How often is it best to feed bearded dragon?
As I mentioned in another thread, I recently took one in as a pet from a friend. His eating schedule has been up in the air so my friend who was caring for him said to look online what is best but I thought I would ask here to see if anyone knows for certain.
Adults should eat once a day and keep it at the same time daily so if you want to feed them in the evening, pick a time and feed them within a one hour window of that time.
It depends on the age. Like mentioned, adults eat once a day. For younger dragons, you feed them up to 4 times a day.
Most people say once a day but I like to do a meal at 12PM and a meal at 12AM. This way he gets more variety and I can let the food sit in there long enough without worrying about it going bad in between meals.
fae_cummerata: Most people say once a day but I like to do a meal at 12PM and a meal at 12AM. This way he gets more variety and I can let the food sit in there long enough without worrying about it going bad in between meals.
@fae_cummerata I think twice a day is better from what I read. A lot of owners do it this way because it is easier for their schedule too. Some people need to buy fresh food weekly and it makes sense to split the meals and have them prepacked and ready to go.
I think the once a day rule is spot on. They take a long time to digest their food, all cold blooded animals do. This is why feeding them too often can lead to health complications.
amelia: I think the once a day rule is spot on. They take a long time to digest their food, all cold blooded animals do. This is why feeding them too often can lead to health complications.
@amelia Exactly. You should see how people get shocked when they learn snakes only eat once a week. I don't know what people expect to be the case for cold blooded animals.
Bearded dragons are diurnal creatures which means they are active when the sun is up and sleep at night. It is best to feed them in the morning or early afternoon. Feeding them in the evening can interrupt their sleep patterns.
Once a day is quite common.
For me, I prefer to split that up into smaller meals consisting of different foods. I'm sure they enjoy getting to eat different stuff throughout the day.
You could even feed them 3 or 4 times a day as long as you size down the meal accordingly.
Test out different feeding schedule to see if it prefers one way over another.