You may have been sitting around and wondering can bearded dragons eat mushrooms?
You might have some in the fridge or maybe you have some leftover from a meal and you want to know if you can give it to your bearded dragon
Certain foods out there can 100% harm your bearded dragon and you should stay away from them
Mushrooms are one of them
you can also check out this complete guide if you’re brand new to bearded dragon care
Can bearded dragons eat mushrooms? Why or why not?
You should stay away from mushrooms because they have a high level of oxalates
Now in order to understand why that’s bad, I need to go over what oxalates, phosphorus, and calcium do in a beardies body
Bearded dragons need calcium and lots of it to maintain their healthy bones
A lot of human food is going to contain phosphorus and oxalates
These two things can bind to calcium molecules and not let your bearded dragon’s bones absorb them
When your bearded dragon isn’t getting enough calcium then they will end up developing metabolic bone disease
Metabolic bone disease can eventually lead to death at the beardie becomes paralyzed and can no longer move
That’s why it’s important for you to know exactly what to feed them over the long term to keep them healthy and I commend you for looking it up to make sure
Many new owners aren’t sure what to feed their bearded dragons besides insects
Bearded Dragon mushroom poisoning
Some people might be wondering Can my bearded dragon eat mushrooms?
But what if your beardie already ate some and now you’re wondering if they will get sick or not
They can get sick and this is what you need to watch out for
- lack of movement
- slow and sluggish movement
- lack of energy
- pupil dialation
- bleeding when pooping
- depression
if you see any of these symptoms take your beardie to the vet right away
now I don’t want you to panic because this doesn’t always happen and everything could actually be completely fine if you don’t see these symptoms
How do I know if my bearded dragon is sick from mushrooms?
Take a look at that list
Like humans, bearded dragons will act differently than what they might be used to
if you’re familiar with your bearded dragon’s behavior you will most likely pick up that they’re acting funny
They might not be so happy like they usually are
They might be tired a lot
You might give them their favorite food and they might not want to eat it
They will not want to be handled much as well. This is especially obvious in beardies that love to be held
The best bearded dragon diet
This is something that will completely depend on how old your bearded dragon is
baby bearded dragons will need much more protein than adult bearded dragons will
Adults need a lot more vegetables in their diet
This is a full list from my other blog post about what bearded dragons can eat
What protein can bearded dragons eat? Feed them live insects
- Dubia Roaches
- crickets
- cockroaches
- butterworms
- earthworms
- mealworms (adult bearded dragons only)
- superworms (adult bearded dragons only)
- wax worms (treat only, High fat content)
- kingworms
- phoenix worms
What fruits can bearded dragons eat?
- strawberries
- mango
- apples
- watermelon
- pears
- blueberries
- raspberries
- grapes
- kiwi
- plums
- apricots
- peaches
- papaya
- figs
- blackberries
- Cantaloupe
- bananas
What vegetables can bearded dragons eat?
- Green Beans
- cabbage
- yellow squash
- sweet potato
- butternut squash
- acorn squash
- grape leaves
- red/green leaf lettuce
- peas
- carrots
- bell peppers
- collard greens
- dendelion greens
- turnip greens
- parsley
- mustard greens
- bok choy
What can’t a bearded dragon eat?
- avocados
- wild insects
- spinach
- lemons
- mushrooms
- onion
- fireflies
- rhubarb
- iceberg lettuce
- chives
Here is a link to that blog post as well
How to actually give food to your bearded dragon
The best way to serve food to your bearded dragon is a pretty simple process
the first thing you want to think of is choking hazards
Bearded dragons are small creatures and they need to eat small pieces of food
sounds obvious right
A lot of owners think that bearded dragons will swallow things whole
I get that question a lot
they aren’t snakes
You want to give them pieces that are no larger than the spot between their eyes
I’ve used this technique since I’ve had my beardie and he’s been perfectly fine
Baby bearded dragon Feeding guide
For babies, you need to cut things into small pieces
Baby bearded dragons are tiny so they need tiny food
The good thing is they need a whole lot of protein to grow fast so you can feed them mostly insects
Make sure the insects are gut loaded and coated with calcium powder
baby bearded dragons will eat food a lot more frequently
They will be shedding, pooping, and running around a whole lot more too
As they age they will slow down but you can increase the size of the food they eat a little bit
You want a baby bearded dragon to be eating about 20 percent Vegetables and 80 percent protein
Adult bearded dragon Feeding guide
When your bearded dragon reaches 18 months old they are considered an adult beardie
this means you can give them food that is a little bit bigger but the most drastic thing is their diet will change
it will change from mostly insects to vegetables
You still want to cut up your food into smaller pieces
Whenever I feed my bearded dragon grapes I will cut them up into quarter pieces
just for simplicity sake I cut the grape in half and then in half again just so I’m clear
In reality, it can’t really be too small
Now If you’re going to be feeding them fruit make sure you give them the calcium supplement
Bearded dragon water needs
Bearded dragons have evolved to be used to dry desert type climates
This means that they don’t need a whole lot of water on a daily basis
what you can do is put a water dish inside the bearded dragon’s tank and they will drink from it but not as much as you might think at first
Most of their water consumption is going to come from their food
Fruits and vegetables will contain a lot of water
One more thing you should know is bearded dragons don’t actually pee
They have this white urate stuff that comes out with their poop
One thing that will happen if your bearded dragon doesn’t have enough water is that it will become constipated
When this happens you can feed them fruit. Something like blueberries or grapes are awesome for providing hydration
another awesome way to help them hydrate is why misting them with a water bottle or a mister
This also helps with the shedding of their skin
sometimes a bearded dragons skin can actually get stuck
when this happens they will sometimes use their environment to help push the skin off them
If you help your beardie with its skin never pull it off
Let them rub against you inside some water
it will come off nicely in warm water
Summary and questions
Can bearded dragons eat mushrooms?
No, they can’t
it’s much better if you keep them away from mushrooms
Mushrooms contain too many oxalates which bind to calcium and stop its absorption
always make sure that you double check to see if something is good or bad for your bearded dragon
You never know.
Thank you for reading!
