Crickets make up an important part of a bearded dragon’s diet. As a bearded dragon owner, you likely spend time catching crickets to put in your dragon’s enclosure. But can you just leave crickets in there, or do you need to remove them after a while?
If you’re short on time, here’s a quick answer to your question: You should not leave live crickets in a bearded dragon’s cage for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. Any longer risks the crickets biting and injuring your dragon.
In this comprehensive article, we’ll cover whether it’s safe to leave crickets in a bearded dragon cage, for how long, risks of leaving them, tips for leaving them safely, and alternatives to leaving live feeders.
Is It Safe to Leave Crickets in a Bearded Dragon Cage?
Crickets Can Bite and Injure Bearded Dragons When Left Too Long
Leaving live crickets in a bearded dragon’s enclosure for extended periods can pose certain risks. Crickets are naturally inclined to hide in small, dark spaces. If left uneaten, they may nibble on a sleeping dragon in search of moisture or protein.
Their bites can lead to irritation, infection, and stress.
Crickets have sharp mouthparts that can scratch or puncture delicate skin tissue around the eyes, nostrils, ears, and cloaca. These wounds provide an entry point for bacteria that cause abscesses or septicemia. Unchecked bites may even lead to limb damage or loss.
One or two accidental nips are not cause for alarm but leaving crickets to freerange overnight is ill-advised.
Nutritional Concerns of Leaving Crickets
Aside from physical harm, allowing feeder insects to remain in the tank can negatively impact their nutritional value. The longer crickets go without gut loading (feeding them mineral- and nutrient-rich foods beforehand), the less optimal they become as feeders.
Crickets have rapid metabolisms and digestive tracts that empty quickly. Those left in the tank for over 6-12 hours without vegetables or grain starve, depleting their vitamin and calcium content. Malnourished feeders then pass fewer nutrients to the reptile that eats them.
This raises the risk of nutritional deficiencies that can progress to debilitating disease over time.
It is wise to remove uneaten crickets after no more than 30 minutes. A good rule of thumb is offering no more than your bearded dragon can consume within 10-15 minutes at each feeding. Avoid leaving stray insects that could die and spoil in the enclosure, attracting bacteria harmful to your reptile’s health.
| Risks of Leaving Feeder Crickets in the Enclosure | Mitigation Steps |
|---|---|
| – Bites causing skin trauma and infection | Remove crickets after 15 min |
| – Nutrient loss over time | Gut load crickets beforehand |
| – Bacteria from dead insect waste | Discard dead crickets daily |
The ASPA recommends no more than 30 minutes of contact between feeders and dragons. Following their best practice advice minimizes health risks associated with leaving crickets or other live prey.
How Long Can You Leave Crickets in an Enclosure?
10-15 Minutes Max for Adult Dragons
When feeding adult bearded dragons, it’s best to leave live feeder crickets in the enclosure for no more than 10-15 minutes at a time before removing any uneaten ones. This short duration prevents issues like the crickets biting your dragon when it tries to sleep, or the feeders hiding in hard-to-reach places inside the tank decor and potentially causing stress or hygiene problems later.
You can allow a slightly longer window if your adult dragon is especially voracious and is actively chasing down crickets to eat. But supervision is still key, and any crickets seemingly able to evade your dragon should be taken out promptly.
5-10 Minutes for Babies and Juveniles
For younger juvenile and baby dragons that are more vulnerable, best practice is leaving crickets for just 5-10 minutes before removing them from the habitat.
The shorter duration protects tiny hatchlings that might have trouble fending off crickets who get nippy. And it prevents excess crickets from stressing out babies if they lose track of any while hunting.
| Bearded Dragon Age | Time to Leave Feeder Crickets |
| Adults | 10-15 minutes |
| Juveniles & Babies | 5-10 minutes |
Following these cricket time limits lets all life stages of bearded dragons safely enjoy the nutritional benefits of hunting appropriate insect feeders.
For more tips on ideal feeding techniques and prey items for a thriving dragon, check out informative care sites like Bearded Dragons World.
Risks of Leaving Crickets in Too Long
Cricket Bites
Leaving live crickets in a bearded dragon’s enclosure for too long can increase the risk of cricket bites. Crickets are omnivores and will bite your dragon if they get hungry enough. The bites are usually not serious but can lead to infections or abscesses in some cases.
It’s best to remove uneaten crickets after 10-15 minutes to avoid this problem.
Crickets have strong mandibles that can break a bearded dragon’s skin, especially around their eyes, nostrils, and the corners of their mouth. Baby dragons under 4 months old are especially vulnerable.
One bite may not seem like a big deal, but imagine getting bitten by crickets multiple times a day, every day. It’s painful and stressful for your pet.
Eating Too Many Crickets
When crickets are continuously available, bearded dragons tend to overeat them. It’s similar to leaving a bowl of chips in front of humans all day – we would likely over-snack too! Eating too many crickets can lead to obesity, nutritional imbalances, and even impaction in reptiles.
Crickets are high in phosphorus and fat. An excess of these nutrients over time can cause liver or kidney damage in beardies. A varied diet is healthiest. Leaving crickets in the tank at all times allows your dragon to fill up on them alone and ignore healthier options like vegetables.
Egg Laying and Infestation
Crickets left in a tank too long will start laying eggs and creating a growing infestation. Crickets can lay 1,000-3,000 eggs that hatch into tiny nymphs in about two weeks. If left unchecked, you’ll soon have a tank overrun with thousands of crickets!
It’s nearly impossible to remove all the egg-laying sites and crumbs to prevent this from happening. Even just a few escaped crickets can hide, mate, and Populate your tank. Continuously having crickets means you’ll inevitably battle infestations that stress your pet and require thorough tank cleanings to remove.
Tips for Safely Leaving Crickets
Supervise While Feeding
It’s crucial to monitor your bearded dragon while allowing crickets to roam its enclosure. Crickets can nibble on your dragon while it sleeps, especially around delicate areas like the eyes and nostrils. Stay nearby to watch for aggressive behavior.
Have Proper Enclosure Set Up
Ensure your vivarium meets your dragon’s needs before introducing feeders. It should have adequate temperature gradients, hiding spots, and room for exercise. Proper housing reduces stress and protects dragons during vulnerable molting or shedding periods.
Choose Appropriate Sized Crickets
Only leave crickets not exceeding the space between your dragon’s eyes to prevent impaction issues from oversized feeders. Ideally the cricket’s length should be less than the distance from your dragon’s eyes to nostrils.
Here is a size comparison chart as a guideline when selecting crickets:
| Bearded Dragon Age | Maximum Cricket Size |
|---|---|
| 0-4 months old | 1/8 inches |
| 4-8 months old | 3/8 inches |
| 8-18 months old | 1/2 inches |
| Adults 18+ months | 3/4 inches |
For more tips, visit the Bearded Dragon Care 101 diet page.
Alternatives to Leaving Live Crickets
Use a Feeder Tank
Instead of leaving live crickets to roam freely in a bearded dragon’s main habitat, pet owners can utilize a separate “feeder tank” specifically for feeding time (Sterba, 2022). This method confines the live insects to avoid issues like biting or harmful microorganisms.
Owners simply place their bearded dragon into the spare tank and provide an appropriate amount of live prey to hunt and catch.
Feeder tanks enable easier monitoring of food intake. Owners can confirm their pet has eaten enough within the enclosure before returning them to the primary vivarium habitat (The Bearded Dragon Guide, 2023). This helps prevent potential health issues from under or overeating within the main cage.
Feed Vegetables Instead
While not a complete substitute for live insects, owners can look to feed more vegetables as a supplemental nutrition source. Good veggies for adult bearded dragons include collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, endives, dandelion greens, squash, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes (Fit Bearded Dragons, 2022).
These plants offer beneficial vitamins, minerals, and fiber.
Incorporating more vegetables can allow reducing live feedings to 2-3 times weekly rather than daily. This further minimizes the presence of loose prey items within the inner cage space (The Spruce Pets, 2022).
Owners should research proper vegetable options and quantities to match their pet’s size and age.
Use Calcium Powder on Dead Crickets
Instead of live crickets, owners can coat dead crickets with calcium powder then feed them to a bearded dragon. This ensures proper skeletal support while avoiding risks associated with housing live insects long-term indoors (Reptile Advisor, 2021).
Frozen then thawed crickets retain their nutritional value for digestion.
Dusting dead prey takes more effort yet grants peace of mind. Owners simply transfer the frozen insects into a plastic bag and shake to evenly coat them with powder supplements before feeding time. It meets nutritional requirements without free-roaming live bugs that may bite or transmit parasites inside the cage.
Conclusion
While crickets make up an indispensable part of a bearded dragon’s diet, leaving live crickets in an enclosure for too long comes with risks. Limit leave-in times to 10-15 minutes for adults and 5-10 minutes for juveniles.
Supervise feedings, have proper enclosure set up, and choose appropriate sized crickets. As an alternative, use a feeder tank, feed vegetables, or coat dead crickets in calcium powder before serving.
