Almost 5% of American households are home to pet lizards, absolutely true! In recent years, reptiles have become increasingly common household pets in the United States.
This growth can be attributed to a number of factors, including shifting human population trends and shifting public opinion of the animals.
But before you go ahead and consider one as a pet, you need to know the answers to a few questions. How do you take care of a lizard? What do lizards eat?
Keep reading to find out more about lizards and their care.
What Types of Lizards Can Be Pets?
Perhaps the most commonly kept lizards today are bearded dragons, leopard geckos, and chameleons. All kinds of lizards are fairly common as pets, but it might be difficult to know what to feed them considering the wide range of lizard species that are currently accessible.
There are lizards that only consume animal products, herbivores that only consume plants and fruits, and omnivores that consume all three (eat both meat and vegetables plus fruit).
What Do Lizards Eat?
Since different species of lizards require varied diets in order to be healthy, it is impossible to generalize about what lizards consume. Learn more about the feeding for each of these lizards, below.
What to Feed Bearded Dragons
Because they are omnivores, bearded dragons need to be fed a variety of fresh produce and live insects every day in addition to fruits like bananas, apples, pears, and peaches. You can also go for melon, nectarines, watermelon, plums, grapes, papaya, pineapple, and berries too. Bearded dragons can eat vegetables like leafy greens, squash, and carrots.
Or include peppers, broccoli, string beans, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, celery, and cucumbers. Avoid using onions and garlic.
What to Feed Chameleons
Chameleons are harder to feed than other lizards. However, they’re more popular now. Most chameleons are carnivores, devouring insects and wingless fruit flies; veiled chameleons eat mustard, dandelion, and collard greens.
Adult chameleons should be fed every day or every other day, depending on their weight, breeding status, and health.
One or two insects should be provided until the chameleon stops eating. As described, insect supplements should be powdered on them. Chameleons use their extended tongues to catch and devour insects.
Chameleons will only drink water dripping from plants in their habitats, not standing water.
What to Feed Geckos
Leopard geckos exclusively consume insects, no veggies. Depending on their health and reproductive activities, huge adults may only need to eat every second day. Depending on their size, geckos can eat mealworms, crickets, and other worms.
As with bearded dragons, insects should be gut-loaded and only fed in quantities the lizard will eat so they don’t gnaw on it. Vitamins and minerals should be dampened and dusted on insects; you can find them at just about any reptile shop.
Geckos tend to overeat and get obese. Geckos should eat no more than 20 insects in 20 minutes. Don’t give geckos insects that are too big to eat. Insects longer than the lizard’s eyes shouldn’t be fed to them.
Lovely, Lovely Lizards
Now you can easily answer what do lizards eat! You’re armed with the right information in order to go out and pick your perfect legged-lizard companion.
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