What to Feed Bearded Dragon Baby? – Full Diet Routine
First of all congrats on a new baby beardie. Before we go ahead on what to feed bearded dragon baby? make sure you don’t keep your baby beardie on any kind of substrate. Generally, they can be very excited and messy eaters on dirt like Calci Sand. Now, let’s continue with what to feed bearded dragon babies?
If when they try to catch insects by climbing off the soil or sand, they will get a mouthful of dirt. Dirt like san can clog them up and can end up your baby beardie life. At this stage, there is nothing you can do to heal them up. So avoid keeping them on any kind of substrate.
You also have to clean their pooing by changing the substrate, so it’s 100% best to keep your baby beardie on a kitchen towel or newspaper, plus it will be cheaper as well. Clean the pooing daily to avoid them catching diseases and parasites.
Keep in my mind, if your bearded dragon just gave birth to them, then let me tell you not all the baby beardie that hatch is destined to live. So, it’s crucial to keep them on an ideal diet and environment to avoid this.
Adding to that, you should keep them at an ideal temperature. If you don’t have any control over the vivarium temperature, it’s better to get a thermostat that will give you full control over the heater and UVB temperate.
If your baby dragon is less than 4 weeks old or even more, read this full article as it will give you a brief idea of generic feeding tips that you need to follow. So without wasting, Let’s Begin.
What To Feed Bearded Dragon Baby?
You can feed them the same diet that you were feeding to an adult their mother. However, gut-loaded insects are more recommended. Plus, it’s, even more, better, if you feed them hoppers or locusts than crickets as they are more nutritious for your baby beardie with multivitamins and calcium powder.
I have divided their diet routine into four categories to give you a better explanation of what you should be fed according to their growth. But you should always ensure that whichever insect you are going to feed them is gut loaded. It’s recommended to feed the insects on grass before feeding them to your baby dragon.
A gut-loaded insect is more nutritious than an empty cricket. So, the four categories are
- Diet for 0 to 1 weeks old Baby Beardie
- Diet for 1 to 2 weeks old Baby Beardie
- Diet for 2 to 3 weeks old Baby Beardie
- Diet for 3 to 4 weeks old Baby Beardie
So, let’s start with the first one:
What to feed bearded dragon baby? – 0 to 1 week old
There is not much difference between feeding an adult beardie and a baby beardie. It’s just the way of feeding a baby beardie gets more basic. You just need to feed them in smaller pieces and smaller amounts. Many folks out there worry what to feed a baby bearded dragon who is just 1 week old but let me tell you!
Right from their birth, they can eat their natural food like insects but at that moment, they usually take less interest in starting with vegetation. You’ll find them trying to catch and eat smaller moving objects than him.
If you still want to offer them a vegetable, then you can just simply offer them shredded greens make sure you finely cut up the leaves and every baby beardie can get some without any fights.
It’s not very certain to feed them in the first week as they still have some nutrition from their egg when they hatch. So before gaining an appetite, they may take some time to recover. Don’t be worried if your baby beardie doesn’t eat for the first 48 hours it’s completely normal.
Now, the diet for the first week should be small pieces of gut-loaded insects. I would suggest, it’s better to avoid feeding them any kind of vegetables for the first week. It’s nothing to worry about if you find them not eating or not moving too much for the first 48 hours. Just keep patience, and it’s better to avoid disturbing them.
What to feed bearded dragon baby? – 1 to 2 weeks old
It’s the second week and now, you should notice them moving and eating a little bit. If you are not one of them who was worried about an infant not eating in the first week, then this is the time you should ask what to feed a bearded dragon baby who is 1 or maybe 2 weeks old.
You can now try feeding them some vegetables like finely shredded greens and insects. As a diet, it’s better to feed them with hoppers or locusts rather than crickets.
Now, the point to note is that you should feed them with insects that is shorter in length. Insects that are shorter in length are preferable than the width. Well, they are not a very picky eater or fussy about the size and they usually try to eat anything bigger in size than themselves.
I am sharing this from my experience as I have seen they eat more if insects are smaller in size. However, it’s your choice, it’s just a recommendation. Plus, if you want to keep them smaller, it’s better to offer them the insects in a bowl.
You can also start feeding them some vegetables but make sure to cut and shred the leaves to make it easier for them to eat. If you feed are going to feed your baby beardie some crickets then I would recommend pouring the insects into the small bowl and adding some multivitamin & calcium powder in it every other. Shake the bowl a little bit.
Still, it’s recommended to feed them locusts or hoppers than cricket as they are more nutritious. Remember to feed them multivitamins & calcium powder every other day as it will ensure your baby beardie healthiness.
When you are feeding, wait for 10 to 15 minutes to allow them to catch & eat the insects. You should at least feed them twice a day and remember to clean the uneaten from the vivarium.
What to feed bearded dragon baby? – 2 to 3 weeks old
Congrats, if you successfully feed your 2-week old baby beardie, now you may ask – what now? it’s the third week, should I continue the same diet, well the straight answer is – no. Then, what to feed the bearded dragon baby on the third week. Hmm, let me clarify that for you.
As soon as the first two weeks have passed, you should continue feeding them with the vegetation regularly. You don’t need any fancy vegetation, just some basic leaves salad will work for you and them. Avoid lettuce or anything that can bind with calcium.
You just need to cut the leaves into small pieces, as it will make it easy for your beardie to eat. Larger pieces can make them not interested in eating, so the smaller the better. Something like that, you know what I mean.
Well, normally I used to shred the leaves in a bowl ( a shallow bowl ) and place it into the vivarium from them to find and eat. It worked perfectly for me, so I think it should work well for you too.
This is the time when you will need to separate them into smaller groups as it allows more space and will prevent any possible fight for food and space. You also need to maintain the temperature of their vivarium. It should be closely monitored.
An ideal temperature for the baby bearded dragon should be between 95 to 100 degrees. You should maintain the temperature accordingly and allow them to warm up slowly. It’s even better to have a thermostat installed in the tank or vivarium.
You should make sure that they have water for drinking and can easily help themselves when they feel dehydrated. You can offer water to them a few times a week. They can even get dehydrated despite
hailing for the deserts.
What to feed bearded dragon baby? – 3 to 4 week old
Oh hey, my beardie is more active and looking healthy, well don’t be so excited, your job is not done yet – it’s kinda the beginning of the chapter. You will now need to plan a fixed diet and that diet should be followed till the 8th week. Wait, Again?. Yes. Then, what to feed the bearded dragon baby on the 4th week.
At this point, you will find them very active if you have been successfully maintained the temperature of the vivarium. You can almost feed them the same diets that you used to feed their mother. But still, feeding them some nutritious insects is preferable to vegetation, as the young ones need more nutrition than an adult one.
However, it doesn’t mean that you should be avoiding the vegetation, they are also important. I think the best diet for the youngs will be-
1st day: Both of the meals should include insects
2nd day: One meal should be vegetation and another one should include insects
3rdday: Again, both meals should include insects
4th day: Again, one meal should be vegetation and another one should include insects
And repeat till they are 8 weeks old or more if you want.
Just remember, the diet process is not recommended, it’s just what I did when my beardie was baby. It doesn’t mean that you should be doing this too. It’s all your choice.
Make sure they are fully hydrated and healthy. Avoid overfeeding them. You should closely monitor their growth and the vivarium temperature. If you suspect anything wrong with your baby beardie, then, it’s highly recommended to see an experienced reptile veterinarian as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Bearded Dragon has speedy metabolism and no doubt that they are very fast-growing creatures. You need to make sure that they are healthy with proper growth. They should be fed frequently when they are young with nutritious food.
An average growing dragon should eat 3 times a day but it’s recommended to feed the youngs 2 times a day with nutritious hoppers or locusts. Make sure the insects are fully gut-loaded before you feed them to your baby beardie.
Apart from that, you need to feed them some vegetation as well. Don’t ignore the nutrition of vegetations. Wait for almost 15 to 20 minutes as it will allow them to catch the insects and eat it. Normally, baby dragons take 15 minutes to consume the crickets.
As soon as they are done with their meal and the 20 minutes is up, you should clean the uneaten from the vivarium. Don’t forget to offer them some water as well because they can also get dehydrated sometimes. You can offer them water a few times a week. The best way will be bathing.
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Apart from this, the most important thing we should keep in our mind is to not keep them on any substrate like calci sands as it can choke the newborns or youngs, and lead them to death.
Don’t think that keeping them on the sands will be okay because they live and grom on the soil/sand in the wild. This is a wrong perception as not all the baby beardie are lucky enough or meant to live.
Keep on the kitchen towel or paper as it would be best and cheap. Plus it will make the poo cleaning easier. You can easily dispose of that towel or paper.
Don’t avoid or ignore the power of supplements like multivitamins and calcium powder. The multivitamins and calcium powder are also very important as the foods. It’s necessary to provide them with some calcium powders and multivitamins for healthy growth.
They may not eat for the first 48 hours but don’t worry it’s normal. It’s common to notice them not moving or eating too much for 2 days. Just keep patience, everything will be okay at the end of the first week.
I have divided their diet plans into four categories every week. You can follow them to ensure their healthy growth. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this article ” what to feed bearded dragon baby?”, feel free to drop a comment down in the comment section. 🙂
I hope, you got a rough idea about what to feed bearded dragon babies? and what not!
Good luck with your baby beardie and more importantly, Congrats. 🙂 Follow us on social media
94% of pet owners say their animal pal makes them smile more than once a day. In 2007, I realized that I was made for saving Animals. My father is a Vet, and I think every pet deserves one. I started this blog, “InPetCare”, in 2019 with my father to enlighten a wider audience.