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"Pet Bearded Dragon Care & Information (Pogona vitticeps)"

Bearded Dragon Crickets

Bearded Dragon Crickets

Crickets are the main foodstuff for captive kept Bearded dragons and other insectivorous lizards. These insects contain most of the main ingredients, namely proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals, vitamins and water and are sufficient to sustain, or at least support higher life. The average nutritional composition for well fed grey crickets is ca. 21% protein and 6% fat. Their practicality and ease of breeding puts them in the number one spot when it comes to feeder insects.

Bearded Dragon Cricket Sizes

Commercial crickets are sold as large, medium, small or pin head sizes. Hatchlings or so-called pinheads are wingless and literally the size of the head of a standard pin. Pinheads are usually fed to very small Baby bearded dragons.

Small crickets are larger than pinheads, but still only a few millimeters long. Medium crickets are about 10 mm or 1 cm / 0.4 " in length and depending on the species, adults grow up to about 2 - 3 cm / 0.8 - 1.2 " in length.

Selecting Bearded Dragon Crickets

There are obviously various criteria used to select the perfect Bearded dragon cricket. When it comes to choosing the perfect commercial cricket for your pet Bearded dragon the most important things to look for the is size and probably the price. Bearded dragon crickets should be no larger than the length between the eyes of the lizard.

How Much Bearded Dragon Crickets

As a general rule of thumb only the amount of crickets that can be consumed within ten to twenty minutes should be given per Bearded dragon. Depending on the size of the dragon, the size of the cricket and the frequency of feeding, this can be anything from one or two to more than fifty crickets per feeding. Free roaming crickets should always be discarded after each meal to prevent stress and possible physical bite injuries when the Bearded dragons are sleeping.

Bearded Dragon Crickets Species

The two main cricket species fed to Bearded dragons in South Africa are the European house cricket, also called the grey cricket (Acheta domestica) and the Common black cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus). Both these species are high in protein and energy. In comparison with most cockroaches, Bearded dragon crickets are more proliferous and softer. They are also easy to dust and gut load. When compared to grasshoppers and many other feeder insects, they are easier to breed, their legs are more reduced and the thorax is easier to digest, which, more importantly, makes them safe to feed.

Feeding Bearded Dragon Crickets

Crickets should always be gut loaded twenty four to forty eight hours prior to being fed to Bearded dragons. Because feeder crickets have a unfavorable Ca:P ratio (1:12) it is also recommended that they are dusted with an appropriate Bearded dragon calcium supplement two to three times a week.

The Advanced Bearded Dragon Manual
For Basic & Advanced Bearded dragon care incl. Bearded dragon crickets & more...
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