Bethany’s Beachside Bugs

11/24/2025

With Thanksgiving approaching, the insects have been indulging in butternut squash, carrots, apples, and other festive foods to capture the holiday spirit. Be sure to include your reptiles in the celebration by serving them a Thanksgiving meal. The menu consists of grasshoppers, superworms, roaches, black soldier fly larva, mealworms, waxworms, and a limited number of crickets. Regrettably, my silkworms will not be available for purchase until after Thanksgiving.

Happy Holidays! 🦃🦃🦃

11/21/2025

Makaio was excited to explore the Christmas tree!

11/14/2025

I make a habit to weigh my dragons on a monthly basis. Today I also measured them. As you can see, in a month time they’ve all gained quite a bit. Takara hasn’t gained as much as everyone else because she’s been in brumation for a good 2 or so months now which isn’t necessary but if I could sleep the cold weather away too I would so I don’t mess with her.

My dragons are only fed bugs twice a week (Tuesday and Thursday). They only get the healthy bugs (black soldier fly larva, roaches, grasshoppers, and crickets) for staple protein. They get hornworms as treats when I have them and superworms are only on occasion if I’m too busy, in a rush, or whatever the case may be.

They get a salad everyday of either collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, arugula, sometimes kale. I always switch it up. Salad toppers are red prickly pear, cactus pad, green beans, radishes, alfalfa sprouts, hibiscus flower (if it is not sprayed or grown in fertilizer), cucumber, squash or zucchini. All of these toppers are not given together but whatever I have at the time.

I rotate between calcium without D3, calcium with D3, a multivitamin, a probiotic once a week, beetroot powder once a week, milk thistle once a week, and occasionally bee pollen.

We also have fasting days here and there which are perfectly okay to do. Your bearded dragons are not starving and chances are they’ve got a lot of stored fat in their abdominal fat pads to survive a few days a month fasting.

As you can see here, with the diet I use, everyone still gains grams every month. Your dragons will learn to play you into giving them what they want (superworms). Do my guys eat the whole salad? No. Do they try to eat the weeds outside when they haven’t touched the gourmet salads I make them? Yes.

I do not worry about my dragons choosing not to eat the salad. They’ll eat when they are hungry or when they want to. They’ll always eat their bugs which is why I feed them low fat and healthier bugs. Too often I see people thinking their dragons are starving but what I will tell you is these guys are wild animals with a will to survive and will not starve themselves to death. Don’t be fooled! They know how to pull at your heart strings to get those superworms!

10/06/2025

Here’s a chart to help you identify the issues your dragons could be having by the look of their urate!

08/18/2025

I know I’ve seen a lot of people struggling to get their bearded dragons to eat greens and I just wanted to share my schedule for feeding and what works for my animals!

I only feed bugs on Tuesday and Thursday. Depending on age of your dragon for the appropriate amount of bugs, mine are all over the age of 2 years old except two. But I only feed the adults and subadults 5-8 bugs depending on what it is (BSFL are smaller bugs). I avoid superworms as much as possible and only feed them those if I’m busy, running out the door, or don’t have time to rotate all of them out of the cricket feeder bin. I have 7 bearded dragons and sometimes I have several others boarding with me.

I find the long break between Thursday and the following Tuesday along with limiting the amount of bugs they eat, makes them eat more greens. As soon as I give them their salads they all go rushing over to eat it. And no they aren’t starving! I feed a variety of different greens, veggies, and supplements on top of the salads.

I hope this helps!

08/14/2025

🌎Happy World Lizard Day from my squad to yours!!🦎

08/14/2025

Crickets came in yesterday!!

08/13/2025

08/13/2025

🦎Thinking about getting a reptile?🦎

There’s a few things you should research and prepare for. ⬇️⬇️⬇️

1️⃣ Find an exotic animal vet near you and check out the pricing because like any animal, reptiles need veterinary care as well. Today I spent $91 on Kasatka to be seen and get antibiotics. A few weeks ago I spent around $300 for Oscar to be seen and get X-ray.
2️⃣ Proper enclosure size, lighting, temperatures (ambient and surface), humidity, substrate. All these things contribute to proper husbandry. Google is not your friend. Experienced and seasoned owners are.
3️⃣ Reptiles are solitary animals. They do not like to be accompanied by other reptiles. They do not have any bond, love, or liking towards eachother. What may seem like cute, cuddly, and relaxed nature is often times very aggressive behavior and can turn deadly in a matter of seconds. Relations between male and female are aggressive, dangerous, and for strictly breeding only. And please don’t breed your bearded dragons, leave that to the professionals.
4️⃣ Diet is super important. Variety in bugs, veggies, and greens is vital. Fruits are never okay. Some will tell you every once in a while is okay but bearded dragons specifically do not posses the enzymes in their gut to break down sugars. It causes teeth and mouth rot. Their teeth are connected to their jaw bone. Once an infection sets in to the jaw it becomes fatal. Why chance that for an occasional treat? Bugs are also not cheap. Superworms are considered the cheapest and most convenient one to feed. But they’re super high in fat and can cause major health issues.
5️⃣ Reptiles need calcium, vitamins, and other supplements. Researching which kinds, how often, and what they’re good for is something else to consider.

Reptiles are not a cheap, easy, and convenient pet. They have complex needs, bulb replacements, proper UVB, immediate cage cleaning, and can be time consuming. Now don’t get me wrong, I love all my reptiles and they make super awesome pets and companions. But they do require a lot of work, time, and observations. And I’m not talking about holding them because they really couldn’t care less if you did or didn’t.

This post is to educate you on what you are potentially getting yourself into. I have been there, done that, and experience it all. What I’m trying to do here is make everyone aware of the choices they make because reptiles or any animal for that matter are a commitment. Not just something you half@ss and give up on for someone else to nurse back to health. Oh, and did I mention they eat bugs? Get ready to like bugs. 😁🪳🐛🦗

08/12/2025

Hey Goodmorning!

Just wanted to let you all know beachside that I’m not going to and from cocoa beach all week again! Please let me know when you need bugs and I can start dropping off in the mornings or afternoons!

I got all the black soldier fly larva in yesterday! I’ve got a flash deal going on them! $10 for 200 of them!

I’m out of crickets until maybe tomorrow or Thursday!

I’ll have hornworms this weekend!

Silkworms should be in later in the month.

Plenty of superworms, roaches, grasshoppers, and BSFL on the menu.

Let me know what you need!

08/10/2025

Oscar, Tilikum, Keiko.
Takara, Kalia, and Kasatka.

08/05/2025

Here is a great list to follow for when you’re wanting to find staple greens!