A bearded dragon feeding chart follows one pattern: babies eat mostly insects, two or more times a day, and adults eat mostly greens, with insects two to three times a week. The change happens gradually over the first 18 months or so.
The exact numbers differ from one source to the next, so the chart below gives the range across four published guides. After it, you'll find what those guides disagree on and how to choose.
Bearded dragon feeding chart by age
| Age | How often | Insects | Greens and vegetables |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 3 months | 2-5 meals a day | 70-75% | 25-30% |
| 3-6 months | 1-4 meals a day | 50-70% | 30-50% |
| 6-12 months | 1-3 meals a day | About 50% | About 50% |
| 12-18 months | 1-2 meals a day | 20-50% | 50-80% |
| Adult (18+ months) | Every 1-3 days, insects 2-3 times a week | 20-25% | 75-80% |
These ranges combine guidance from NC State's veterinary hospital, VCA Animal Hospitals, Chewy and PangoVet. Keep a shallow dish of fresh water available at every age, and change it daily.
Why bearded dragon feeding schedules disagree
The biggest gap is the number of meals. NC State moves a dragon down to one meal a day from about four months. PangoVet still lists three a day at 6-12 months, and two a day for adults. Chewy sits between them.
The adult split varies too. NC State, Chewy and PangoVet all put insects at 20-25% of an adult's diet. VCA gives about 50% plant and 50% animal as a general figure, and says it varies with age. VCA also notes that opinions on the best captive diet differ and that the science is still developing, so no chart is the final word.
Our suggestion is to start with NC State's schedule, because it comes from a veterinary teaching hospital, and then let your dragon's numbers adjust it. A young dragon that gains steadily and clears its food is getting enough. If yours is falling behind the growth chart or looks too heavy on the body condition check, change the plan with your vet.
How much to feed a bearded dragon
Portions are set by time rather than by count, because appetite varies so much between dragons:
- Insects: offer them for about 10 minutes, then remove whatever is left. Chewy adds that loose insects left in the enclosure can bite or stress your dragon.
- Greens and vegetables: leave them in for around 30 minutes so nothing spoils. Young dragons may ignore them, but NC State still recommends offering vegetables at mealtimes so the habit forms early.
- Adjust by what's left: if the dragon clears everything well before time is up, offer more next meal. If a lot is always left over, offer less. This is PangoVet's approach.
For size, Chewy's rule is that insects should be no wider than the space between the dragon's eyes. PangoVet says a dragon under three months can eat as many as 50 crickets a day, so don't be alarmed by a big number at that age. Adults are different: too many insects can lead to obesity.
What to feed: staples, sometimes foods and foods to avoid
| Group | Foods | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Staple greens | Collard, dandelion and turnip greens | Good daily base for the salad |
| Staple insects | Crickets and dubia roaches | Chewy's recommended staples, gut-loaded first |
| Vegetables | Squash, bell pepper, green beans, carrot | Add variety and color to the salad |
| Limit: oxalates | Spinach, beet greens, Swiss chard | VCA says feed sparingly, as oxalates can block calcium absorption |
| Limit: goitrogens | Cabbage, kale, mustard greens | VCA urges caution, as excess can suppress thyroid function |
| Treats only | Fruit, waxworms, superworms, hornworms | Fruit is low in minerals; fatty worms can cause obesity |
| Never | Avocado, onion, garlic, rhubarb, fireflies, wild-caught insects | Toxic, or at risk of carrying parasites or pesticides |
Sources differ on a few of these. NC State includes spinach and kale in its list of greens, VCA says to limit them, and Chewy says to avoid spinach altogether. Keeping them out of the regular rotation satisfies all three. Skip iceberg lettuce as well: it's mostly water, with little nutrition.
Calcium, D3 and gut-loading schedule
Insects are high in phosphorus relative to calcium, so a diet without supplements can lead to metabolic bone disease. Here is what the guides recommend:
| What | How often | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Phosphorus-free calcium | Light sprinkle on food, daily | VCA |
| Calcium with vitamin D3 | 2-3 times a week | VCA |
| Multivitamin | Once or twice a week | Chewy, PangoVet |
| Gut-loading insects | Before every feeding | NC State, VCA, Chewy |
Dust a small portion of food and offer it first, so the supplement gets eaten. VCA warns that over-supplementing, particularly with vitamin D3, is a common problem, so more isn't better. Ask your vet to tailor this schedule to your dragon.
Timing advice for gut-loading varies: NC State says 24-72 hours before feeding, Chewy 12-24 hours and VCA within 12 hours. Keeping feeder insects on gut-load food the whole time you house them covers all three. Supplements also depend on lighting, because a dragon needs UVB to use vitamin D3 properly. Our care guide covers the setup.
When your bearded dragon stops eating
An adult can go several days without eating, so one skipped meal is rarely an emergency. A longer refusal is still worth investigating. Chewy suggests checking the temperatures and lighting first, then looking for stressors such as other pets nearby, and then offering different foods. If your dragon still refuses food, see a vet.
If this is happening in autumn, an adult may be heading into brumation. Insects usually get ignored first, then greens. Our brumation guide explains how to tell it apart from illness and how to manage the gut-emptying stage. A baby or a thin dragon that stops eating needs a vet's opinion rather than a wait-and-see approach.
Keep a simple feeding log
A chart gives you a starting point, while a log shows what your own dragon is doing. Write down the date, what you offered and how much was eaten, and add a weight every couple of weeks. A slow drop in appetite is easy to miss from memory, but it's clear on paper, and it gives your vet something concrete to work with.
Beardie Days is the bearded dragon tracker we built for this. You can log a feed in a tap from the app, a widget or your Apple Watch, and add a note like "12 crickets, ignored greens". Home shows which dragons are due, after two days by default, and you can change that gap to suit your dragon's age. Weights go on the same timeline. It's free for up to two dragons with five records per dragon, and Premium removes those limits.
Frequently asked questions
How often should you feed a bearded dragon?
Babies usually eat two to three times a day, juveniles once or twice, and adults every one to three days. Adults get greens most often, with insects two to three times a week. Published charts vary, so use your dragon's weight trend to settle where in that range it belongs.
How many crickets should a baby bearded dragon eat?
There is no fixed count. Offer appropriately sized insects for about 10 minutes and remove what is left. PangoVet notes that this can reach about 50 crickets a day for a dragon under three months, split across several meals.
What can bearded dragons not eat?
Do not feed avocado, onion, garlic, rhubarb, wild-caught insects or fireflies. Iceberg lettuce has little nutritional value, and spinach, beet greens and Swiss chard should stay occasional at most because their oxalates can block calcium absorption.
How often should I dust insects with calcium?
VCA's guidance is a light sprinkle of phosphorus-free calcium on food daily, plus calcium with vitamin D3 two to three times a week. Too much supplement is also a common problem, so ask your vet to adjust this for your dragon.
See when your dragon last ate
Log meals and weights in Beardie Days, and see which dragon is due at a glance.
Download Beardie Days on the App Store →Keep reading: Bearded Dragon Growth Chart · Bearded Dragon Care Guide. This guide is general information, not veterinary advice. Ask a reptile vet about your own dragon's diet. Questions or corrections: support@elevenapril.com.
