I get this question as often as I get the same question about other foods as well. The link to the bigger article about what bearded dragons can eat is here (opens a new tab)
You’re probably wondering if your beardie can eat human food that is healthy like you can?
My cousin got a bearded Dragon and he asked me Can bearded dragons eat blackberries? Yes! they can for sure.
You know that it’s important for bearded dragons to have a healthy diet however, you may or may not be aware of the fact that bearded dragons have to put some restrictions on how much fruit they eat per day
What are blackberries and can bearded dragons eat blackberries?
Blackberries are one of my personal favorite fruits and my beardie loves them. We share a small box at least once a month. it’s cute watching them eat food. They will literally eat everything in front of them too
They are dark purple almost black in color, with great nutritional value. ill put down below what those values are.
One of my favorite ways to give my beardie blackberries is by wrapping them in another vegetable leaf.
Nutritional facts about blackberries
- 15 grams of carbohydrates
- less than 1 gram of fat
- 8 grams of fiber
- 7 grams of sugar
vitamin and mineral content
- B vitamins which help with metabolism, energy and overall health
- Fiber
- Full calcium, phosphorus and oxalates
Oxalates
The fiber in blackberries is going to help with digestion. The foods will pass through the digestive tract nice and smooth throughout the day. Many fruits, in general, have this quality to them which helps make them so healthy.
one of the best things about fruit is the natural water content. Bearded dragons do need to drink water obviously but if you feed them too much fruit they will get diarrhea
Bearded dragons should be getting most of their water from their food and water bowl. You can mist them too and they will drink the droplets
The Risk of Bearded dragons eating blackberries
The biggest reason behind it is oxalates. They are bad for your bearded dragon. without getting too sciency on you they just prevent your bearded dragon from being able to absorb calcium into their bloodstream.
When oxalates are present in your beardies diet too often they will eventually develop Metabolic bone disease
It can take quite some time for this disease to progress but it’s obviously better to not have it happen at all
What you need to really understand is that calcium is really important and too many oxalates and too much phosphorus will prevent the absorption of calcium.
Fruits in general have a lot of sugar in them. Blackberries are no exception and too much will hurt the digestive tract. Sugar causes a lot of inflammation to happen in the gut which is no good for bearded dragons
What are Oxalates anyways?
oxalates in inside fruits. They don’t really pose a threat to humans but to little beardies they do. If oxalates are too prevalent in a bearded dragons diet it will mess with their calcium intake.
always make sure you have enough calcium for your beardie. I use this supplement and have had no issues with calcium
If Bearded dragons don’t get enough calcium they will develop metabolic bone disease. to protect your bearded dragon from metabolic bone disease you need the right amount of vitamin D, calcium and UVB lighting.
Some symptoms of Metabolic bone disease
- Skeletal abnormalities and curvature of the bones
- Limping or dragging of back legs
- unable to stand up straight
- lethargic and tired all the time
- zero appetite
if you’re unsure and want to make sure you are ahead of the game just take your beardie into the vet. Its better safe than sorry. MBD can result in death if not treated correctly.
How to actually feed your bearded dragon blackberries
Blackberries are tougher to eat. They are more firm. Raspberries and strawberries and blueberries are mostly soft and easy to chew. strawberries would need to be cut up of course but you can easily feed a bearded dragon blueberries and raspberries without much effort
I personally cut up my blackberries into pieces. They will either be cut in half depending on the size of the blackberry itself or into quarters. if you notice your bearded dragon hasn’t eaten any and left it, don’t let it rot there.
What i do is every night before i go to bed i check his cage for leftover food and do a water change.
sometimes bearded dragons will poop in their water so i change it daily
One thing i always say as well is make sure the food you get them is organic. I don’t give them anything found in the wild either. just organic store bought food. i treat my beardies with the best care especially food wise
Other Fruit your bearded dragon can have
- Apples
- bananas
- grapes
- strawberries
- Mango
- peaches
- blueberries
- plums
- raspberries
- kiwi
- cherries (no pit)
Summary / conclusion
People want to make sure they are feeding their beardies the best food but some owners aren’t sure what they can safely feed them. blackberries are just fine but follow this guide to maintain their long term health
i stick to this
- 60% vegetables
- 30% insects
- 10% fruit
i also throw in on and off weeks where my beardie will eat more fruit that week than other weeks. Some weeks they will have no fruit at all just to balance out the right calcium intake and such
Good luck and i hope this guide helped!
