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Is my bearded dragon eating enough? He only wants worms, not veggies.

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

I fed my beardie 5 large superworms, 2 horn worms, and 7 medium and large crickets. He chowed all the worms in 30 seconds and ate a single cricket after a minute or two. I have been feeding him this way for over 2 years and have always been told this was fine as long as he doesnt look overweight. He also gets romaine lettuce or kale every day which he usually doesn't touch. My question is, should I be feeding him more? Should I just keep popping in worms until he gets stuffed?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Todd Cecil

Veterinarian

Published on March 21st, 2019

Thanks for reaching out about Smaug and including photos. Adult bearded dragons are omnivorous eating bugs and vegetation. With the vegetables, red, yellow and orange vegetables are also important. Insect have inverse calcium to phosphorus ratio and are a poor long term diet. Gut loading the insects is important to provide appropriate nutrients. If he doesn't get as much bugs, he might be hungry and eat the vegetables. By the photos, he is a little overweight indicated by the thickness of the tail and fat pads in the axillary (armpit) area. Good luck.

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    Answered By Joy Fuhrman, DVM, MBA, CPA

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 3rd, 2017

    Typically, only juvenile bearded dragons need to eat crickets and mealworms. Adult beardies should do just fine on a diet of high-quality vegetables such as kale, dark-leaf lettuce, carrots, bell peppers etc. If you are concerned about cutting out the insects, then start by eliminating the mealworms. These are extremely high in fat and are like candy for beardies. If you continue to be concerned about his weight, you should take Phoenix to the veterinarian for a check up. You can find a reptile specific veterinarian at http://arav.org/.

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