Capital No or Yes for Cockroacoch in a Bearded Dragon’s Diet?
The answer is a “Capital Yes.”
Bearded dragons can feed on cockroaches. They have a lot to benefit from eating cockroaches in terms of nutrients. But not all roaches are safe and nutritious enough for bearded dragons to eat.
This article discusses the safe and nutritious cockroaches for your bearded dragons. It also gives insight into cockroaches’ nutritional value and how often you can feed your roaches to your beardies.
What Cockroaches Can I Feed My Bearded Dragon?
The best cockroach species to feed your bearded dragon is the Dubia roach.
There are many other cockroach species that you can feed to your bearded dragon, including the Discoid cockroach, and many other house roaches. But Dubia roaches are the best and for many reasons.
Reasons You Should Choose Dubia Roaches Over Other Roach Species
- Dubia roaches have the highest percentage of crude protein compared to other roach species. Dubia roaches have about 23% crude protein content. The next closest one is the Discoid roach with 20%.
- Dubia roaches have no odor, unlike other cockroach species that have offensive odors.
- Unlike other cockroaches, Dubia roaches are not pests and will not spread disease-causing bacteria and viruses around your beardie.
- Dubia roaches have more protein, lower fat content, and lesser chitin than many other roach species, which makes them the best feeder insects for bearded dragons.
Nutritional Value of Dubia Roaches
Cockroaches are generally proteinous and should be a large portion of your beardie’s diet.
Dubia roaches are an excellent choice for all-around nutrition. They are moderately high in protein, have a soft body, and have smaller shells than other roaches have.
They are a major source of calcium with sufficient calcium to phosphorus ratio, rich in other nutrients (Vitamin A and D), and have low fat and high moisture content. They are the ideal insects to feed your young bearded dragons since you want them to grow strong healthy bones.
| Nutritional Item | Content |
| Cal:P Ratio | 0.66/1 |
| Moisture | 59.8% |
| Protein | 21.8% |
| Fat | 7.7% |
| Mineral | 1.7% |
| Chitin | 3.5% |
How Often Should I Feed My Bearded Dragons Cockroaches
Young bearded dragons need more calcium and protein than adult beardies to grow strong bones. Younger bearded dragons can eat more small cockroaches per day.
If your bearded dragons are less than 3 months old, you can feed them about 10-15 small cockroaches divided into 3 to 5 feedings, depending on their size and how hungry they are. You can do the same for your juvenile bearded dragon (3-8 months old) but only twice a day.
If your bearded dragon is 8-12 months old, you need to feed it 20-50 small cockroaches, but only once a day. And if you keep a full-grown bearded dragon (more than a year old), you should feed it only 30-50 cockroaches per week.
Adult beardies should have more vegetables in their diet. you should thus reduce how often you feed them cockroaches as they grow older. You should also ensure that the diet of adult beardies is 30% insects and 70% vegetables.
Can Baby and Juvenile Bearded Dragons Eat Cockroaches?
Bearded dragons love cockroaches. Young beardies especially need cockroaches to grow healthy.
Cockroaches should be part of a baby bearded dragon’s diet. at least 70% of their diet should be insects which makes cockroaches a great option for this portion.
Baby and juvenile bearded dragons need more protein than adults. So expect your baby bearded dragon to eat more than an adult beardie (about 25 to 50 small cockroaches per day).
How to Feed Your Bearded Dragon Cockroaches
If you’re feeding older beardies, mix the cockroaches with other foods that it likes.
Do not feed your bearded dragons cockroaches that are bigger than the gap between their eyes. If you do, they might choke to death. Only feed them live cockroaches.
For younger beardies, keep feeding them until they lose interest and always remove uneaten food after your bearded dragon has filled its belly.
Final Thoughts
Feed only store-bought live cockroaches or the ones you bred yourself.
Continue to read our main article “What do Bearded Dragons Eat?” for all the ins and outs on general diet questions, and get a further detailed breakdown of other popular foods in the articles below:
