You can find this vegetable almost everywhere for a really cheap price, so you might have wondered if your bearded dragon can eat carrots or not. And the answer is yes, but not necessarily every day. You shouldn’t feed them carrots more than once or twice a week. Carrots are not found in the natural habitat of bearded dragons, but it still contains a few nutritional elements that your beardie needs.
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Are Carrots Good for Bearded Dragons?
In case you are looking for a veggie that can help boosting the immune system and vision of your bearded dragon, carrots can be a very good option. You might want to know what value it can bring to your beardie. We all know that carrots have a lot of healthy nutrients but are they also healthy for your bearded dragon?
The nutritions of ½ a cup of carrots¹ are the following:
- Calories: 30kcal
- Protein: 0.6g
- Carbohydrates: 6.7g
- Fat: 0.15g
- Fiber: 2g
- Water: 88%
Below you’ll find a bit of information about the positive and negative aspects, feeding recommendation, alternative and other additional information that can guide you.
Positive Aspects
Carrots contain the following nutritional value that can have a positive impact on your bearded dragon’s health:
- Beta carotene and vitamin A can help your bearded dragon to maintain a healthy immune system, glowing skin and good vision.
- Fiber helps in the digestion process. Without fiber it can be harder for your bearded dragon to digest the exoskeleton of some insects such as Dubai roaches.
Negative Aspect
Carrots as well as Kale contain a huge amount of vitamin A that supports your bearded dragons’ immune system, maintain a healthy skin, and good vision. But in case that your beaded dragon already receives beta carotene supplements and/or vitamin A (or something similar) you should consult your vet before you feed your pet with carrots.
That’s the main reason why the combination of supplements and food with a huge amount of vitamin A could possibly bring toxicity problems to your bearded dragon.
If your bearded dragon starts to develop symptoms such as a decrease in energy level, swelling, weight loss, or dehydration, then your pet is already suffering from hypervitaminosis A or being overdosed from vitamin A. In that case, you need to contact your vet in order to detect the actual reason for that.
Feeding Recommendations
If you’re looking for a veggie that improves your beardies vision or boost its immune system, then carrots are a very good choice. In a normal bearded dragon diet you would typically feed them about 80% plant based food and 20% insects. For baby bearded dragons carrots are safe, but you would normally feed them about 80% insects instead of plants. That’s something you have to be aware of.
On top of that it might be hard for your baby beardie to eat a carrot. That’s why it’s important to feed the carrots the right way.
How to Feed Bearded Dragons with Carrots?
So now it’s important to know how to feed carrots to your beardie. They can’t just eat it like humans. You can serve your bearded dragon with raw carrots by following these steps:
- Scrub the carrots properly with the water using something like a vegetable brush
- Instead of slicing or chopping the carrots, you can make use of a cheese grater in order to manage the shavings of your carrots and avoid choking hazards to your bearded dragon.
- You can serve it alone or as a salad in combination with other greens.
How often should you Feed Your Bearded Dragons with Carrots?
Our recommendation is not more than once or twice a week. You shouldn’t feed them carrots every day. If your bearded dragon is already having health issues you should ask your vet what they would recommend because they know best what nutrients your beardie needs.
Alternatives
Below are some equally healthy vegetables that can replace carrots in case you want to mix it up or provide them other nutritional values. These are the alternatives our beardies like:
- Squash
- Turnip greens
- Collards
- Dandelion
Further Information
Carrots are not only good for humans but also for bearded dragons a delicious and nutritious food. However, there are a few things that you always have to consider before feeding them. It’s a cheap vegetable but there other great vegetable options that you can get for your beardie more often than carrots.
Reference¹:https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/benefits-carrots#1, https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods/carrots#nutrition