Many beardie owners want to know if they can eat kale or not. And the answer is simple – Kale is the ultimate superfood for bearded dragons. Kale contains goitrogens, oxalates, and it is very high in vitamin A.
There are a lot of different opinions when it comes to how safe it is to feed it to a bearded dragon. You may find different sources that say something different. So to clarify those things, below are some of the important things like positive/negative aspects, feeding recommendations, alternatives and other helpful information that you need to know about feeding kale to your beardie.
Is Kale Healthy for Bearded Dragons?
Like mentioned above you can consider kale a superfood for bearded dragons. However, there are certain things you have to be aware of before feeding to your pet. No matter how healthy it is, it’s still important that your beardie is not getting a overdose of nutrients. Below we got you the positive and negative aspects that vegetable brings to your pet.
Table of Contents
Positive Aspects:
Kale consists of nutrient-rich vitamins and minerals that are good for your bearded dragon:
- Vitamin C and vitamin A provides a healthy immune system, growth, vision, and reproduction
- Vitamin K helps in regulating blood clots
- Potassium helps in the function of the muscles, lowers retention of water, and helps prevent any kinds of kidney problem
- Calcium supply essential for the bone and overall health
- Magnesium helps in promoting muscle and brain health
Negative Aspects
Kale is rich in vitamin A. Therefore, your bearded dragon’s intake of vitamin A supplement can put your bearded dragon at risk because of vitamin A toxicity. These can possibly cause weight loss, swelling, lethargy, and dehydration to your bearded dragon. Those bearded dragons that are not under vitamin A intake have less possibility of developing hypervitaminosis A. In this case, this is something that you need to be aware of, when you plan the diet for your bearded dragon.
Feeding Recommendations
A bearded dragon that is already in their adult stage can eat kale 5-6 times a week. The 7th day needs to be their fasting day where you only feed them with water. You can feed your bearded dragon with Kale by not having to worry about anything. However, you can’t set the enclosure of the whole bag and just let them eat. They need to have a balanced diet of live foods like locusts, crickets, and dubai roaches plus veggies in order to keep their minerals and vitamins up.
How to feed bearded dragons with Kale?
You can serve Kale raw because cooking it can deplete the nutrients that it have. You can serve Kale in three ways:
- Wash it properly. It is important to clean it properly, even if it is organic food. Remove any dirt and debris in kale.
- With the use of a knife or simply your finger, cut the green leaves from its stalk.
- Chop the leaves, and it’s ready to serve to your bearded dragon. It is very important to chop Kale into small pieces because the leaves have the tendency to get suock in the throat of your bearded dragon if the pieces are too big.
How often feed bearded dragons with Kale?
Most young bearded dragons usually eat once or twice per day. At the same time, those older bearded dragons can be fed only once a day, which merely depends on the individual appetite of your pet.
Alternatives
In the event that you run out of kale, then you can make use of the following vegetables as an alternative in feeding your bearded dragon:
- English spinach
- Collard greens
- Rainbow chard/swiss chard
- Baby spinach leaves
- Chinese broccoli
- Mustard green
- Turnip/kohlrabi tops
- Broccoli raab or sprouting broccoli
Further information
In the event that the leaves of Kale turned yellow, you can just remove it and get the green ones. If you leave kale in water in the fridge it stays fresh for a longer time. However, before feeding it to your bearded dragon you shouldn’t feed it before it has room temperature.