Can Bearded Dragons Eat Broccoli?

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