Fruits & Vegetables to Feed Your Bearded Dragon (2024)

Bearded dragons have a reputation for eating a LOT! They can eat you out of house and home as bug-hungry babies. But as they grow older, they need less protein for fueling rapid growth and more nutrient-packed bearded dragon vegetables for maintenance, which means that feeding them gets cheaper.Whew.

Now more than ever, never trust the pet store’s opinion on bearded dragon vegetables, fruits, or feeding in general. As much as we wish otherwise, employees have a lot of animals to keep track of, and Following their advice will more than likely have your dragon eating the reptile equivalent of popcorn and TV dinners.

Just as each bearded dragon has its own personality, it will also have its own favorite and least favorite foods. So if one thing doesn’t work, try something else. It’s all part of the fun!

Vegetables

75-80% of an adultdragon’s diet should be vegetables. If you’re feeding a juvenile, a daily salad will suffice. Since bearded dragons are omnivores like humans, they need a variety. Feeding a variety of veggies gives your dragon a good balance of the nutrients s/he needs to keep bones healthy and immune system going strong. Fortunately, the list of dragon-safe vegetables is a long one.

Staples:

Arugula
Bok choy
Cactus pads
Collard greens
Dandelion greens
Endive
Escarole
Kale (a recent study revealed that it is not high in oxalates after all!)
Mustard greens
Oak choy
Turnip greens
Swiss chard

Mixers (to be fed occasionally):

Artichoke heart
Basil
Bell pepper
Carnations
Cilantro
Carrot greens
Cucumber, peeled
Carrot, grated raw
Clover (pesticide- and herbicide-free)
Mint leaves
Parsley
Rose petals
Squash, raw
Yam, grated raw

Poison:

Avocado
Onion

Vegetables should be sliced into thin, bite-sized pieces than your beardie can grab with his/her tongue. Wet or slimy vegetables like cucumber and cactus may frustrate your dragon since these don’t stick to tongues very well. You can hand-feed these to him/her, but your dragon may accidentally bite you in the effort to get it.

Some people like to feed their dragons spinach, kale, or lettuce. Lettuce – yes, even romaine – is essentially water in vegetable form, with no value except in giving your beardie diarrhea. If your dragon is severely dehydrated or constipated, lettuce may be a temporary addition to the salad bowl. As for spinach, this contains calcium-binding substances (oxalates) that hurt rather than nourish your dragon. So don’t put those in his/her salad dish, please.

Fruits

Up to 10% of your beardie’s diet may consist of fruit. Fruits tend to have a higher water content and more sugar than vegetables, so they must be fed sparingly to prevent a laxative effect. They make excellent treats, however. My Nabooru goes wild for canteloupe.