Bearded dragons are small lizards that make one of the best pet reptiles. These animals are relatively easy to care for, fun to observe, and can be affectionate. One of the best things about a bearded dragon is its diet.
Bearded dragons don’t eat live animals or a ton of insects like some other reptiles. Instead, bearded dragons are omnivores who enjoy eating a variety of food each day. One part of a bearded dragon’s diet is fruit.
So, what fruits can bearded dragons eat?
Bearded dragons can eat all kinds of fruits. Some of the fruits they can eat are berries, apples, mangoes, and grapes, they can even eat coconut! Even though bearded dragons can eat a variety of fruit, the amount should be limited. There are some fruit that bearded dragons can’t eat like oranges and lemons.
In this article, we’ll do a deep dive into which fruits bearded dragons can eat. We’ll also discuss how often a bearded dragon can eat each fruit. Finally, we’ll talk about which fruits you should avoid giving to your pet beardie. First, let’s go over what a bearded dragon would usually eat in the wild.
What Is A Bearded Dragon’s Diet In The Wild?
What an animal eats in the wild is often similar to what they should eat in captivity.
Bearded dragons are desert lizards that are native to Australia. These lizards are omnivores and eat just about anything they can get their mouths on. Because of their size, bearded dragons usually don’t eat anything too big.
A typical diet for a bearded dragon in the wild is made up of vegetation, fruits, small invertebrates, and occasionally small vertebrates. This will look like a few leaves and flowers, a fallen apple, some bugs, and maybe a small lizard of another species.
In captivity, an adult bearded dragon’s meals are usually made up of 20% protein and 80% vegetation. Of that vegetation, only about 10 to 20% will be fruits with the rest being made up of dark leafy greens and vegetables.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Fruit?
It’s pretty clear that bearded dragons can eat fruit.
Fruit is part of a bearded dragon’s wild diet. It’s something that should also be included in a captive diet. Chances are your bearded dragon will love fruit. If this turns out to be true for you, you can use fruit as a treat that will help you build a better bond with your pet reptile.
However, fruit is only a small part of a complete meal for a bearded dragon. If you let your bearded dragon fill up on fruit every day, they’ll likely become vitamin and mineral deficient.
So, feel free to offer fruit with your bearded dragon’s meals but keep in mind that they’re no replacement for a full meal.
The Calcium Phosphorous Ratio
One thing to consider when thinking about feeding your bearded dragon fruits is the calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of each fruit. In general adult bearded dragons need about a 1.5/2 to 1 calcium phosphorus ratio. Most fruits that you’ll give to your bearded dragon don’t have this ratio and have too much phosphorus.
So, what does this mean?
While it’s not a big deal, you’ll definitely want to give your bearded dragon supplements with their captive diet. Not only does this have to do with the fruits but also other parts of their diet that lack calcium and vitamin D3.
If you’re not familiar with bearded dragon supplements, check out the video below for a quick overview.
What Fruits Can Bearded Dragons Eat?
Here is a quick overview of fruits that are safe to give to your bearded dragon. Some of these foods can only be consumed as often as once a month. Others need special preparation before they’re offered to your pet reptile. Keep reading to get details on each specific fruit and how often you can offer it to your beardie.
- Strawberries
- Blueberries
- Blackberries
- Raspberries
- Bananas
- Apples
- Peaches
- Apricots
- Cherries
- Grapes
- Watermelon
- Cantaloupe
- Plums
- Guavas
- Nectarines
- Pears
- Pineapple
- Papaya
- Mango
- Tomatoes
- Figs
- Coconut
- Honeydew
1. Strawberries
Strawberries are safe to feed your pet but may not be the best choice of fruit to offer. Strawberries are a very poor source of calcium so if you feed these to your bearded dragon you won’t be hurting them but you won’t be helping them either. Even though these berries are sweet and delicious, they’re mostly made out of water.
2. Blueberries
Just like strawberries, blueberries are acceptable to feed to your bearded dragon. Even though blueberries are a super food for humans, they don’t do the same thing for reptiles. B
lueberries lack calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin D, which are all essential for the health of any pet reptile. So, you can use blueberries as a sweet treat that is fed weekly to your pet.
3. Blackberries
Blackberries are a fruit that you can give to your bearded dragon every few weeks. These berries are high in sugar and oxalates which can make it difficult for your bearded dragon to absorb calcium.
Many bearded dragons love berries and you can use them as treats occasionally. Surprisingly, blackberries have a decent calcium-phosphorus ratio and if it weren’t for the oxalates would make a great staple fruit for your bearded dragon.
4. Raspberries
Like the other berries on this list, raspberries are delicious but not especially nutritious. In fact, raspberries are probably worse than strawberries, blueberries, or blackberries in terms of nutrients. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t give your beardie a raspberry every once in a while for a treat.
5. Bananas
Bananas are known as healthy fruit for their high level of potassium. While this isn’t a bad thing for a bearded dragon, the calcium-phosphorus ratio in bananas is one of the worst as far as fruits go. If you do decide to feed your bearded dragon a banana, make sure you peel it and cut it up into bite-size pieces for them and only offer it about once a month.
6. Apples
Apples are a popular fruit option for bearded dragons. While this fruit lacks vitamin D, it has a moderately high calcium-phosphorus ratio and contains plenty of vitamin C and vitamin A. Apples are great because they can be fed year-round and can be found in many places around the world.
When feeding your bearded dragon an apple you’ll need to cut the pieces pretty small. Large pieces could be difficult for them to chew and could result in mouth injuries. You’ll want to make sure the apple pieces are no larger than the space between your beardies eyes.
Apples are probably the best staple fruit to feed your dragon every week.
7. Peaches
Peaches are a delicious seasonal fruit that you can give to your bearded dragon as a treat. Peaches have a very low calcium-phosphorus ratio and should always be a treat that comes with a full meal. Peaches are pet fruits and you don’t want your bearded dragon to get their mouth on the pit. Make sure that you peel and cut this fruit before offering it to your pet reptile.
8. Apricots
Apricots are a stone fruit that you can offer your bearded dragon about once a month. These fruits need to be peeled and depleted before being offered to your pet. Always feed fresh apricots and not dried apricots.
9. Cherries
Cherries are delicious treat that is packed full of vitamins and nutrients for your bearded dragon. If it weren’t for their high sugar content, cherries would be a weekly staple for these pet reptiles. As it is cherries can be fed a few times a month as a treat as long as the pits are removed before eating.
10. Grapes
Grapes are a fruit that is safe to feed your bearded dragon. This fruit actually has a very good calcium-phosphorous ratio and can be fed weekly. Grapes are easy to buy, store, and prepare.
You can either feed your pet grapes whole or cut them up into quarters. Red grapes can be used as a staple fruit for bearded dragons but green grapes should be avoided because of their high acidity content.
11. Watermelon
There’s nothing bad about feeding watermelon to your bearded dragon. Watermelons are great for increasing hydration and do contain some important vitamins and minerals. But, watermelons are mainly made of water and your bearded dragon might get full off of them without getting enough nutrition.
12. Cantaloupe
In general, melons are pretty safe to feed to bearded dragons. The only problem with melons like cantaloupe is that they’re high in water and sugar content and might fill your bearded dragon up too quickly. You can feed this melon occasionally as a treat or as a garnish on top of a meal.
13. Plums
Plumbers don’t have a great calcium-phosphorus ratio but can still be fed to your bearded dragon as a treat once a month. As with all pet fruits you’ll need to cut and peel the plum before offering it to your pet.
14. Guavas
Guavas are another fruit that bearded dragons can eat. Like many other fruits, guavas are high in sugar and vitamin C but low in calcium. You can offer your bearded dragon guava in small amounts a few times a month.
15. Nectarines
Bearded dragons can eat nectarines in moderation. These fruits don’t have a great calcium-phosphorus ratio, so they can be used as a treat about once a month.
16. Pears
Pears are a delicious fruit that your bearded dragon can enjoy a few times a week. These fruits are a great staple fruit in a bearded dragon’s diet because they’re not too high in sugar and have a decent calcium-phosphorus ratio.
Obviously, this is another fruit that you’ll need to cut up and prepare for your bearded dragon before feeding it to them, especially if it’s still a little crunchy.
17. Pineapple
Pineapples are one fruit that you can occasionally feed to your bearded dragon. The problem with pineapple is that it’s very acidic and high in sugar and might cause indigestion for your pet reptile.
18. Papaya
Papayas have an incredibly high calcium-phosphorus ratio at 5:1. While you might think that this is a bonus, it’s almost too much calcium for a reptile to eat. Papaya is a great fruit to rely on if your bearded dragon is calcium deficient and needs a little help in the nutrition department.
19. Mango
Mangoes can be fed to your bearded dragon as a treat occasionally. They’re too high in sugar to be a staple fruit I need to be cut up into small pieces before feeding.
20. Tomatoes
Surprisingly, tomatoes are a great fruit to feed to your bearded dragon. Tomatoes are full of vitamins and have a great calcium-phosphorus ratio. The only problem with tomatoes is that they’re mainly made of water and they’ll fill your bearded dragon up very quickly. Tomatoes make a great garnish on top of a meal.
21. Figs
If you’re in an area where you can find fresh figs, you can try offering these to your bearded dragon. Figs are full of fiber and have a decent calcium-phosphorus ratio.
We recommend staying away from feeding your bearded dragon any dried fruits. Dried fruits are high in sugar and low in calories and may lead to nutritional imbalances for your pet.
22. Coconut
It might surprise you to find out that you can feed coconut to your bearded dragon. Coconut can be fed as an occasional treat if your bearded dragon seems to like it.
The problem with coconut and why it isn’t a staple fruit is that is high in saturated fat. Saturated fat can lead to weight gain in obesity which is something you don’t want to deal with in a bearded dragon. If you do feed your bearded dragon coconut make sure to only give them the meat from the inside of the fruit and not the husk.
23. Honeydew
Honeydew is a refreshing and delicious treat that you can give to your bearded dragon a few times a month. Honeydew has about equal levels of calcium and phosphorus and so it can’t be a staple fruit in your beardie’s diet.
If you do feed out honey do make sure you just feed small pieces of the melon and not any of the tough outer skin.
What Fruits Can Bearded Dragons Not Eat?
Now that we know all of the fruits that you can offer to your bearded dragon, what fruits can they not eat?
The only fruits that you should truly stay away from feeding your bearded dragon are citrus fruits. These fruits are too acidic and will end up hurting your bearded dragon’s stomach.
Fruits like oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruits should always be avoided in a bearded dragon diet. These fruits are not only acidic but are also excessively high and sugar and not nutritious enough to make it worth the risk.
What Fruits Can Bearded Dragons Eat Daily?
Apples, blueberries, and grapes are probably the best fruits to feed your bearded dragon every day. These fruits are relatively low in sugar and have a decent calcium-phosphorus ratio. Remember that all bearded dragons need more than just fruit in their diets to thrive.
What Is The Healthiest Fruit For Bearded Dragons?
The healthiest fruit for a bearded dragon is probably an apple. Apples have a great calcium-phosphorus ratio, are full of vitamins and minerals, and have a relatively low sugar and water content. Apples can make a great daily addition to your bearded dragon’s plate.
Final Thoughts
Most fruits are safe for bearded dragons to consume occasionally. Only a few fruits like apples, grapes, and blueberries are staple fruits that can be fed more than once a week. Stay away from citrus fruits and you can experiment and see what your bearded dragon’s favorites are.
