So you’re wondering if your bearded dragon can eat the leftovers in the refrigerator? and maybe broccoli is what’s leftover.
now you’re wondering can bearded dragons eat broccoli?
I went through the same process when I first brought home my bearded dragon
My bearded dragon was a baby when I brought him home too so I was afraid of what to feed him
I spoke to my vet who is actually a friend of mine and she told me everything I needed to hear about what they can and can’t eat
I’m here to give you that information
Can bearded Dragons eat Broccoli?
Yes they can eat broccoli but they have to restrict it to a limited amount
even though broccoli is totally good for you and necessary to grow strong healthy bones and bodies
Bearded dragons need to be careful because of the high phosphorus count
Bearded dragons need to avoid foods that are high in phosphorus and lower in calcium
The phosphorus to Calcium ratio needs to be 1:1 at minimum
How often can bearded dragons eat broccoli?
Bearded dragons should limit their broccoli intake to about 1 time every 2 weeks or so
Now when you think about how much they do actually intake
make sure you are supplementing them with enough calcium
This will help prevent Metabolic bone disease from happening
Why bearded dragons should eat broccoli sometimes
broccoli isn’t bad in small doses obviously and here’s why your beardie can have some
Vitamin A – helps with the immune system, eyesight, and vision function. Supports cell growth and function
Vitamin C – Helps with immune function and repair. Helps with cell growth much like vitamin A
Vitamin K – which helps with bones and blood clotting
Iron – Helps with blood oxygenation and energy levels
Folate – This helps with Cell health and tissue health
Manganese – This helps with Inflammation and metabolism function
Fibre – Fibre helps with passing food through the digestive system and also pushing excess waste along the tract
Water – Broccoli contains a lot of water which will help with hydration
Bearded dragons won’t actually drink a whole lot of water because they are used to low levels of water.
They are from hot environments so they have evolved to sustain themselves on little water
You can actually get away with feeding them water through their food and they will live very well
It’s still good to put a water dish inside the tank
Why bearded dragons shouldn’t have too much broccoli
The reason behind this is because of high levels of phosphorus
When phosphorus is high in the bloodstream it will bind with calcium
When this happens it won’t be absorbed into the bones properly and your bearded dragon can suffer from Metabolic bone disease
MBD is a nasty thing to have. It can lead to death if not caught in time
Eventually, as the disease progresses they will lose function of their legs and then become paralyzed
They will eventually not be able to move and they will lose the will to live
The best way to avoid Metabolic bone disease is to supplement with calcium and gut load any insects that you feed your beardie
This will provide them with the much-needed nutrients they need to stay strong throughout their lifetime
The calcium supplement I use can be found here
Oxalates
These essentially do the same thing as having too much phosphorus
Oxalates don’t harm humans in high consumption but bearded dragons will
They do bind with calcium in the same way that phosphorus does
Broccoli and many other vegetables have a high number of oxalates in them which is why you need to limit many fruits as well as some vegetables
Can Baby bearded dragons eat Broccoli?
Baby bearded dragons need a lot of insects in their diet
Baby beardies are growing rapidly so the protein count needs to be high
Baby beardies are going to be eating less vegetables than an adult would so they should consume even less broccoli than an adult bearded dragon would
I would limit the amount of broccoli to about once every 3 months
Even then i would wait until they’re juveniles to start giving them more vegetables
Make sure that your baby bearded dragon is getting a lot of gut loaded insects as well
This means they are getting all the nutrients that the insects are getting as well as what that insects has for nutrients itself
Its much better to feed baby bearded dragons these instead
- bell peppers
- mustard greens
- acorn squash
- yellow squash
- cactus leaves
- dandelion leaves
there’s a lot more but i would stick to these for now and feed them lots of insects
Feeding broccoli to your bearded dragon
The best way to feed broccoli to your bearded dragon is to chop it up into smaller pieces
broccoli is tough and hard to chew through so you have to really cut it up to avoid the risk of your beardie choking
i would stick to just feeding them the crowns or florets
cut off the stems and long pieces
Bearded dragons will eat broccoli much easier when you mix it in with a salad
That’s how my bearded dragon eats his vegetables. I mix a big salad and put everything in there
sometimes you might find that your bearded dragon doesn’t really want to eat his salad
what you can do to help this along is mix in some fruit or bee pollen
for some reason they love bee pollen
you can find bee pollen in the healthy whole foods section of your grocery store
Summary and questions
Bearded dragons can eat many different types of foods but it doesn’t mean you should feed them these all the time
You can feed them tons of insects which is a staple to their diet
keep the vegetables low until they become an adult if you have a baby or juvenile on your hands
Make sure you keep their calcium levels high and your bearded dragon will be healthy and happy over time
good luck and thank you for reading
