You’re probably thinking about giving your bearded dragons all the flies buzzing about your house. After all, flies are insects, so most people will presume they’re nutrient-dense and safe to eat for the beardie.
Is it true that bearded dragons can eat flies, you may ask, and yes, bearded dragons can eat flies without harming them. Flies are safe to consume, but the difficulty is that flies are scavengers and consume anything, including rotten meat. Bacteria develop on spoiled food, which can be passed to flies as they lay eggs, thus resulting in maggots or black soldier fly larva.
Now, you may wonder, catching flies can be challenging, yet maggots or the black soldier fly larvae are much easier to get hold of. You can even purchase them from a fishing tackle shop and possibly a pet store.
Now, can bearded dragons eat maggots? In our guide, you can see what an adult bearded dragon’s diet consists of. By the end, you’ll see what you need to feed your adult bearded dragon as part of their staple diet, and what most bearded dragons can eat as a treat. (Read Can Bearded Dragons Eat Any Bugs)
Can Bearded Dragons Eat House Fly Maggots?
Wild flies are scavengers who will devour everything that isn’t alive. In the natural world, flies keep the environment clean by consuming animal feces, dead animals, and damaged foods.
Flies can be dangerous to bearded dragons and other types of lizards as a food source. Wild flies themselves will not harm adults of bearded dragons, but they will be harmed by what the flies eat.
When animals die, food spoils, or animal waste accumulates, bacteria and illness thrive. When flies arrive to eat it, the germs either cling to them or are consumed by them as they are the black soldier fly larvae once they hatch.
As a result, their preferred foods are those that carry harmful bacteria and diseases. Wild flies are unsanitary critters, so don’t feed them to the bearded dragons.
Black soldier fly larvae are high in calcium and low in phosphorus, making them a fantastic staple diet or treat.
Bearded dragons, leopard geckos, turtles, and other bug-loving creatures will enjoy the larvae of the Black Soldier Fly.
Can Bearded dragons eat fly larvae?
Insects that you like to eat, To begin with, bearded dragons will eat just about every insect that crosses their path.
Black army fly larvae, pinky mice, butter worms, cockroaches, dead crickets, Dubia roaches, earthworms, locusts, redworms, mealworms, and superworms are all delicious insects and contain plenty of nutritional value.
Can Lizards Eat Maggots?
Because of their feeding habits, flies are the most common disease spreader. This is why feeding them wild flies is highly harmful.
House flies, and fruit flies are the most common flies you’ll see in and around your home. Unfortunately, houseflies have been linked to transmitting hundreds of diseases and parasites to humans.
Once the flies land on an object or are consumed, these diseases can spread in seconds. As a result, flies landing on or being eaten by a bearded dragon might easily carry those diseases.
The way maggots feed, you could wonder if they are eaten, they could harm your lizard. Maggots won’t dig their way out of an animal that eats them. (Read Can Goats Eat Rabbit Food)
Besides, they secrete a mildly antiseptic fluid that can be used to disinfect wounds. They’re not harmful nutritionally; they’re similar to wax worms. This means you should avoid feeding them too often as they lack the nutritional value needed, but they wouldn’t hurt occasionally as a treat.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Worms From Outside?
Bearded dragons are omnivores, which means they may eat various insects and plants.
Crickets, cockroaches, and several types of worms are among the insects they can consume. So, yes, earthworms are a safe food source with a nutritional profile that dragons can consume.
Small earthworms that have been grown without pesticides or parasites are okay to feed to your adult bearded dragon in moderation.
The following are the most frequent types of worms that can be fed to a bearded dragon:
- Butterworms.
- Mealworms.
- Waxworms.
- Super worms.
- Silkworms.
- Hornworms. Phoenix worms and Calci worms.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Red Maggots?
Flies from pet stores are suitable for feeding your bearded dragons. These flies are maintained in a sterile environment to prevent disease transmission.
When purchasing from a pet store, locating one that sells them may be challenging. Flies don’t offer a lot of nutritional value that can help reptiles; thus, they won’t be found in most settings.
You can raise flies at home, yet don’t raise flies you notice in your home by catching them. You’ll almost certainly end up with diseased flies, which could be passed on to your bearded dragon.
Instead, go out and get maggots to raise. Place the maggot in a container secured at the top with a screen. Flies will begin to emerge in a day or two. You can start feeding the flies to your bearded dragons after a week.
Flies, once again, provide little to no sustenance for bearded dragons. As a result, never feed flies anything other than crickets and insects. Flies should only be used to enhance your diet.
Instead of flies, you may wonder what bearded dragons can eat? You may feed bearded dragons various things that are far more nutritious and safer than flies.
Because bearded dragons become bored eating the same food every day, you should rotate their food frequently. You can feed them various things, including live foods, veggies, and fruits.
Instead of flies, you can give them crickets, Dubia roaches, and locusts. If you’re going to feed them insects, make sure they’re from a pet store or have been raised in a controlled setting.
When they are out in the wild, they, like flies, may catch diseases. A 20 percent insect diet and an 80 percent vegetable diet should be provided to an adult bearded dragon. (Read Can Chickens Eat Papaya Seeds)
Mealworms are excellent bug additions for bearded dragons. However, these worms should only be offered occasionally because of their fatty composition.
Mealworms are ideal for gaining weight in bearded dragons, especially those recovering from illness. Adult bearded dragons should be limited in the number of insects and worms, but babies and juveniles can eat as much as they want.
