In the first part about bearded dragon diet, we talked about best and worst foods to feed your bearded dragon (read here). And in this post, we will discuss bearded dragon supplement schedule and how to prepare feeder insects, also called gut-loading.
We will also talk about choosing the best supplements for your bearded dragon, schedules, dosages and will answer important questions.
Do bearded dragons need supplements?
Yes, bearded dragons need supplements – both calcium supplements and occasional multivitamin supplements. Living in captivity means that bearded dragon’s feeder bugs are not gut-loaded, thus missing important nutrients, and UVB lighting doesn’t compare to natural unfiltered sunlight.
How do bearded dragons get calcium in the wild?
If you are wondering why we need to supplement bearded dragon’s meals because they don’t get supplements in the wild, there is a reason.
Bearded dragons in the wild get calcium by consuming a wide range or greens and bugs that also eat a big variety of foods. Also, bearded dragons in the wild consume small animals from time to time. Having said that, not all bearded dragons in the wild are completely healthy.
Bearded dragon vitamin A deficiency symptoms
If your bearded dragon is vitamin A deficient, it will have eye issues – swelling, dry eyes, cloudy eyes. Your dragon might also be more prone to respiratory infections and slow growth.
Please don’t give your bearded dragon more vitamin A if you suspect a deficiency. Instead, take your bearded dragon to a vet for a blood test. Giving too much vitamin A will cause serious negative reactions.
Bearded dragon vitamin D deficiency symptoms
Vitamin D3 is important to help your bearded dragon absorb calcium. Deficiency of vitamin D3 will also lead to calcium deficiency, or Metabolic Bone disorder. The symptoms will be back kinking, soft bones, lethargy, hanging jaw, seizures and shaking.
You can read more about MBD in the health post here.
What supplements does a bearded dragon need?
A bearded dragon mainly needs a separate calcium supplement, then a calcium + vitamin D3, and other minerals and vitamins. However, calcium and vitamin D3 are the most important ones that bearded dragons need.
Why do bearded dragons need calcium? Bearded dragon calcium supplement
Calcium is the most important mineral in bearded dragon’s life because it helps build the bones, control the muscle activity and forms egg shells. If calcium levels in the blood drop low, the body will take the calcium from bones, leading to a Metabolic Bone Disease in a bearded dragon.
To make sure your bearded dragon is getting enough calcium with food, you will need to offer foods high in calcium and minimize the consumption of foods that are high in oxalates. Oxalates bind the calcium and don’t let it get absorbed by the body.
To provide your bearded dragon with calcium, you will have to dust the insects (and gut-load them) with calcium supplements.
Calcium supplements are often paired with vitamin D3 – as D3 is required for calcium utilization. If your bearded dragon lives in a cage outside or basks a lot in a day, you can reduce vitamin D3 supplementation slightly. Bearded dragons mostly synthesize vitamin D3 in their skin.
Calcium supplementation will also depend on bearded dragon’s life stage and age in general.
Bearded dragon calcium notes
Please don’t leave freestanding calcium in a bearded dragon’s cage. This way, you won’t be able to know how much and when your bearded dragon licked the calcium. Therefore, this can cause overdosing or getting too little of the supplement. Please always dust the food yourself.
What is more, never use Calci-sand for your bearded dragon’s tank. The substrate is not safe and is not suitable for calcium supplementation. Please avoid, as the risk of impaction is high.
Bearded dragon calcium bath
You might be wondering if a calcium bath is a good way to supplement your bearded dragon with extra calcium. However, calcium bath is not a good way to administer calcium.
Your bearded dragon won’t be able to absorb calcium in the water unless it drinks it. Which is not likely and not a proper way to do it. If your bearded dragon is suffering from calcium deficiency, try liquid calcium in a dropper or in a powder form.
What is the main goal when supplementing a bearded dragon’s food?
One of them main goals is to reach the ideal Ca:P (Calcium to Phosphorus ratio) in a bearded dragon’s diet. You will need to supplement with Ca so that the ratio gets closer to 2-2.5:1. Too much phosphorus binds the calcium and doesn’t let it get absorbed by the body.
With high calcium feeder bugs, you don’t need to gut-load them at all!
Bearded dragon calcium with or without vitamin D3?
Whether you need to dust your bearded dragon’s food with or without vitamin D3 will depend on the lighting in the tank. With weaker UVB output lighting, you will need to use calcium with vitamin D3.
If you are using a T8 bulb, compact bulbs or 5.0 tubes (not recommended), then get a calcium with vitamin D3 for each dusting.
And if you have a T5 10.0 High Output tube light (or similar 10.0-12.0 UVB tube light) in your bearded dragon’s tank, then you can use calcium + vitamin D3 for half of the calcium dusting days, and then pure calcium for another half. Multivitamins shouldn’t contain vitamin D3 if there’s vitamin D3 in calcium supplements.
Same goes if you take your dragon out to sunbathe and get natural unfiltered sunlight for few hours a day. In this case, you can skip using vitamin D3 at all, or use only on some days.
If using a Mercury vapor light, then you should skip dusting with any D3. Natural sunlight and MVB produce higher amounts of UVB light.
The problem with some supplements is that they can contain very high amounts of Vitamin D3, potentially leading to toxicity.
Be careful to check that supplements don’t contain more than 45,00-50,000 IU/kg of D3. Always make sure it’s less than that. Only use a pinch of a multivitamin powder to lightly coat insects. Some supplements will have reduced Vitamin D3 levels on purpose.
Best supplements for bearded dragons:
Please note, you will need a separate pure calcium (or calcium with vitamin D3 with low UVB bulbs), and a separate multivitamin. Use on separate days.
- Repti-calcium powder with vitamin D3 like this – vitamin D3 is required to metabolize calcium, so calcium supplements often come with vitamin D3. Choose one that is phosphorus free.
- Phosphorus free and vitamin D3 free calcium powder by Repti-Calcium like this.
- You can also offer your bearded dragon a cuttlebone for pure calcium. Cuttlefish bone is high in calcium. You will need to file it or grind in a grinder before offering in a dish.
- Liquid calcium is also fine, especially for dragons that are already deficient in calcium.
You should also supplement your bearded dragon’s food with other vitamins, minerals and even amino acids.
Best multivitamins for your bearded dragon are:
- If you choose a multivitamin that has phosphorus in it – the ratio of calcium to phosphorus should be at least 2:1.
- What is more, only buy vitamin D3, and not vitamin D2 – your bearded dragon can’t utilize D2 vitamin. Another name for vitamin D3 that you might find on a packaging is cholecalciferol or animal sterol.
Rep-Cal Multivitamins
Best multivitamins for bearded dragons are:
- Multivitamin complex by Rep-Cal like this, includes important amino acids
- Repashy is a reputable brand which also has calcium + vitamin supplements like this. Some are all in-one, to dust on the same day and make things easier.
Calcium to Phosphorus ratio in a bearded dragon’s diet
Calcium:Phosphorus ratio in bearded dragon’s diet is extremely important. Always make sure that your bearded dragon is getting twice more calcium than phosphorus.
The ratio should be 2:1 (up to 2.5-3:1) of calcium to phosphorus. Phosphorus is commonly found in many greens and veggies, so you need to increase calcium intake by beardie. Too much phosphorus in the diet will bind the calcium and prevent its absorption.
Bearded dragon supplement schedule
Supplement and vitamin schedule for bearded dragons | ||
Bearded dragon age | Calcium (with or w/o D3) | Vitamins (without calcium. Also without D3 if you get calcium with D3) |
Hatchling/baby – 0-4 months old | 6-7 days a week | 2 days a week |
Juveniles – 4-12 months old | 5 days a week | 2 days a week |
Adults of over 12 months old | 4 days a week | 1 day a week |
Adults of over 24 months old | 3 days a week | 1 day a week |
A sick bearded dragon of any age | 6 days a week | Depending on a deficiency and severity, up to 4 days a week |
Gravid female – during and for around a month after laying eggs to restore storages | 6 days a week | 2 days a week |
If feeding high calcium bugs such as Black Soldier fly larvae, butterworms, Phoenix worms | 3 days a week for bearded dragon under 24 months old 2 days a week for bearded dragon over 24 months old | 1 day a week |
Try to use multivitamins and pure calcium on separate days. For example, your supplement schedule can look like this: Vitamins, calcium, calcium, vitamins, calcium, calcium.
For adults, you can do the following: Calcium, calcium, nothing, vitamins, nothing, calcium. Leaving a gap between vitamin and pure calcium supplementation will help with better absorption.
It doesn’t matter which days of the week, you can choose your own days.
How much powdered supplement do you need to use on food?
As a general rule, a pinch of powdered supplement should be enough to cover few insects. Dusting greens is less efficient, as it will clump up and can wash off. But you can dust fruits/veggies if your dragon doesn’t eat powdered bugs.
Gut-loading of the feeder insects is on top of dusting, not only one or another.
How to supplement a bearded dragon’s food?
The first way to present the supplements to your bearded dragon is by dusting the food.
Presenting the supplements to your bearded dragon is the next step. There are few tricks to learn, and let’s discuss them here:
- The best way to give supplements to your bearded dragon is to add them to the food that he is eating.
- The most effective way to get your bearded dragon to eat all the supplement – is to add it to the insects. Bearded dragons love their insects, so there is a bigger chance that it will eat all the dusted insects. Vegetables and fruits are often wet, and the powder might wash off or clump up. But if you have to, choose dusting vegetables instead of fruits.
- Adding vitamins to water is not the best way to do it – vitamins will cause bacterial growth and make the water taste weird. Plus, bearded dragons don’t drink too much water in a day – most of the supplement will be wasted.
- To get the powder supplement on insects, place the insects in a shaker (there is a special cricket shaker like this) and add a pinch to half a teaspoon of supplement. Then, shake the container gently so that all the insects are covered with powder.
- Feed your bearded dragon straight away, as supplement might brush off.
The second way to present the supplement to your bearded dragon is through gut-loading the insects that it eats.
Gut-loading bearded dragon’s insects – crickets and other bugs
Insects that you offer to your bearded dragon are usually very low in nutrients, such as calcium and other vitamins.
While dusting the insects is easier than gut-loading them, gut-loading is also a good way to pack them with supplements. If you decide to gut-load the insects for your bearded dragon, do this 1 day before feeding them to beardie.
Bearded dragon food gut-load rules
- Never feed the crickets or worms that you just bought straight away to your bearded dragon. Bugs and worms that have not been gut-loaded don’t have enough nutrients for your beardie.
- Gut-loading is taking care of and feeding the crickets and other insects to load them with vitamins and minerals for your bearded dragon.
- Feed the insects nutritious foods 24 hours before feeding them to your bearded dragon. To do this, you have to keep all of them in a pen.
- Generally, it is easier to feed your worms, crickets and other bugs commercial diet that are specifically prepared for them. Some worms and bugs are hard to gut-load as they need a specific diet.
- Don’t offer them water – you can easily drown them or cause bacterial growth. Offer them small pieces of fruits such as apples and oranges for a water source. But most people choose to buy readily available calcium fortified cricket drink like this or cricket water in a gel form.
- Foods that you can give the crickets and other insects are lab-rodent chow, powdered milk, bran flakes. Most people choose to buy ready calcium rich complete cricket food and other high-calcium foods. You can even feed it dry bearded dragon food on top of veggies and fruits.
How to gut-load bearded dragon’s crickets and other insects? Insect care.
To gut-load and prepare the feeder crickets and other insects for your bearded dragon, you need to get a container. In this container, you will keep, feed and prepare the insects. Although you can use a large plastic container, there is a risk of insects escaping.
The better way to store your crickets and other insects is to use a cricket pen like this.
This cricket pen features a removable lid, food and water bowl, trap door and dispensers.
- All you have to do to use this cricket pen is to open the top lid, fill the water bowl with cricket gel water or quencher, and add the food to the food bowl.
- After that, add the crickets, and close the top lid.
- When adding the crickets or other insects, make a hole in the bag and throw them in through the top lid.
- Keep them in there for 24 hours, so they can eat, drink and get nutritious.
- To get the crickets out, pull the side dispenser tube with crickets inside it. The flap will shut automatically to prevent any crickets from escaping the pen. Hold your hand on top of the dispenser (use your palm) to prevent any escapes and throw them in into the vivarium.
The size of a cricket pen will dictate how many insects you can keep at once. Generally, you will be able to keep around 50 medium sized crickets in a small pen, and twice more in a large one. If you want to breed the crickets and other insects, allow few months for this. It can be often easier to buy them as needed.
How long to gut-load your bearded dragon’s feeder bugs for?
As a general rule, keep and gut-load any type of insect food in a pen for around 24 hours before feeding them to your bearded dragon.
Cricket care and for gut-loading
Crickets are widely available and easy to care for (if there are not too many of them). Only buy as many crickets as you need for maximum a week. Otherwise, crickets can escape, make noises and smell unpleasantly. So, how to care for bearded dragon’s crickets?
Keeping crickets in a pen is one the best choices and minimizes any chances of them escaping. If you don’t want to get a cricket pen, you can use an up to 10 gallon aquarium with a screen lid.
You can also provide your crickets a spot to hide, but this is not a must. In a cricket pens, they can hide in the tubes before you catch them. But if you are using a fish tank for crickets, you can place one or two cardboard boxes for them to hide in. Sometimes crickets hiding in a box can make their catching harder.
Make sure that temperature in a room where you keep your crickets doesn’t fall below 20 degrees Celsius (68 Fahrenheit). Also, don’t use any substrate for crickets.
To gut-load the crickets, you can use commercial foods and quenchers (for water) to make it easier. Other choice is to offer grounded cereals (wheat bran, white wheat, whole grain), rabbit pellets, tropical fish flakes, lab-rodent chow and turtle food.
Offer the food that is ground up in a processor. For a water source, use a gel-form water or offer slices of fruits with high water content. Oranges, apples, pears, bell peppers, melons and leafy greens are good choices.
Roach care while keeping them in a pen for gut-loading
Roaches are also very good choices for your bearded dragon meals. The big advantage with roaches is that for example, Dubia roaches like this can’t climb the pen glass or escape in any other way.
Keep your roaches in a cricket pen and feed them same foods as crickets. Don’t overfeed them protein foods, as they are already high in proteins. Most roaches will eat almost anything, so feed them everything that your bearded dragon needs nutritionally.
As most roaches that you will use are tropical roaches, you will need to keep them in warm conditions. Heat their pen or aquarium externally to up to 28-30 C (82-86 F) degrees, to make them comfortable. For heating, use an under tank heater like this or heat lamps.
The main thing that roaches need is a dark hiding spots and proper ventilation (use a screen lid).
Breeding crickets at home can be made easy, and this can save you lots of money, especially if you have more than one pet. To breed crickets easily at home, you need to set up automatic food and water stations. If you would to start breeding your own crickets at home, using an easy revolutionary method, please see this manual & video series.
Meal worm and king meal worm gut-loading
Mealworms are also not hard to care for – you can keep them in a cricket pen or other deep container. Use a screen lid to allow the air circulation. Feed them same foods as crickets, including fruit or lettuce slices or commercial gel quencher for a water source.
The ideal temperature for mealworms is around 70-75 degrees F (21-23 degrees Celsius) and you can use an under tank heater or heat lamp for this purpose.
For mealworms, use a substrate – this can be ground up bran flakes or even flour – cornmeal, wheat, oatmeal etc. They will also eat the substrate. Fill the pen or aquarium up to 40-50% with substrate.
Mealworms turn into adult beetles in time, and you can also feed them to your bearded dragon. You can also breed them, by providing food and heat for them to lay eggs.
Tomato hornworms for bearded dragon gut-loading
Most tomato hornworms that you buy online come in a cup with food. So you can keep them in this cup where they will eat the ready food. Check on them before offering to your bearded dragon. Open the lid slightly for fresh air to come in and make sure they are clean before feeding them to your beardie.
Some general rules on roach, cricket on worm care:
- Always clean the cricket pen or aquarium after removing the insects. Make sure to clean and remove the feces, uneaten foods (they become moldy), dead insects and so on. Wipe the glass or sides of the pen. Even though this is not the most pleasant procedure, new insects that use the same pen will catch the bacteria and pass them to your bearded dragon.
- Place a screen cover lid on a container or aquarium, if you are not using a cricket pen for bugs or worms. Ventilation is very important for insects.
- Sprinkle the food that you are offering to feeder insects with calcium and other supplements. You can skip that if using commercial foods fortified with vitamins.
Read more on caring and gut-loading of insects in this post.
Thank you for reading this article! Make sure to read the next part where we will cover everything on feeding hatchling, juvenile and adult bearded dragons! We will talk about food portions, ratio of insects:vegetables in bearded dragon’s diet and many other things!