Introduction
Can bearded dragons eat celery? Bearded dragons generally have lots of greens in their diet, which is why several owners asked if their bearded dragons can eat celery. Since celery is well known as healthy food, it is often recommended that you add it to your pet’s diet. But, what are the things you need to look out for when introducing this to your scaly friend?
In this article, you will learn about the benefits of adding celery to your bearded dragon’s regular meals. This extra crunchy vegetable has been questioned for its nutritious enough for bearded dragons. Keep reading for an extensive guide on feeding your bearded dragon celery.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Celery?
Short answer, yes. Bearded dragons can have celery occasionally. Celery may not be toxic for these pets, but the high water content can cause digestion issues for these lizards. The water can help hydrate your beardie but consuming excessive amounts can soften their bowels and lead to diarrhea and dehydration.
Thus, make sure to keep their celery intake to a minimum and make sure to finely chop the celery to make it easier for your pet to eat it.
Is Celery Good for Bearded Dragons?
Adding small bits of celery stalks to your bearded dragon’s meal presents additional nutritional advantages. However, it’s not recommended that you add it to your beardies regular diet. Despite the advantages it presents, some other vegetables and greens will be more beneficial for your pet compared to celery because of their higher nutritional values. If you want to learn more about this food, you can read about them on this page.
What Are in Celeries that Are Good for Bearded Dragons?
Because of the nice crunch celery snacks have, beardies love it. And, as an owner, you will also love giving this to your dragon. Celeries have these nutrients in them:
- Vitamin C and Beta Carotene. These two are great for promoting improvements for a beardie’s immune system, making their vision better, encouraging reproduction, and helping them grow bigger in general.
- Antioxidants and Flavonoids. These are necessary for reducing inflammation and promoting better heart health.
- Water. Celeries are 95% water and are an amazing resource to help your pet rehydrate, especially on hot days.
- Great Calcium to Phosphorus ratio. This vegetable has a 1.6:1 ratio on these minerals, which is within the ideal range for a bearded dragon’s diet.
These vitamins and minerals together are great for keeping your breaded dragon healthy and encouraging its growth. Just make sure to control the amount of celery you give to your bearded dragon to make sure that they can eat a diverse diet more akin to what they eat in the wild.
Pro-tip: If your bearded dragons need another source of these vitamins and minerals, check this out.
Why Can Bearded Dragons Eat Celery in Small Amounts Only?
Like other food with high water content, celeries are not a perfect everyday meal for your beardie. This shouldn’t be a daily staple for your pet because it is high in oxalates and water. These two can lead to metabolic bone disease and diarrhea if eaten regularly.
Despite the benefits celeries offer, the side effects of giving it to your beardie will probably be a problem in the long run. But, as long as you are careful with oxalate and water-rich food, you wouldn’t have to worry about this at all.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Celery Leaves?
Yes, these leaves are perfect for your bearded dragon, and your pet can eat them more often than the stalks. Celery leaves contain calcium, vitamin E, and, most importantly, fiber. These three are great for promoting healthy bones, easy to digest, and great for their overall wellbeing. You can also mix it up with eggs for additional variety. You can read up on how to feed eggs to your bearded dragon in this article.
How to Prepare Celery for Your Bearded Dragons?
Aside from preparing the usual chopping of the celery, there are other steps you need to take to ensure that you are giving the best to your bearded dragons.
- Make sure to choose fresh celery. It will also help a lot if you can find organic, pesticide-free, and herbicide-free produce to avoid the risks of accidentally hurting your pet.
- Wash the celery leaves and stalks thoroughly with water. Make sure to wash away foreign materials that may be stuck in the leaves.
- Chop the celery stalks into bite-sized pieces. If you plan to feed the leaves to your beardies, you have to finely chop them before giving them to your pet.
- Finally, place the chopped leaves and stalks in a bowl and give it to your dragon. You can also add a few other vegetables to add variety to the meal. Some more experienced owners also recommend sprinkling calcium supplements on their food like this one to give them a more balanced meal that matches their natural diet better.
Should You Look Out for Any Concerns When Your Bearded Dragons Eat Celery?
No, not really. There are no health-related concerns that come with feeding your dragons celery. However, this doesn’t mean that you can feed them to your beardies regularly. Remember to practice caution and control when feeding greens high in water to your dragon, and they should be safe.
Conclusion
Celeries are among the most accessible vegetables around, but this doesn’t mean that you will rely on these for your beardies’ everyday plant needs. A diverse diet will always be best for your pet, and they will appreciate it more too. If you want to add celeries to their usual diet, you can choose to only add small amounts each time. You can also add other fruit and vegetables to promote a better overall diet for them. Of course, with all these plants in their diet, they will need protein. Please read this article to know which crickets they can eat.
Overall, after reading this article. We hope that you are ready to give your beardies some of these crunchy snacks that they are sure to love. And, that you how often, they can eat it. As long as you practice caution.
