Bearded Dragon Diet Nutritional Information

[jarich]

I've found it's always good to give as wide a variety as possible, especially if they go off one type of food.

 

[yellowrosesATX]

I have a question, I am in Texas and we have prickly pear cactus in our yard. The fruit (pear) are almost ripe and I noticed this list reads that they are very good for dragons. The fruit is full of very hard, tiny seeds. Would this cause threat of impaction as sand does? The seeds are rock hard but very small.

 

[Luvthemanimal]

I have a question, I am in Texas and we have prickly pear cactus in our yard. The fruit (pear) are almost ripe and I noticed this list reads that they are very good for dragons. The fruit is full of very hard, tiny seeds. Would this cause threat of impaction as sand does? The seeds are rock hard but very small.

Please pick the seeds out..... Most seeds are poison to them..... So pick em out than feed away

 

[PatsyB]

What Luv said! I just bought cactus pear and fed them everything but the seeds , even though most of the fruit is seeds.

 

[yellowrosesATX]

Yeah, it is more seeds that fruit. You are really dedicated to peel those prickly things and pick the seeds out. Thanks for the heads up, I will feed the cactus and skip the pears.

 

[yellowrosesATX]

Yeah, it is more seeds that fruit. You are really dedicated to peel those prickly things and pick the seeds out. Thanks for the heads up, I will feed the cactus and skip the pears.

More seeds THAN fruit, not THAT fruit.

 

[PatsyB]

More seeds THAN fruit, not THAT fruit.

I didn't catch that! I have this new tablet and I'm still getting used to the keyboard.

 

[yellowrosesATX]

Here is an extremely useful link for finding the nutritional values of common beardie diet items.

Beautiful Dragons Nutrition List

So this lists cucumbers at a low nutritional value. Cucumbers have Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc, does low nutritional value just mean these vitamins and minerals are not of much use to dragons?

 

[yellowrosesATX]

So this lists cucumbers at a low nutritional value. Cucumbers have Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc, does low nutritional value just mean these vitamins and minerals are not of much use to dragons?[/QUOTE

Never mind, it turns out cucumber does have nutritional value: https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/vitamins/

 

[Andrew69]

Hi can you help I've had my beardie nearly a yr now he looks healthy and has.good colour but he won't eat only 3or 4 meal worms twice a week if that should I be worried about him or is that normal

 

[Tyler_Vance]

Hi can you help I've had my beardie nearly a yr now he looks healthy and has.good colour but he won't eat only 3or 4 meal worms twice a week if that should I be worried about him or is that normal

I would recommend against mealworms. And at that age I believe he should be eating mainly vegetables and insects like every other day

 

[markorussell]

thanks for the list. Im still feeling overwhelmed with all the new stuff, but Im getting there.

 

[rizwan]

On the website it says silkworms are a good staple but the ca is 1:2.4? That's not good i thought?

 

[krystal&otto]

I heard silks are one of the best feeder choices for beardies

 

[jarich]

Like most nutritional charts, it depends on the sample and study used. Silkworms are usually between 1:2 and 1:1, which is a pretty good ratio all things considered. And its not just about calcium, they have a high degree of mineral and vitamin content aside from those two that make them a good feeder to add to the mix. Try not to think of feeding in staples though. The more variety you can offer, the less likely you are to have nutritional shortcomings

 

[rizwan]

I thought the phosphorous couldn't be higher than the calcium?

 

[jarich]

Nearly all insects have a higher concentration of phosphorous than calcium, which is why you dust and gut load them. This helps increase the calcium vs the phosphorous, but it still remains at best around 1:1, even after both those things. We shoot for the 2:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorous largely because they eat so many things that are the opposite ratio, and more heavily loaded with phosphorous. Most insects are much further towards the phosphorous end of that ratio (like roaches, crickets, mealworms, supers, etc that are around the 1:14 ratio), so silkworms at 1:1 or 1:2 are actually MUCH better, even though they arent quite what you want.

 

[rizwan]

1:14?? 14x the amount of phosphorous to Calcium??
Why are they not quite what you want?

 

[jarich]

What you want is a 2:1 ratio ideally. However, since most bugs are not anywhere near that, the ones that are closer have that advantage. Simply dusting silkworms will usually put them up in that range, whereas that is usually not true of other inverts.

 

[Beardielizzy]

My beardie doesn't seem interested in crickets any more ? It's weird ! It's like one morning she woke up and just wasn't having them ! Is it ok for the beardies to have worms and kale with calcium sprinkle and fruits/ veggies added in