# So can bearded dragons just live off 'worms'



## Nutorious (May 24, 2009)

I know if they are young they should be given hoppers. But over 6 months when they can basicly digest the outer shell alot better can they have meal worms and super worms as there main live food diet? and maybe give them hoppers on occasion? Leopard geckos can live off just gutloaded mealworms so i am finding it hard to belive that bearded dragons cant! Is there a reason why they cant? i have read lots of things of people saying they can and cant and at first i thought they couldnt but the more i read in to it the more i believe they can.


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## witchyroo (Jan 27, 2010)

I know mine would given the choice!


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## Charlottie (Oct 4, 2008)

I'm no expert but they might prefer/ it could be better for them if they were provided with a more varied diet rather than just mealworms, i know leopard gecko's can go on a diet of meal worms but surely variety is better and provding crickets/hoppers/roaches enables to them to run around and hunt for them. I think the same with beardies, I knew one that loved chasing around the viv for his hoppers! 

this is just my opinion, please dont take offence.


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## Mrs Dragon Wolf (Oct 28, 2009)

*they will eat mealworms, Mario worms (but don't forget to crush their heads as they can damage your beardies digestive system if you don't) crickets, hoppers and wax worms (not to many of those though because of the high fat content .... more of a treat for them), they will also eat a variety of vegetable , look HERE for some ideas, the older they get the more veggies they will eat, don't forget the calcium and vitamin dusting of veggies and live food *


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## Dragon Wolf (Oct 27, 2009)

If they had no other choice I guess it's possible, but where possible I think it's better to give them a variety of food choices.


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## lee young (Oct 14, 2009)

Nutorious said:


> I know if they are young they should be given hoppers. But over 6 months when they can basicly digest the outer shell alot better can they have meal worms and super worms as there main live food diet? and maybe give them hoppers on occasion? Leopard geckos can live off just gutloaded mealworms so i am finding it hard to belive that bearded dragons cant! Is there a reason why they cant? i have read lots of things of people saying they can and cant and at first i thought they couldnt but the more i read in to it the more i believe they can.


in short, no. How would you like to live off just one food stuff? CAN and SHOULD are two very different things. A bearded dragon fed just on worms would live a very poor life, and would almost definitely not live as long, have more major health issues, stunted growth etc etc. For a full and healthy life a Bearded Dragon (and any reptile for that matter) Needs a balanced varied diet, including a variety of properly gutloaded and dusted livefoods (even roaches and hoppers, which are some of the best livefoods should not be fed exclusively) and a variety of vegetables, fruit and salad.

You COULD keep a bearded dragon in a small 1ft box with just a heatmat and small UV bulb, and it would probably survive for a few years, but that doesnt mean you SHOULD.


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## Nutorious (May 24, 2009)

Ahh sweet, I do have a empty 1.5 ft viv!! Only joking. So u can but you shouldn't? I wouldn't have just given them mealworms though, that would have just been there 'main' LIVE food.


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## lee young (Oct 14, 2009)

no, you shouldnt if you want a happy healthy beardy. Once theyre over a year old, and with a good variety of veg/salad/fruit you'd be ok alternating between mealworms and locusts/roaches, but just mealworms would be a bad move in my opinion, theyre not very nutritious.

Get yourself a roach colony, they breed like wildfire and beardies love them.


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## Antw23uk (Jan 12, 2009)

lee young said:


> in short, no. How would you like to live off just one food stuff? CAN and SHOULD are two very different things. A bearded dragon fed just on worms would live a very poor life, and would almost definitely not live as long, have more major health issues, stunted growth etc etc. For a full and healthy life a Bearded Dragon (and any reptile for that matter) Needs a balanced varied diet, including a variety of properly gutloaded and dusted livefoods (even roaches and hoppers, which are some of the best livefoods should not be fed exclusively) and a variety of vegetables, fruit and salad.
> 
> You COULD keep a bearded dragon in a small 1ft box with just a heatmat and small UV bulb, and it would probably survive for a few years, but that doesnt mean you SHOULD.





lee young said:


> no, you shouldnt if you want a happy healthy beardy. Once theyre over a year old, and with a good variety of veg/salad/fruit you'd be ok alternating between mealworms and locusts/roaches, but just mealworms would be a bad move in my opinion, theyre not very nutritious.
> 
> Get yourself a roach colony, they breed like wildfire and beardies love them.


:notworthy::notworthy:


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## sarahdilan (Feb 18, 2010)

i feed a mixed diet too. I love pizza but would get very bored and unhealthy if it woz only thing i ever ate. Would def agree that a variety of everything is for the best. Crix if nothing else would keep them active and interested in the chase. Mine like hoppers best. One is quite partial to meal worm. Getting there with veg slow but sure


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## connor 1213 (Apr 6, 2009)

I defo would not feed a pure worm diet...


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## beastluke (Sep 27, 2008)

as stated about the varied diet, but also, the shells are made from keratin which is like our finger nails. so imagine with everything the beardy eats, a large percentage of keratin would be in it. beardies dont have the suitable enzymes in their stomach to digest a proteing like that from the ectotherms unlike predatory animals who's diet consists of this at every feeding such as a lion or a vulture


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## kellymca2001 (Sep 8, 2008)

i have a bowl of mealies in my tank all the time...but give crickets daily..also try and introduce new types of fruit or veg every day but they love there mealies the bowl always gets emptied.i just fill as required,,not after 7pm as there lights go out 9..xx


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## lee young (Oct 14, 2009)

beastluke said:


> as stated about the varied diet, but also, the shells are made from keratin which is like our finger nails. so imagine with everything the beardy eats, a large percentage of keratin would be in it. beardies dont have the suitable enzymes in their stomach to digest a proteing like that from the ectotherms unlike predatory animals who's diet consists of this at every feeding such as a lion or a vulture


The exoskeletons of insects is actually made from chitin, not keratin, and an adult beardy can easily digest chitin as part of a varied diet. Crickets have almost as much chitin as mealworms, they just have a higher capability for gutloading, but locusts and roaches with their larger abdomens have an even higher gutload potential, which means they can be more nutritious.

The Chitin in mealworms can be problematic for babies and even sometimes juvi's, but a healthy adult kept properly will be fine digesting chitin, the main problem with mealworms is their lack of nutritional quality, and their tendency to make the beardy lazy as they dont have to chase anything.



> i have a bowl of mealies in my tank all the time...but give crickets daily..also try and introduce new types of fruit or veg every day but they love there mealies the bowl always gets emptied.i just fill as required,,not after 7pm as there lights go out 9..xx


Not really good practice I'm afraid. If your beardies are babies then they will eat as much as they can, but shouldn't be given many mealies because as mentioned above they can struggle to digest them.

If they're adults then they really shouldnt be getting livefood every day, and especially not mealworms, as they are prone to becoming overweight. Any amount of easy to catch livefood everyday is going to result in an obese beardy.

Also, I notice you said 'They', does this mean you have two beardies in one tank? If so I assume you know the risk and dangers of doing so? If you're breeding them and they are temporarily living together then I apologise.


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