. To do this, place the Dubia roaches in a closed bag along with a supplement powder. Then proceed to gently shake the bag. This will provide the Dubia roaches with a good coating of additional nutrients for your bearded dragon. In comparison, gut loading Dubia roaches for bearded dragons can be just as effective. This process consists of feeding the insects food containing any nutrients you want your bearded dragon to consume. For example, if you want your reptile to get more vitamin A, you can feed the Dubia roaches vegetables like squash and carrots. Or, if you wish to provide your bearded dragon with more calcium, you can serve the Dubia roaches greens. Whether you choose dusting or gut loading, when you feed this live bearded dragon food to your pet, you'll also be feeding it the same vitamins and minerals.

Feeding Bearded Dragons When considering how many Dubia roaches to feed a bearded dragon, the answer varies by age. A full grown bearded dragon can eat three to five Dubia roaches over the course of two to three feedings per day. In contrast, you'll need larger quantities of Dubia roaches for baby bearded dragons. They typically eat 25 to 50 of these insects per day and can be fed multiple times each day.

Bearded Dragon Age Recommended Size of Dubia Roaches for Bearded Dragons Full Grown Bearded Dragon 2 inches Baby Bearded Dragon Smaller than the space between their eyes

Other Live Bearded Dragon Food While Dubia roaches are an excellent source of bearded dragon live food, you can always supplement them with other options to give your bearded dragon some variety. The following insects are also healthy choices for your pet: Dubia roaches

Mealworms

Waxworms

Superworms

Bearded Dragon Lifespan With a diet of nutritional food like Dubia roaches, your bearded dragon can live a long, healthy life. When they first hatch from their eggs, baby bearded dragons are about four inches long. As they age, full grown bearded dragons can grow up to two feet long, from their heads to the tips of their tails. Typically, males will grow larger than females. Generally, bearded dragons are full grown and sexually matured by 12 months of age.

How Long Do Bearded Dragons Live? With the proper diet and living environment, domesticated bearded dragons can live until they are six to ten years old. However, there have been rare cases of some bearded dragons living significantly longer.