I love bananas and so does my bearded dragon. Can bearded dragons eat bananas? yes my beardie loves bananas and other fruit. You just need to know how much to feed them and when to restrict the fruit.
Bananas are popular and they are easy to buy since they are in huge abundance. This is why i get this question often “Can bearded Dragons eat bananas” because people want to be able to shop cheaply for their beardie
Not all foods are safe for your beardie however, they are omnivores so they will eat many different types of foods often.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Bananas? What else can they eat?
Bearded dragons can eat a plethora of food. They are omnivores. They will eat insects, vegetables, and fruits.
Here’s a huge list of foods that beardies can eat
- Watermelon
- plums
- raspberries
- pears
- kiwi
- mango
- grapes
- bananas
- apples
- blueberries
- lettuce
- raisins
- strawberries
- Collards
- dandelion greens
- mustard greens
- bell peppers of all colors
- sweet potato
- peas
- carrots
- acorn squash
Avoid things that are high in calcium oxalates which cause metabolic bone disease. Your bearded dragon cannot absorb calcium properly when oxalates are too high in concentration. Phosphorus is an issue for this as well
bearded dragon Diet Ratio
The ratio i feed my bearded dragons looks like this
- 60% Veggies
- 30% protein
- 10%fruit
The fruit part is only during the weeks i give him fruit. sometimes the ration will change a little. sometimes ill bring down the vegetable content and up the fruit content for THAT week only.
But generally speaking this is what his ratio looks like. This has worked for me for years and i take my beardie to the vet regularly and he is healthy and happy
Why bananas are good for you bearded dragon
Bananas are packed with vitamins and minerals for your beardies overall health. They contain
- antioxidants that prevent cell damage
- vitamins A, C, B1 and B6 which help with immune function, reproductive function, eye sight and more
- potassium is plentiful in bananas which is what they’re known for which helps with nerve function, heart function and muscle function
How to feed your bearded dragon bananas
Make sure you purchase High quality bananas. Organic stuff is the best.
You should know that bearded dragons actually like eating the peels of bananas too.
You can cut up the bananas into smaller slices with the peel on or the peel off. Either or works. Peels actually have nutritional value and your beardie is going to love it
The way i feed my bearded dragon is just peeling it and feeding it to him like i would feed myself. its cute watching them take bites out of a banana that is almost the size of them.
Make sure you never leave rotting or old food in the enclosure with them. This can get them sick. I like to do a daily clean at the end of the night looking for old food, poop, and replacing the water for them.
Why you can’t feed your bearded dragon bananas and other fruit daily
Bananas are Super good for your beardie but they need to take a break from them. I do a mix of things but i mostly take one week a month where my bearded dragon will eat a lot of fruit along with their other food.
then i will give him a break and he will only eat vegetables and insects.
Bananas contain a lot of phosphorus which acts like oxalates. This will prevent your bearded dragon from being able to absorb calcium correctly.
I actually dust the insects i give my bearded dragon with a calcium supplement that you can purchase here
Bearded dragons need the right calcium to live a good life. keeping their bones healthy is extremely important or they can develop metabolic bone disease and its real nasty.
If they consume too much phosphorus and not enough calcium they will develop that disease and they can become paralyzed or they will be in a lot of pain all the time.
This is why they should be on a schedule for how much they eat fruit. i break it up a lot so they have time to take in lots of calcium from their insects and vegetables. Then i will treat my beardie with lots of fruit for a week or so.
This approach has worked wonders for my bearded dragon. He’s happy all the time.
Something else you need to be aware of is how much sugar bearded dragons take in. too much sugar causes all kinds of nasty things to happen to bearded dragons and humans too.
Sugar will spike up inflammation and cause obesity if fed too much sugar over a long period of time.
Something that happened to my beardie when i first started feeding him was he wouldn’t eat vegetables because i was feeding him too much fruit. He started turning away his food.
too much good stuff makes them only want good stuff lol
Metabolic bone disease
If you are wondering what symptoms MBD (metabolic bone disease) looks like is this
- they won’t stand up strong. They will be weak and brittle
- They will be paralyzed
- Shaking limbs
- swollen legs
- They wont grow to be very big. this is common with people that feed their dragons too much fruit too early in their life without knowing what to look for
They best way to avoid this is to literally just keep them fed on lots of gut loaded insects and calcium dust them with the calcium powder i linked here
Information about Bearded dragons
Bearded dragons are desert reptiles that are used to warm climates and long periods of no water. Over-hydration is a problem with them if you feed them too many fruits as well.
They get the “bearded” name from the spiky scales under their chin. Which makes them look cute. Their beard will go black when they get scared or threatened. They will also poof out their beard too scare off predators.
They are quick on their feet as well so they can catch prey and run from predators
Bearded dragons are amazing to handle and love to be social (for the most part) so they make great beginner pets for kids and new reptile owners
If children are going to handle them they should only do so under direct supervision because if a bearded dragon gets dropped it can break their bodies pretty easily.
