Red wigglers are also known as red worms. They are among the most nutritious foods that you can feed your bearded dragons at any age. Therefore, yes bearded dragons can eat red wigglers.
Red worms are rich in essential fats, nutrients, and other elements such as water that your beardie requires.
We recommended that you feed your pet red wigglers as an occasional treat. Indeed, red worms contain moisture, fat, and other elements that could be unhealthy when eaten in excess.
Nutritional Value of Red Wigglers
Here are the nutritional value of red wigglers.
Protein
Red wigglers contain protein that is essential to the well-being of beardies. At both the baby and juvenile stages, bearded dragons require a lot of protein in their diet to help in their growth and development.
As they grow, they will require protein for the regeneration and formation of bones and body tissues. Protein will also help your bearded dragon to break down food. Protein will also be essential in helping bearded dragons maintain strength.
Fat
Red wigglers contain fat that can act as energy stores for your bearded dragon. Once your bearded friend has absorbed fat, they will need it to regulate their body temperature and general hormone production.
Moisture
Bearded dragons need water or moisture to keep themselves hydrated. On certain occasions, you may find your bearded dragons soaking themselves in the water bowls. They do so to help with hydration.
Additionally, your bearded friend may be adamant to drink water from the bowl. Therefore, the only way to keep them hydrated is by giving them food with high water and moisture content.
Calcium
Red wigglers contain calcium but in small quantities. Your bearded dragon will require calcium for its development and in keeping its bone and teeth healthy. Baby and juvenile beardies require a lot of calcium for the strong development of their teeth and bones.
Besides, your bearded dragon also requires calcium for egg-binding prevention if they are female. Calcium is essential in the prevention of conditions such as Metabolic Bone disease that can be dangerous to your bearded friend.
Zinc
There are small quantities of zinc in red wigglers. Your bearded friend will require this mineral when it comes to aiding in maintaining their recovery after an injury.
Magnesium
This mineral is also available in low quantities in red wigglers. Your bearded dragon will require it for maintaining a healthy brain and muscles.
What Kind of Worms Can You Feed a Bearded Dragon?
There are various kinds of worms. However, not all kinds of worms can be fed to your bearded friends. Here are the common kinds of worms that you can feed your beardie.
Butter worms
They have impressive coloring and movement that bearded dragons find appetizing. Additionally, they are high in calcium, which is essential in maintaining and the development of bone and teeth in bearded dragons.
Mealworms
These worms are easy to source. They are high in vitamins A and B. additionally they are high in protein. However, they have a hard outer shell which can be difficult to ingest especially for baby beardies.
Waxworms
They are easy to breed and they have high-fat content.
Super worms
They are quite active and they are high in calcium. These worms may not be ideal for baby bearded dragons since they have hard outer shells that may be an issue for them to ingest.
Silkworms
These worms grow quickly. They are also nutritious since they contain high moisture, calcium, and protein.
Hornworms
They have soft exoskeletons that will be easy for a bearded dragon to digest. They are also high in moisture and calcium.
Earthworms
These worms contain protein, high amounts of amino acids, and iron. They also have calcium, manganese, copper, and zinc.
How to Feed Red Wigglers to Your Bearded Dragon
Here are the steps of feeding red wigglers to your bearded dragons
Wash thoroughly
Whether you have bought red wigglers from pet stores or gathered them from your breed it is advisable that you wash them with plenty of water.
Washing red wigglers will enable you to get rid of any chemical contamination or dirt that can be found on their skin. Any contaminant may cause health-related issues to your bearded friend.
Bearded dragons like moving prey. Therefore, you should get rid of any dead red wigglers before feeding your bearded friend.
Dust the red wigglers with calcium supplements
Despite red wigglers containing calcium in low amounts, you will require to supplement them before feeding your bearded dragon. You will need to sprinkle calcium powder supplements on live red wiggles before feeding them.
Bearded dragons use their tongues to capture their prey. Red wigglers have a sticky coating on their outside body which makes them challenging for a bearded dragon to capture with their tongue.
Therefore, covering red wigglers with calcium supplements in powder form will dry them and make it easy for your bearded dragon to capture. The calcium supplement will also be an extra calcium boost for your bearded friend.
You can gut load the red wiggles with dusted veggies
Give around 20 red wigglers to your beardie if it is young. If it is an adult, about 30 will be enough.
After 10 to 15 minutes, you remove any red worms that your bearded dragon has not eaten. Dispose of the dead ones and keep the live ones for future use or feed your other pets.
How to feed juvenile bearded dragons red wigglers
You will need to feed your baby or juvenile beardie red wigglers from your fingertips if you want to bond with them. Of course, this is after washing and gut loading the red wigglers. You can also offer them baby red wigglers which are easy for them to eat and digest.
Feeding Adult dragons
If you have bonded with your bearded dragon, you can hold the red wigglers with your finger for them to eat. You can also place them in the feeding bowl. The feeding bowl should not be too high for your bearded friend to be able to easily access.
FAQ
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Bait Worms?
No, you should not feed your bearded dragon bait worms. This is because bait worms are treated with chemicals and preservatives that can be harmful to your bearded friend when they eat.
Your bearded friend may get sick after eating bait worms that contain chemicals and preservatives.
Further, most bait worms are wild collected. If you feed your bearded dragon these worms, you may transfer the parasites that they have into your bearded dragon’s body. This may cause them health-related issues.
The parasites, preservatives, and chemicals in bait worms may also lead to the death of your bearded dragon. Therefore, you should not feed your bearded dragon bait worms.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Wax Worms?
Yes, bearded dragons can eat wax worms. Wax worms are small and white. Additionally, wax worms contain various nutrients such as moisture, fat, protein, calcium, and many more. The nutrition content in wax worms is great since they will help in the health and survival of your bearded dragon.
However, you should not feed your bearded friend wax worms as a staple food. They have a lot of moisture which may lead to your beaded dragons having digestion issues if there is too much water in their body.
Wax worms also have high-fat content. Feeding your bearded dragon wax worms regularly may lead to them being obese.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Earthworms?
Earthworms contain a lot of nutrients that your bearded dragon needs for its livelihood. These worms contain calcium, protein, moisture, fat, and many more that are essential to the health of your bearded dragon. Despite earthworms being full of nutrients, you should not feed them to your bearded friend regularly.
Earthworms contain more phosphorus than calcium. With too much phosphorus deposited on your bearded dragon’s body, it may lead to them having health issues such as calcium deficiency. This is because phosphorus may bind with calcium and prevent its absorption hence leading to it having low calcium content.
You should not feed your bearded friend earthworms that you have collected directly from your garden since they may carry parasites.
Summary
There are a variety and tons of worms that you can feed your bearded dragon to make them happy. However, not all of them are created the same. They all have different nutritional content.
Truly, you can feed your bearded dragon red wigglers. They contain essential elements such as fat, protein, and moisture that your bearded dragon needs to survive and stay healthy.
However, you should feed your bearded friend red wigglers on an occasional basis. This is because, they contain, moisture, fat, and protein that when deposited in your bearded friend’s body, may lead to health issues.
Feeding your bearded dragon red wigglers should be once a week or twice every month. You should also prepare the red wigglers properly before feeding your bearded friend.
Since red wigglers have a sticky and slippery outer body, your bearded dragon may have difficulties grabbing them with its tongue. You should make it easy for them by dusting the red wigglers in calcium powder supplements.
Dusting red wigglers with dust calcium powder will make the dry and easier for your bearded dragon to grab and eat.
There are certain worms such as bai worms that have preservatives and chemicals in them. They may be used in fishing but they are not safe to feed your bearded friend. Feeding your bearded dragon such worms may lead to them having health issues that may even lead to their death.
With the detailed information above, you now know which worms you can feed your bearded friend, their nutritional value, and many more.
My name is Brad and I am the main editor of BeardieZilla.com.
The only goal of this site is quite simply to be able to help you. To help you by the means of my experiment, of the relation which I maintain with my bearded dragon as well as some of my knowledge about beardies.
I hope that you will find answers to some of your most pressing questions here.
Thank you for stopping by and enjoy the blog!
- Are you supposed to clip a bearded dragon’s nails? - October 21, 2022
- What do you do when you first get a bearded dragon? - October 21, 2022
- What is the best vegetable for bearded dragons? - October 21, 2022