Blueberries are thought of a “superfood” by many nutritionists as they’re full of vitamins comparable to antioxidants.
Whereas blueberries are usually one of many dearer fruits to purchase from the grocery retailer, understandably some bearded dragon homeowners marvel if their lizard will eat them. Can bearded dragons eat blueberries?
Bearded dragons can eat blueberries.
Whereas blueberries ought to solely be fed as an occasional deal with they are usually very fashionable certainly with bearded dragons. Bear in mind, nevertheless, that their excessive sugar content material signifies that they shouldn’t be fed every single day to your bearded dragon.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Blueberries On a regular basis?
Blueberries shouldn’t be fed to bearded dragons on a regular basis.
There are two easy causes for this.
Firstly, like most fruits, blueberries include massive quantities of sugar. This isn’t good when given over an prolonged time frame, and in some instances can result in unhealthy weight acquire.
Secondly, blueberries have a fairly poor calcium to phosphorus ratio. Which means that feeding blueberries too usually might imply that your bearded dragon suffers to soak up all of the vitamins wanted to keep up a wholesome skeleton.
That is of actual consequence for lizards like bearded dragons, which traditionally have suffered from skeletal issues on account of inappropriate captive circumstances.
Usually blueberries needs to be regarded as a deal with to be given each every so often, fairly than a daily day by day a part of their weight-reduction plan.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Blueberries Entire?
Bearded dragons can eat blueberries entire.
When ripe, blueberries are tender and juicy, so most bearded dragons can simply chunk by way of the flesh.
All the identical, some keepers do decide to slice blueberries in half. This has two specific advantages. Firstly, halved blueberries are simpler to swallow and subsequently imply there may be much less probability of your bearded dragon choking on their meals.
Simply as importantly, bearded dragons do typically develop a style for a selected meals. In these instances they might selectively select simply their favourite bits to start out with, usually ignoring the more healthy meals of their bowl.
Slicing up blueberries and mixing them in with the components makes this far much less more likely to happen. The top result’s that your lizard consumes a far broader vary of vitamins, and could also be more healthy general in consequence.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Frozen Blueberries?
Blueberries will be costly fruits to purchase, particularly once they’re not in season in your a part of the world. One attainable various is to purchase frozen blueberries, which will be cheaper.
Alternatively, after all, you possibly can freeze contemporary blueberries once you discover them on supply.
Bearded dragons can eat frozen blueberries as long as they’re totally defrosted.
This usually means eradicating a number of fruits from the freezer, inserting them right into a bowl, and permitting them to thaw for 12-24 hours within the fridge earlier than feeding.
How Typically to Feed Blueberries to a Bearded Dragon
Blueberries will be fed to bearded dragons as soon as each week or two.
Nevertheless there may be some flexibility on this recommendation, as a result of the reply largely is determined by what different sugary meals you’re giving. Fruit generally ought to make up a much smaller a part of your bearded dragon’s weight-reduction plan than the vegetable component.
As you’re subsequently probably solely feeding a small quantity of fruit to your bearded dragon, it is sensible to differ the fruit you supply over time. So that you may select to supply a number of blueberries on sooner or later, however then a number of days later as an alternative go for some banana or some grapes.
In all issues, keep in mind that selection is vital in your bearded dragon’s weight-reduction plan, in order to offer as many alternative vitamins as attainable and guard towards insufficiencies.
How Many Blueberries Can a Bearded Dragon Eat?
The variety of blueberries your bearded dragon can eat will rely upon the scale of your pet.
Bigger bearded dragons can after all eat extra blueberries, whereas children might eat far fewer.
On account of their excessive sugar content material and poor calcium:phosphorus ratio blueberries ought to solely be fed as a small a part of the general weight-reduction plan.
For an grownup bearded dragon, one to 3 blueberries needs to be adequate. Make up the rest of their meal with different foodstuffs that counteract the dietary weaknesses of blueberries. In essence, blueberries needs to be fed alongside low sugar meals, and people with a excessive calcium to phosphorus ratio.
Vitamins Present in Blueberries
Whereas blueberries do definitely have their weaknesses on the subject of your bearded dragon’s weight-reduction plan, that’s not to say they need to be ignored utterly.
Certainly, there are quite a few the reason why blueberries are sometimes described as a “superfood”. It’s these very causes that make them a welcome meals to your bearded dragon.
The very first thing to contemplate is the colour of blueberries. That darkish blue coloration comes from massive numbers of antioxidants. Antioxidants are produced by the blueberry bush, and are current in excessive doses inside the fruits.
It’s believed that antioxidants assist to forestall cells of the physique from injury, notably from ultraviolet gentle. For a lizard that likes to bask within the solar that makes antioxidants a really welcome addition to the weight-reduction plan.
Nevertheless that is removed from the entire story. Blueberries are additionally famed for his or her excessive vitamin content material, being notably excessive in each vitamin C and vitamin Okay. Nutritional vitamins C, as we all know, helps a wholesome immune system nevertheless it additionally performs a task in wholesome joint cartilage. Vitamin Okay works alongside different vitamins like calcium to assist a wholesome skeleton.
Blueberries additionally include massive quantities of manganese.
Lastly, blueberries are a fantastic supply of fiber. In bearded dragons, as in people, fiber helps to keep up a wholesome digestive tract and reduces the probabilities of constipation whereas concurrently supporting “pleasant” intestine micro organism.
Oxalic Acid in Blueberries
Oxalic acid is a molecule present in most plant-based meals. It’s recognized to intervene with calcium absorption within the intestine.
An excessive amount of oxalic acid can subsequently impression bones and tooth, and might also result in kidney stones forming. As needs to be apparent, bearded dragons ought to ideally be fed meals which can be low in oxalates.
Blueberries are thought of to have a “very low” stage of oxalates. Research have positioned this quantity at round 2mg per half cup of blueberries.
When fed as a part of a balanced and diverse weight-reduction plan you subsequently shouldn’t want to fret in regards to the oxalate content material of blueberries when feeding your bearded dragon.
Calcium: Phosphorus Ratio in Blueberries
The calcium to phosphorus ratio of blueberries is 1:1.6.
Keep in mind that the precise calcium to phosphorus ratio might differ barely based mostly on the rising circumstances of the blueberry bush itself.
An optimum calcium to phosphorus ratio for bearded dragons is taken into account 2:1.
Which means that blueberries have a fairly poor ratio.
The result’s that in case your bearded dragon is overfed on meals comparable to blueberries then they might not get adequate vitamins to keep up wholesome joints and bones.
Whereas blueberries are high-quality in small doses, consideration needs to be given to this inferior ratio.
One easy choice is to feed them as an occasional deal with, whereas focusing your beardie’s weight-reduction plan on meals with a extra appropriate calcium to phosphorus ratio. A second choice is to mud your bearded dragon’s weight-reduction plan with calcium powder to extend their consumption of this important mineral.
How you can Feed Blueberries To Your Bearded Dragon
Blueberries are quite simple to feed to your bearded dragon. They require little or no preparation. Blueberries will be fed entire, chopped or crushed. Bearded dragons eat blueberry pores and skin with no issues.
Earlier than feeding blueberries, nevertheless, they need to be fastidiously washed to take away any pesticides or different toxins which will have been utilized because the fruit grew.
It will be significant that blueberries shouldn’t be the one meals your beardie receives. This is applicable to each single meal. So attempt combining blueberries with a variety of greens to make sure a balanced consumption of vitamins.
There are some articles that counsel juicing blueberries and giving this “pulp” to your beardie, nevertheless that is typically a nasty concept. The reason being easy: one of many actual advantages of blueberries is that they’re excessive in fiber. Juicing usually removes this fiber. Not solely does fiber assist the digestive system, nevertheless it additionally slows down the absorption of sugars from the fruit.
In conclusion, blueberries needs to be fed as an entire fruit, sparsely, fairly than as a day by day a part of your bearded dragon’s weight-reduction plan.
