The staple tier
Dubia roaches sit at the top of most keepers' lists for good reasons: they cannot climb smooth surfaces or jump, they are meatier and lower in fat than crickets, and they breed easily if you keep a colony. Black soldier fly larvae are the other standout — naturally higher in calcium than most feeders, soft-bodied, and small enough for young dragons. Crickets remain a sound staple too, encouraging a natural chase response, though they are noisier, smellier, and more inclined to escape. All three can anchor a diet; rotating between them covers more nutritional ground than any one insect alone.
Treats and variety insects
Hornworms are mostly water and make a superb occasional feeder for a dragon that needs hydration coaxing, but they grow enormous quickly and are too rich for daily use. Silkworms are soft, nutritious, and well liked, though costlier and more delicate to keep. Mealworms and superworms have a place as treats — their chitinous shells and fat content argue against staple status, and superworms in particular can become the only thing a fussy dragon will accept, crowding out better food. Waxworms are best thought of as reptile candy: fine rarely, a problem as a habit.
Size and preparation
Match prey width to the space between your dragon's eyes; oversized insects are a genuine impaction and choking risk for small dragons. Staples earn their status only when prepared: gut-load roaches and crickets on leafy greens and vegetables for a day before serving, and dust with calcium powder — every meal for juveniles, most meals for adults, with a multivitamin on a rotating schedule. Butterworms and wild-caught insects should be skipped: wild insects may carry pesticides or parasites, and butterworms are frequently refused and nutritionally odd.
Adjusting by age
A baby dragon may eat dozens of small insects a day across two or three sittings, while an adult eats insects only a few days a week alongside daily salads. Keep the staple insects constant through that shift and shrink the frequency, not the quality. If your dragon fixates on one feeder and refuses the rest, offer the favourite last, after a few of the alternatives have gone down — dragons, like toddlers, will hold out for dessert when they learn it always arrives.
Running the rotation
A sensible week mixes two staples, one variety insect, and dusting on a repeating pattern — exactly the kind of low-grade admin that gets lost between family members. KinsLe's Care Teams lets you write the rotation against your dragon's profile as assigned duties, each marked done with a timestamp, so the dragon's menu stays consistent whoever is holding the tongs.