Bearded dragons are one of the best reptiles to keep as pets. They’re adorable, peaceful, and quite entertaining to watch when they run around doing beardie stuff. However, handling bearded dragons comes with several responsibilities; you’d have to ensure that where they live and what they eat are all in check, especially the latter. Although dragons eat all sorts of food items – from vegetables to grubs, and fruit – they are still quite unintentionally picky eaters. Whatever your bearded dragon eats has to be safe enough for it to consume to prevent it from falling sick – and this is where the problems with fruits begin.
Bearded dragons can eat blackberries! The delicious fruit is loaded with valuable nutrients that will improve your beardie’s health. Unfortunately, blackberries also contain some elements that are toxic to your pet if the fruit is taken in large quantities. So, your beardie should only consume blackberries once in a while for its safety.
In this article, we’ll be discussing the benefits and risks of feeding blackberries to your bearded dragon. It’s important to know the best way your bearded dragon can eat its savory berries and be safe from harm while doing so. Let’s dive!
Should I Feed My Bearded Dragon Blackberries?
If your pet enjoys blackberries so much, you should feed the berries to it with care. You must truly understand what blackberries contain, how they affect your beardie, and just how to feed them properly for blackberries to be on your dragon’s food menu. Remember, bearded dragons are individual creatures; one beardie may totally enjoy what another will despise. So if your dragon loves its back little berries, you’ll have a good time feeding it the treats and watching it enjoy every minute of it.
5 Great Benefits Of Blackberries To Bearded Dragons
It’s like hitting two marks with an arrow when your favorite candy contains nutrients that are absolutely good for you. Despite blackberries being a treat for beardies, they are saturated with benefits that will improve your dragon’s well-being.
1. Improves Immune System
Bearded dragons in captivity outlive the ones in the wild for a reason; it’s because their immune system is constantly boosted by vitamin C which is rather difficult to come by in the wild. Since your beardie’s diet is under your watchful eye, they have a better chance of getting vitamin C. Blackberries, small but mighty, are fully loaded with this vitamin! Just one of them contains 23% of vitamin C which is enough to give your bearded dragon a much better chance at combating bacteria and illnesses.
2. Better Heart And Blood Function
Blackberries contain vitamins E and K which particularly assist in the formation, communication, and regulation of blood cells. They help to unclog the blood vessels lowering blood pressure, and assist in blood clotting in cases of injury. Without these two vitamins, your bearded dragon will be more at risk of developing heart disease due to how little they exercise for their particularly nutritious (and delicious) diet.
3. Assists In The Formation Of Hormones
Vitamin B3 and B9 assist your beardie in hormone formation and the relative consumption of energy. These vitamins come in minimal amounts, but contribute to the general function of your bearded dragon particularly before and during their stage of sexual maturity.
4. Helps In Maintaining Beardie’s Eyesight
When bearded dragons approach old age, which is usually 6 years for beardies in the wild, their eyesight begins to drastically decline. With the small amounts of vitamin A your pet gains from blackberries, it will have a better chance of maintaining its eyesight for a few more years before the complete plunge.
5. Reduces The Risk Of Cancer
Due to oxidation, bearded dragons also experience a risk of cancer because of the presence of free radicals in their cellular structure. Antioxidants bind to these free radicals, drastically reducing the risks of oxidative stress and cancer. These antioxidants are saturated in fruits, specifically the blackberries, that your bearded dragon loves to eat!
The Right Way To Feed Blackberries To Your Bearded Dragon
Unlike peaches and tomatoes that need to be peeled before your bearded dragon can eat them, blackberries do not require that much of a problem. All you have to do is to ensure the blackberries are organically grown. You don’t want to feed your pet fruit that has been marinated in all sorts of chemicals, because unlike you, they do not have the complex structure to break down that kind of content. If you grow blackberries in your home, even better! The harm of fertilizers and pesticides from large-scale farming is out the window for you and your beardie.
What About The Seeds?
Bearded dragons can eat blackberries – seeds and skin – without any serious detriment to their digestive health. In fact, the seeds are rich in fiber that aid bowel movement. There’d only be a problem when your dragon eats way too many blackberries in a moment because they can get impacted by the buildup of the seeds.
Does The Size Of The Blackberry Matter?
The size of the blackberry matters especially if your bearded dragon is still a hatchling or juvenile. A general rule of thumb is to be able to fit the fruit between your beardie’s eyes. If it’s too big for your pet to swallow, it could choke or get bloated which is highly dangerous for baby beardies.
How Many Blackberries Should I Feed My Beardie?
Adult bearded dragons should eat 3 – 4 blackberries a month especially if their diet consists of other fruits. For baby beardies, just 1 – 2 a month is just fine. You wouldn’t want to give them too much of the fruit as it could cause serious problems to their health. (Discussed in detail below)
3 Major Risks Of Feeding Your Bearded Dragon Too Many Blackberries
Too much of everything is bad, and for your bearded dragon, it could even be lethal. It’s important to know how many blackberries your dragon should and can eat to prevent health problems. Here are some examples of what could go wrong if your beardie eats too many berry treats:
1. Bone Health Difficulties
Blackberries contain phosphorus which is twice the amount of calcium. This may not seem like a problem, but phosphorus readily binds to calcium, shortening the amount your pet needs to build healthy bones. If your beardie consumes too many blackberries without replacing the used-up calcium, it could develop metabolic bone disease.
This disease causes the bones to be brittle, deformed, and weak. It also reduces their lifespan by a couple of years if it gets too serious. This is why it’s terribly important to include calcium supplements (view on Amazon) in your beardie’s blackberry diet, or in any salad that contains fruit, to replace the calcium siphoned by phosphorus and prevent the possibilities of MBD.
2. Obesity
Blackberries contain serious amounts of sugar that your bearded dragon is unable to process properly. Instead of breaking it down into glucose, the excess is stored as fat deposits that can lead to obesity. Especially since your pet does not necessarily move around like it would in the wild.
3. Stomach Problems
The build-up of vitamin C in your bearded dragon’s little belly can lead to gastrointestinal problems in the form of indigestion, vomiting, and diarrhea. It throws your beardie off balance and exposes it to other illnesses. It might take a little while for it to be back on its feet after the ordeal.
Here is What To Do if Your Beardie Accidentally Ate Too Many Blackberries
If there’s an accident where your bearded dragon ate too many blackberries, don’t panic. The best thing to do is immediately contact the vet. Rush to the clinic so that your beardie gets a professional examination from the veterinary practitioner. Diagnosis, medication, and more guidance on what to do will be given to you to handle the situation when you get home.
If you don’t have immediate access to a veterinary doctor, you can help your beardie by giving it a nice warm bath to help it poop out the excess sweets it has eaten and as well rehydrate. Prepare a shallow bath and put your beardie in it; the water level should be up to its knees. After 15 to 20 minutes, take it out of the water and leave it in its terrarium to bask and rest. Do not feed it anything during this period.
Can I Feed My Bearded Dragon Dry Blackberries?
Bearded dragons should not eat dried blackberries! It’s almost indigestible and has way too much sugar that is potentially dangerous to your beardie’s health. It could lead to impaction and a serious stomach ache.
Can My Beardie Eat Blackberry Paste?
Bearded dragons should not be eating pasty foods as it’s dangerous for their teeth. It encourages the build-up of plaque which develops into much more sinister teeth problems like periodontal disease in beardies.
The Conclusion
Some bearded dragons go absolutely bonkers for blackberries, and rightly so! Blackberries are sweet, savory, and delicious treats that you can incorporate into your beardie’s salad to give them a 5-star experience. All you have to do is make sure they eat the right amounts, and you and your dragon are good to go. With all we’ve discussed, you should be able to navigate blackberries and bearded dragons like a pro. Good luck!
