Feeding a pet lizard is one of the easiest aspects to their care; but what do baby lizards eat? Baby lizards eat a lot of different items. And always in larger amounts, relative to their size. Several species of lizard even have major dietary shifts as they grow older.
What Do Baby Lizards Eat?
The exact diet of a baby lizard is a matter of what species you have. But as a general rule, omnivorous lizards (those that eat animals and plants) should have more protein when younger.
Several lizards eat a 80-20 blend of plants to animals, like bearded dragons and blue tongued skinks. As babies, this ratio should be reversed. You should offer them 20% plant-based foods. And 80% animal-based foods.
How Often Should Baby Lizards Eat?
Baby lizards need more protein than adults. They also need to eat more often, both to maintain their metabolisms as well as to fuel their fast growth.
Baby lizards should be fed every day to every other day, depending on the species. A baby bearded dragon needs to eat 2 to 3 times per day. Compared to an adult bearded dragon, which needs one feeding per day.
A baby savannah monitor eats 3-4 times per week. Which is still more often than an adult monitor lizard (1 to 2 times per week). You will need to learn the specifics of feeding for your type of lizard.
Be careful to avoid overfeeding; all lizards will overeat if you allow them to. With a baby lizard, this is less of an issue. It will turn excess food into extra growth. But if you carry this habit into adulthood, your lizards will grow fat and unhealthy.
What Do Baby Lizards Eat Human Food
One of the nicer aspects to keeping a pet lizard is that several of them eat human foods. Fruits and vegetables that you find in your fridge or grocery store are often excellent foods for a baby lizard.
Whether your baby lizard will eat human food is a matter of its normal diet. Common omnivorous lizards include baby bearded dragons, baby alligator lizards, chameleons, argentine tegus, caiman lizards, and blue tongued skinks.
Full vegetarian lizards like green iguanas and uromastyx lizards need a salad-based diet, even when young. Babies will eat a few insects at times. But never feed vegetarian lizards chicken, beef, or other human animal-based foods. It is far too fatty, tough, and protein-rich for them.
Insectivorous lizards like green anoles, leopard geckos, and long-tailed lizards should never be fed human food. They won’t even look at it most of the time since they are cued to target moving insects as prey.
Carnivores and larger omnivores like tegus, caiman lizards, and savannah monitors will eat human food. Stick to lean meat like shrimp, poultry, and fish. And make sure you clean up any mess they leave. Meat residue rots fast and may transmit salmonella to your pets (and to you).
What Vegetables Do Baby Lizards Eat?
Vegetables should be the foundation for any omnivorous or herbivorous baby lizard diet. Salad greens are the base; choose dark, leafy varieties like endive, spinach, chard, and kale. Mixed with romaine lettuce and other lighter salad greens.
Then you should mix in chopped broccoli, zucchini, carrot, and other vegetables. Any harder veggies can be boiled for a short period, softening them. Cooked seeds like beans and corn are will also be eaten by baby lizards.
What Fruit Do Baby Lizards Eat?
Fruit is an excellent food for baby lizards. Choose fruit types that are soft and easy to chew and swallow. An adult lizard has more powerful jaws and teeth but a baby needs help eating some kinds of fruit.
Skinned grapes, strawberries, blueberries, melon, softer pears, and tomatoes are a few of the fruits you might try.
Freezing harder fruit like apples will make them more palatable. When frozen, their fiber is penetrated by the ice crystals that form. Thawed fruit is softer and easier for baby lizards to eat.
What Does a Baby Lizard Drink?
Baby lizards drink in the same way that their parents do. If they are an arboreal (tree dwelling) species of lizard, they may not recognize a water bowl as a place to drink.
A water bowl may even be dangerous to a baby lizard. They are poor swimmers and will drown if they can’t escape from a large bowl.
Arboreal lizards like baby alligator lizards and baby garden lizards drink dew and rain droplets that get caught in leaves and branches. As well as mist that condenses on their skin on cold mornings.
Ground-dwelling lizards like baby Western fence lizards and baby bearded dragons will drink from a small, flat water bowl.
Conclusion
Answering the question of what do baby lizards eat is an involved matter. What species you have needs to be considered.
As well as the age of your reptile. Several lizards eat more when younger and undergo dietary shifts as they grow up.
You need to be sensitive to these needs to be successful with your pet baby lizard.
