Can Bearded Dragons Eat Cabbage?

Can bearded dragons eat cabbage? Yes, bearded dragons are allowed to eat cabbage, both red and green cabbage. Cabbage, when consumed in moderation, is an excellent supplement to your bearded dragon’s healthy balanced diet.

Cabbage is a fantastic vegetable with several health advantages for bearded dragons. Cabbage is safe to consume for bearded dragons. It is a great food to supplement your bearded dragon’s diet when consumed in moderation. Cabbage is an excellent meal for bearded dragons since it contains many vitamins and minerals, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory compounds. However, overeating cabbage might be harmful to their health.

Is It Safe for Bearded Dragons to Eat Cabbage?

Yes, it is entirely safe for bearded dragons to eat cabbage. Cabbages are high in nutrients, and bearded dragons will benefit from them in a variety of ways.

The only thing you need to watch out for is if pesticides were used on the cabbage. The chemical is toxic to bearded dragons and can even kill them if they ingest enough of it.

For that reason, it’s best to buy organic cabbage or simply grow your own cabbage in your garden without the use of pesticides or any other chemicals.

Is It Healthy To Feed Cabbage To Bearded Dragons?

Cabbage contains various minerals, including sodium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, potassium, zinc, and manganese. All of these minerals are essential to bearded dragons.

Potassium, for example, aids in blood pressure regulation, preserves the muscles and nerves and prevents kidney stones. Manganese promotes metabolism, magnesium promotes appropriate blood sugar levels, calcium and phosphorus promote robust bone development.

Nutrition Facts

1 cup (89 grams) of raw green cabbage contains:

  • Calories: 22
  • Protein: 1 gram
  • Fiber: 2 grams
  • Vitamin K: 85% of the RDI
  • Vitamin C: 54% of the RDI
  • Folate: 10% of the RDI
  • Manganese: 7% of the RDI
  • Vitamin B6: 6% of the RDI
  • Calcium: 4% of the RDI
  • Potassium: 4% of the RDI
  • Magnesium: 3% of the RDI

Source: NutritionData

Vitamin K: Cabbages, particularly the red type, are high in vitamin K, which is necessary for preserving tissues and blood cells and assists in blood clotting in the event of a bearded dragon injury.  

Vitamin C: is also found in cabbages and serves various purposes, including strengthening the immune system, aiding eyesight, development, and reproduction.

Vitamin A: promotes healthy vision, while vitamin B6 and folate are in charge of maintaining the nervous system and energy.

Dietary Fiber: Cabbages provide enough dietary fiber to support the good digestion of meals, which decreases the likelihood of constipation and leads to regular and easy defecation.

Giving cabbages to bearded dragons when they are still fresh is suggested to improve actionability and assist the beardie benefit from the nutritional fiber.

Antioxidant: Cabbage contains powerful antioxidants such as sulfur compounds and polyphenols. The two antioxidants reduce inflammation and keep the body’s free radicals from causing cell damage.

Low Sugar:  It has shallow sugar content and will not damage your bearded dragon. You should feed bearded dragons low-sugar diets to avoid obesity, high blood pressure, and heart failure.

Can Baby Bearded Dragons Eat Cabbage?

Cabbage is safe to consume for both baby bearded dragons. Cabbage has elements beneficial to newborn beardies. Depending on the type of cabbage you feed your newborn beardie, it might be high in calcium (namely, bok choy cabbage).

Calcium is essential for all bearded dragons, but it is especially vital for young bearded dragons proliferating. It’s crucial to note that infant and juvenile beardies should consume mainly insect and protein-based diets, with a smaller quantity of high-quality greens and veggies. Their plant-based diet should gradually increase as they grow older.

How to Feed Cabbage to Bearded Dragons?

 

Organic cabbage: It’s always a good idea to buy organic cabbage or any other green or vegetable you’re planning to feed your bearded dragon. The price may be a bit higher to buy them, but pesticides may be highly hazardous to beardies.

The next step is to wash your cabbage. No matter how clean the cabbage appears or whether it is organic or not, you must thoroughly wash it before giving it to your bearded dragon.

Raw cabbage: There is no need to cook the cabbage. Fresh cabbage is better for them as it will have the most nutrition. Cooking it will just reduce its nutritional content.

You can serve the cabbage with other nutritious greens like dandelion and mustard greens.

How Many Cabbages To Feed Bearded Dragons?

The amount of cabbage you feed your bearded dragons will be determined by the kind and health of the cabbage. Cabbage strong in calcium, such as bok choy, can be mixed with other greens, such as mustard and dandelion greens, in equal parts in the salad dish.

Different types that aren’t as high in calcium should only be half the size. It is because you want your beardie to eat calcium-rich greens and vegetables, since it is essential for their wellbeing.

How Often to Feed Cabbage To Bearded Dragons?

As a general rule of thumb, I recommend giving your beardie cabbage once each week for most kinds.

Bok choy, on the other hand, maybe fed more often because it is particularly beneficial for beardies because of its high calcium content.

Due to its low calcium to phosphorus ratio, we recommend just serving savoy cabbage once a month.

Again, as a general rule of thumb, the higher the calcium levels and the better the calcium to phosphorus ratio of cabbage, the more frequently it may be included in your dragon’s diet.

Other Fruits That Bearded Dragons Can Eat

Kale

Kale is safe for your bearded dragons to eat. It is packed with nutrition that your beardie can benefit from. Most importantly of all, kale is high in calcium and low in phosphorus.

Lettuce

Lettuce makes a good treat to feed your bearded dragons. There are different varieties of lettuce that you can feed them. Avoid iceberg lettuce as those have very little nutrition and a high amount of water. Instead, give them romaine lettuce or butterhead lettuce, which is higher in nutrition and not a lot of water in them.

Radishes

Radishes are nutritious, and your bearded dragons will enjoy eating them. It’s a good source of fiber, calcium, and vitamin B6, C, and K. Also, radish is high in water, which is a great option for hydration.

Besides the radishes, the radish greens are healthy for them to eat as well. The greens can be fed to them on a daily basis.

Conclusion

Cabbage is nutritious and healthy for your bearded dragons to eat. You can feed them all varieties of cabbage. To ensure the cabbage don’t cause them any health issues, feed them in moderation.