Bearded dragons are omnivorous reptiles, which means they eat both vegetables and live food (insects).
They will eat a mixture of both throughout their entire lifespan, however, the ratio of veggies to insects will change as the dragon grows.
When young, a bearded dragon will eat mostly live food.
This is a very active time for the young dragon and it will steadily grow in size over the first 1 - 2 years of its life.
As a beardie gets older, its diet will start to consist of more vegetables and less live food.
Suppliments For proper nutrition, calcium and vitamin powders will occasionally need to be applied to the food (normally by dusting their meal with a fine powdered supplement).
Calcium intake is very important because bearded dragons can be susceptible to metabolic bone disease if proper calcium levels are not reached.
Supplement powders can be applied to live insects by placing some in a plastic bag with the insects and shaking.
Vegetables It is also important to vary the types of vegetables and insects that you feed your bearded dragon.
A varied diet provides a wider range of vitamins and nutrients.
Some vegetables may be high in certain vitamins but lacking in others.
The basis of the vegetable portion of a dragons diet should be leafy greens.
These include collard greens, mustard greens, kale, and dandelion greens.
Greens should be provided every day for a dragon throughout its life.
The base green vegetables should be supplemented with small portions of other vegetables including beans, peppers, and carrots.
All vegetable matter that you feed to a bearded dragon must be sufficiently chopped up so that the dragon will not choke on it.
Nothing you feed your beardie should be larger than the space between their eyes.
Insects Insects should be given to young dragons daily.
Only feed as many as the bearded dragon can consume in one feeding.
Remove any insects if the dragon does not eat them as they can nibble on sensitive parts of a beardie while they sleep.
As a bearded dragon gets older, it will eat less and less live food and the feedings can be reduced to every other day.
Only feed insects that are smaller than the width between the bearded dragons eyes as food that is too large can cause health problems and become lodged in your dragons digestive tract.
Some common feeder insects include crickets, mealworms, superworms, and roaches.
Freeze dried or otherwise preserved insects are also available at pet stores, however, live food is best.