In small amounts and with a well-balanced meal plan, bell peppers have no adverse effects on your bearded dragon’s health. On top of that, they are good providers of a lot of vitamins and minerals, so it makes a very good component of the diet of your bearded dragon. There are a few things you need to consider before feeding it to your beardie. Bell peppers may come in green, red, or yellow colors.
We are going to give you all the necessary information you need for feeding bell peppers to your bearded dragon.
Table of Contents
Are Bell Peppers Healthy for Bearded Dragons?
In order to help you to know more about the vegetable bell pepper and how your bearded dragon can benefit from it, below are helpful insights when it comes to the positive aspects, negative aspects, feeding recommendations for your bearded dragon, ways on how to feed bearded dragons with bell peppers, alternatives, and other helpful information that you need to know.
The nutrition of ½ a cup of bell pepper¹ is the following:
- Calories: 24,5
- Protein: 0.79g
- Carbohydrates: 4.74g
- Fat: 0.24g
- Fiber: 1.66g
- Water: 92%
Positive Aspects
- High amount of water. Especially for beardies that don’t drink enough bell peppers can be a good way to hydrate your reptile.
- Good source of vitamin A. Even though they don’t offer the same amount as carrots, they are still a good source of this vitamin.
- Other nutrient-rich prioperties like antioxidants, vitamin C, B6, K1, B6 as well as folate and potassium.
Negative Aspects
Bell peppers are low in calcium. Aside from having a poor calcium level, they also have twice the amount of phosphorous. With about 7mg of calcium and 26mg of phosphorus on 100g, it has a bad ratio of about 1:4. In case your beardie eats a lot of food that is rich in phosphorous and low in calcium, there is a big possibility that they will develop metabolic bone disease.
Metabolic bone disease is the most common illness of bearded dragons, and this illness is painful to their skeletal system that can cause their warped limbs and paralysis. It can be prevented by having a proper diet and a good amount of calcium intake.
Beardiebunch Tip: If you want to prevent metabolic bone disease, it is a good idea to supplement the live food with a mix of calcium and vitamin D3.
Can Bearded Dragons eat Green, Yellow or Red Bell Peppers?
Since green peppers are unripe yellow or red peppers, they contain fewer nutrients. Therefore, your bearded dragon can basically eat both green, red and yellow bell peppers. Here you can vary depending on how many nutrients you need to feed your beardie. Our tip is to let your bearded dragon try each color first and then add it in small amounts to a salad.
Feeding Recommendations
You need to make sure that you cut small pieces of bell pepper before you give it to your beardie in order to avoid the danger of choking. Bearded dragons are allowed to eat bell pepper, but they cannot eat it every day. They are recommended to eat bell pepper a few times a week or less.
According to the VCA animal hospitals², vegetables such as bell peppers should make up a high percentage of the bearded dragon diet. Here, as with everything else, it is important that a healthy mix is taken into account to provide your Beardie with all the important nutrients.
How to feed Bearded Dragons with Bell Peppers?
Below we have listed some tips on how you should feed bell peppers to your bearded dragon:
- Make sure to choose a bell pepper that is organic
- Wash the bell pepper properly
- Remove its membranes, top, and seeds
- Slice its outer shell into small chives and serve it alone or with a salad
Alternatives
If you run out of bell pepper in your kitchen and there is no time for you to go to the market just to buy one, then below are some good substitutes that can provide good minerals and nutrients that your bearded dragon will benefit from.
- Turnip greens
- Green beans
- Broccoli
- Red or green cabbage
Reference¹: https://www.webmd.com/diet/health-benefits-bell-peppers, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/bell-peppers?c=619268874641#nutrition
Reference²: https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/bearded-dragons-feeding