As a pet, bearded dragons require a well-balanced diet to ensure their health and wellbeing.
A healthy, balanced diet should include a wide variety of plants and insects. Some vegetables to include in a balanced diet are collard greens, dandelion greens, kale, grapes, bananas, and watermelon.
Cucumbers are not recommended for a beardie’s diet as they can cause dehydration and digestive problems. To avoid choking and gut impaction, cucumbers should be peeled and seeds scooped out before offering them to your pet.
Cucumbers
Cucumbers are a good snack for bearded dragons, as long as they’re prepared properly. They provide a variety of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin K, which is important for blood clotting. They also contain a range of antioxidants, called lignans, which can help reduce the risk of certain diseases.
There are two types of cucumbers that you can feed your bearded dragon: slicing and pickling varieties. Slicing cucumbers are usually sliced into small chunks, while pickling cucumbers can be made into pickles.
Slicing cucumbers are a safe choice for most bearded dragons, although it’s best to remove the skin before serving. The peel is tough and difficult to chew, so it can cause stomach impaction (a blockage in the digestive tract) if your beardie swallows it.
Seeds are another potential issue with cucumbers. They can be ingested whole and cause impaction. Impaction is dangerous because it prevents your dragon from having regular bowel movements and can lead to illness or death.
In addition to dietary fiber, cucumbers contain a range of vitamins and minerals. These include phosphorus, calcium, and potassium. They’re low in fat and sugar, and they’re high in dietary fiber and water.
Aside from the nutrients they contain, cucumbers are a great source of water, which is essential for bearded dragons because they’re desert species. They can also be a great source of Vitamin C, which strengthens the immune system and promotes growth.
Despite the many benefits, cucumbers are not a staple food for bearded dragons. They’re best served once a week or every other week, chopped up into small pieces. They aren’t a complete food and won’t provide your pet with all the vitamins and minerals she needs.
Bananas
Bananas are a great addition to your beardie’s diet. They’re a good source of potassium, vitamin C, and B6, and are also high in antioxidants.
Bananas should not be the main part of your beardie’s diet, but they are fine as a treat. Ideally, bananas should make up no more than 20% of your beardie’s overall diet. Vegetables, insects, and leafy greens should account for the rest.
You should only feed your beardie bananas once or twice a week. This will help prevent the phosphorus-to-calcium ratio from becoming too high, which can lead to a dangerous condition known as metabolic bone disease (MBD).
If you’re new to feeding your beardie bananas, you should start with a small piece. This will let you know if your beardie will be a fan and it will give them a chance to get used to the taste before you add more.
Moreover, make sure that you only use fresh bananas for your beardie’s food. Dried bananas are not good for them because they contain too much sugar.
In addition, they can cause dehydration and other health problems. You should also be careful not to feed your beardie banana chips because they’re missing the peel that offers valuable nutrients.
When giving your beardie bananas, be sure to cut them into bite-sized pieces and serve them in small portions. You should also offer them in conjunction with vegetables and insects to keep your beardie’s stomach full and their appetite active.
You should be careful not to give your beardie too many bananas at once, as it can be a choking hazard. It’s best to feed them only one banana at a time and allow them to observe any side effects for 24 hours before adding more.
Apples
Bearded dragons are omnivores that can eat insects, vegetables, fruit, eggs, and small mammals. As with most reptiles, a well-balanced diet is essential to their health.
Keeping their diet low in carbohydrates is vital to their overall well-being. Too much sugar can lead to tooth decay, obesity, fatty liver disease, and diabetes in bearded dragons, all of which could eventually lead to heart failure and death.
The good news is that apples can be a healthy addition to their diet, as long as they are not eaten in high doses. Apples have a moderate amount of calcium and potassium, so they are a great choice for a healthy diet.
They are also a good source of fiber and protein. Adding a few apples to your beardie’s diet can help improve digestion and boost their iron reserves.
However, bearded dragons should be fed only a small amount of apples at a time. They should also be cut into small pieces so they don’t swallow too much of the flesh or ingest too many seeds.
Green and red apples are both safe for a bearded dragon to eat, but green variants have a bit more fiber, protein, potassium, and iron than their red counterparts. It’s important to remove the peel before feeding them any color, as it can be toxic for your lizard.
Apples are a good choice for beardie nutrition because they have a good calcium-to-phosphorus ratio. Phosphorus can bind with calcium and stop it from being absorbed into the body. This can lead to a calcium deficiency in beardies, which could result in Metabolic Bone Disease and kidney stones. Additionally, apples are relatively low in oxalic acid.
Strawberries
Strawberries are a delicious treat for bearded dragons and are also packed with healthy nutrients. They are high in vitamin C which is essential for immune function. They also contain magnesium and iron which aid in a beardie’s bone, tissue, and blood health.
Strawberries also contain a fair amount of water which is important for your beardie’s overall hydration levels. However, eating too much fruit can dehydrate them so you’ll need to make sure that they are drinking plenty of water throughout the day.
A good rule of thumb is to feed your beardie one large strawberry a week or as an occasional treat. Keep in mind that strawberries are quite high in sugar so you’ll want to limit the amount you give your beardie if they are already overweight or on a weight loss diet.
Veterinary advice states that bearded dragons should not be fed too many strawberries, as the sugar can cause stomach trouble and tooth decay. This can result in loose stools or diarrhea which is not only unpleasant for your pet, but can be dangerous if left untreated.
The best way to ensure that your beardie is getting enough calcium from strawberries is to pair them with other foods that are high in this mineral and low in phosphorus. This will help your beardie to maintain a balanced ratio of the two minerals and avoid metabolic bone disease which is commonly referred to as MBD.
If you do decide to include strawberries in your beardie’s diet it is a good idea to serve them in a bowl so that the juice doesn’t make a mess of your beardie’s vivarium. You should also consider dusting the strawberries with a calcium powder supplement to help them absorb the calcium they need.
Watermelon
If you’re looking to add a bit of flavor and variety to your bearded dragon’s diet, you may want to try giving them watermelon. While it’s not the healthiest fruit to feed your pet, it’s a sweet treat that can boost their hydration and keep them feeling full.
However, bearded dragons should not eat large amounts of watermelon because it can cause diarrhea and dehydration. In small amounts, it’s an acceptable occasional treat, but too much can lead to ill effects.
When you do give your beardie watermelon, make sure to pick a perfectly ripe one that will be safe for them to eat. If it has been sprayed with pesticides or is otherwise not ripe, it may contain harmful chemicals that can irritate their stomachs and cause problems.
It’s also important to remove all the seeds from your watermelon. These seeds can be very hard to digest and can disrupt the digestive process.
Seeds can even cause the stomach to swell and block the flow of food, which is not what you want for your beardie. Be sure to remove all the seeds and chop up the melon into smaller pieces.
Additionally, beardie owners should be careful not to overfeed their animals on watermelon as it is high in sugar and can have an impact on their health. Reptiles are obligate carnivores and must eat until they feel satisfied, so excess fruits can cause them to miss out on protein and other nutrients in the diet.
Fortunately, there are healthier fruits that are not only safe for bearded dragons to eat but also packed with vital nutrients. Some of these include strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, figs, and cantaloupe.
