Reptile Keeping
Bearded Dragon Feeding Schedule by Age (Insects, Greens, the Between-the-Eyes Rule)
Bearded dragon feeding looks simpler than snake feeding — and in one way it's harder. A dragon's schedule changes three times in its first year, mixes live insects with greens in shifting proportions, and runs against a growth race: a healthy hatchling roughly quadruples its length in twelve months, and the weighing tape is how you see it happening (or not). Here's both layers — the chart, and the log that makes the chart real.
Feeding frequency by age
| Age / stage | Insects | Greens & vegetables |
|---|---|---|
| Hatchling (0–3 months) | 2–3× daily | Offered daily (often ignored — keep offering) |
| Juvenile (3–12 months) | 1–2× daily | Daily, growing share |
| Adult (12 months+) | Every 2–3 days | Daily, the majority of the diet |
Frequencies and diet shares are consensus ranges from established care resources (ReptiFiles, Pangea, breeder guides). Individual animals and situations vary — your vet's guidance always wins over any chart.
The between-the-eyes rule
Insect size matters more than insect count. Prey should be no longer than the space between the dragon's eyes — oversized prey is an impaction risk in an animal whose whole feeding strategy is "swallow it whole." For a hatchling that means tiny crickets or small dubia, and the safe size moves up as the head grows. Gut-load the insects and dust them per your vet's calcium/vitamin schedule; the dragon eats the insect's dinner too.
The first year is a growth race
Hatchlings put on size fast when feeding goes right and stall visibly when it doesn't — which makes weight and length the earliest health signal you have. A dragon that holds its appetite but stops gaining is a different conversation from one refusing food outright. Numbers once a week turn "he seems fine" into "18 grams three weeks running" — the kind of sentence a vet can actually use.
What a feeding log does that a chart can't
The chart is the plan; the log is what happened. A juvenile eating twice daily against an adult eating twice a week means two unaligned countdowns in one terrarium row, plus greens that need refreshing daily whether or not they were touched. "Did he eat this morning, or was that yesterday" is exactly how a feeding gets doubled or missed — a per-animal feeding countdown ends the guessing, and a temperature/humidity log alongside it catches the other half of the story (basking surface temps drift with bulb age).
The tool for it
Exotic Pet Log (by Xin He Jia) is built for exactly this: each animal gets a card with its next-feeding countdown, weight and length growth curves by measurement type, temperature/humidity trend lines, and expense history — with one-tap JSON backup and restore. Fully offline, no account, one-time purchase, no ads, no subscription. It logs and reminds; your vet's guidance always wins.
Quick reference
- Hatchling insects 2–3× daily; juvenile 1–2× daily; adult every 2–3 days.
- Greens offered daily at every age — adults eat mostly greens.
- Insect size: no longer than the space between the eyes.
- Weigh weekly in year one — growth is the earliest health signal.
- Log feedings, weights, and temperatures per animal; vet beats any chart.
Exotic Pet Log
A living record for every animal you keep: feeding countdowns, growth curves, shedding history, cost tracking. Records only — no care advice. One-time purchase, no ads, fully offline.
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