Eating and the diet of the Bearded Dragons?

Question

I would like to know Bearded Dragons are from Australia, now tell me where do they get salads or crickets or even waxworms and superworms, or mealworms from in the desert, there they eat anything and everything, but you don't find the foods that we give the dragons in the desert, why oh why cant we just feed them insects like they live on in Australia, and you also don't find powdered calcium and how will they know if they do get some greens there if it is calcium rich or not, I mean sure give your beardie the best but why go to all the hassle if they don't get these things in the wild, who came up witht the idea ahhh!!!!!!!! crickets will do the job and this is not good for them and that they will thrive on in a climate that is similar to Australia

Answer 1

Yes, bearded dragons come from Australia but there has been an ongoing debate as to whether they actually come from the desserts there or grasslands and valleys. I tend to think that they will go where they find food. That is not to say that they go where they will find the most nutritous food, just that they will fil themselves and satisfy their hunger on something.
You ask why we go through the trouble to get them things that they would not get themselves if in the wild and let me say this....a beardie in the wild has an average lifespan of 2-3 years while one in captivity and being properly cared for can live as long as 12 years.
We have scientists that can accurately predict exactly what the dragons diet should consist of for optimal life expectancy and health. A beardie in the wild will eat whatever it can find whenever it can find it and that is not always a good thing. If it lives in a desert area I would think that he would not get prey items very often and if he lives in a grassy area he may get them too often and cause damage to the liver and/or kidney from protein overload.
So basically to answer your question, we go through the trouble of feeding things that we know will help to lengthen the life span of the dragon. Calcium is maybe not as much of a problem when they are outside under full sun all day long since they then are producing their own D3 so they can process any caclium that they do get. Artificial lighting cannot compare to the real sun as far as UVB production and output so they need caclium supplements to help and who's to say that the main reason for their life span to be as short as it is in the wild is not from MBD or lack of calcium?
I would not be so worried about this question if I were you, as I would be about what is best for your dragon and if you go on life span alone, it should end your question right there since in the wild they die much younger then when in capitity and being properly cared for.
You ask who came up with the idea for feeding the healthy and varied diet that we do and I would like to say that I would also love to ask that question but so I could shake that person's hand and thank them for doing the research and painstaking work it took to find out what a dragon should and should not eat in order to stay as healthy as possible.

On a side note, you ask why we could not just feed them the bugs that they would find in Australia....I say go ahead and good luck to you on that one. Good luck finding even half of the variety of bugs that they would eat in the wild and good luck that they are even half as healthy as the feeders that are suggested for staples and bred for the lizard community.
Also, meal worms are NOT good for dragons, they have too much chitin in their outer shells and are hard for a dragon to digest and impaction can result. I would like to shake the hand of the person who realised that little fact as well.

Answer 2

The reason for supplements and variety in their diet is that they DO get this out in the wild. Crickets and insects in the wild have a variety of nutrients that are not found in captive bred "feeder" varieties. Since the diet of the insect is diverse, the nutrients inside the insect are just as diverse.

In the wild beardies will eat plant materials and not just insects. The reason we give them various greens and fruits here in the states is because we can't replicate their diet in the wild. Unless you live in Australia and have access to their wild diet, the only thing you can do is approximate what they eat. They will eat flower buds, "bush" fruits, spring and new growth greens, etc. We don't have that stuff here in the states, so we feed them what we can.

You ask why to feed them calcium and how do they know their diet contains calcium... colors of greens, taste of foods, and the ingestion of mineral rich soils/water ensures they have the nutrients they need. If they didn't have the stuff they needed in the wild, they wouldn't survive there.

But the gist of your question is why go through the hassle to provide the beardies with everything they require when you believe they only eat insects in the wild. What you suggest is survival, and the goal of all pet owners is to ensure their pet thrives. To put it bluntly, you can survive on 8oz of water and 900 calories per day. Can you survive long? Nope. Can you thrive under these conditions? Nope. Will you be miserable and prone to disease? Yep. So why provide only bare survival when providing conditions to thrive are so VERY easy?

Hope it helps.

Answer 3

there are great answers above. just to add the insects that the beardies do eat in the wild are to the most part herbivores therefor insects could in fact be a source of veggies and maybe some fruit. If I had the money and a good friend in Australia heck ya send me all natural straight out of the desert/forest. but sadly I have neither. so I studied and found that the items mentioned above will help my dragon to be healthy and happy. if I decide to get a dog I wouldn't feed it deer and mice and dead carcasses which was their main diet when they roamed the woods back in the day. we supplement them with the best pro plan diet and healthy vitamins to equal what would make them healthy happy long lived pets. hope this makes sense I have thought of your question before also. as far as who came up with the idea pretty much animal dietitions and trial and error.

Answer 4

You need a Heat lamp over them all day till' night time..but keep it away from walls...yeah, they eat crickets, Meal Worms, baby pink mice (Pinkies),and if you feed them insects from the wild they can die..because they have been rised on food from your hands..not other things...and plus they get EXTRA calcuim they need from crickets..just make sure you give they ones from the pet store..because out of the wild you don't know if the crickets ate poison and is fixing to die..and you know if the crickets you buy are or not...Just ask your vet for more answers if you have any...Hope you are doing fine & your Dragon(s) 2!!! ^_^

Answer 5

It is difficut to cultivate all the food the any animal would get naturally so as pet keepers we substitute wth the nearest available to us and as we have so much choice as pet keepers the animals usually get a better diet than they do in the wild.
In the wild many babies do not reach breeding age because of predation and poor diet but in captivity most of any hatch survive to adult hood because of improved diet and no predation.
Lizards in the wild would eat earth with their food so giving them the salts such as calcium that they need. We do not keep them on earh so that we have to provide a substitute in the form of powdered calcium carbonate on their food.
The climate we provide in vivarium with a heat source , water and a hide tries to mimmic the very best that they could have in the wild without the extremes of weather such as drought, flooding or forest fires.
Care sheets are available on my web site
http://www.artsaquaticsandanimals.co.uk

Answer 6

That is not true. First: not all bearded dragons live in australia. A lot of them live in forests. Second: They do get vegetables in the dessert. I'm not saying they eat spinach and apples everyday, but they do eat a wide variety of veggies and other types of insects in the dessert that do provide them with the vitamins and minerals they need. Actually, an adult bearded dragons diet consists of up to 65% vegetables and fruits. I reccomend you go to a pet shop and have them find you a good book on raising dragons. And after reading it if your not up to what it takes to take care of a bearded dragon you might want to consider getting your dragon a new home. And then get an easier, low maintenance pet.

Answer 7

they eat green plant matter and insects in the wild and small rodents like mice etc we give powdered calcium to aid in the absorbtion of in conjuction with proper lighting minerals and calcuim so they dont get mbd witch will kill them. they dont get powder in the wild because of the sunlight they get.