Cauliflower is one of the most versatile vegetables in our diet. You can use it in soups, salads, curries, and even burgers. However can bearded dragons eat cauliflower?
Yes, bearded dragons can eat cauliflower. It comes in various colors including white, orange, purple, green, and yellow, which is all safe for them to eat. Cauliflowers are packed with nutrition that your beardie can benefit from. However, due to their high amount of goitrogens, cauliflowers should be fed to your beardie in moderation.
Is It Safe For Bearded Dragons To Eat Cauliflower?
Cauliflower is relatively safe for bearded dragons to eat since they don’t contain any toxins.
However, too much of this vegetable can be unsafe for them to eat. Cauliflowers are high goitrogens and it has bad calcium to phosphorus ratio.
Goitrogen is harmful to your beardie in large amounts as it will affect thyroid function.
Bearded dragons need plenty of calcium in their diet to be healthy. When there is too much phosphorus in their diet, it will prevent calcium from being absorbed into their bloodstream. When the body can no longer absorb any calcium from the food they eat, it will start to extract the calcium from the bones. When this happens, it will lead to metabolic bone disease (MBD).
Therefore, as long as cauliflower is fed to them in moderation, you should not have to worry about your beardie having any health issues.
Is It Healthy For Bearded Dragons To Eat Cauliflower?
It’s low in calories and fat but contains high amounts of vitamin C, vitamin K, folate, fiber, and minerals such as iron. For that reason, cauliflower is healthy for your bearded dragon to eat.
Nutrition Facts
1 cup, or about 100 grams, of chopped raw cauliflower, has:
- 25 calories
- 0 grams of fat
- 5 grams of carbohydrates
- 2 grams of dietary fiber
- 2 grams of sugar
- 2 grams of protein
- 30 milligrams of sodium
Source: USDA
Below are some of the health benefits of feeding cauliflower to your bearded dragon:
Improve Digestion
Cauliflower is a good source of fiber, which is important for the healthy digestive system. When your beardie gets enough fiber in the diet, it will help improve their digestion. Fiber helps bulk up the stool, which will help move it smoothly through the digestive tract.
Also, fiber helps prevent constipation in bearded dragons. In captivity, beardie is prone to constipation due to their diet. Giving them food high in fiber will prevent this from happening.
Strengthen Immune System
Cauliflower contains a lot of vitamin C. This vitamin is essential for a healthy immune system. When your beardie eats food high in vitamin C, it will strengthen their immune system.
A healthy immune system will prevent your beardie from becoming ill.
Can Baby Bearded Dragons Eat Cauliflower?
Baby bearded dragons can eat cauliflower, but only a small amount. The vegetable doesn’t have enough nutrition to support their health.
When they are young, they need plenty of nutrition, especially protein to support their fast growth. For that reason, the majority of their diet should be food high in protein and calcium. Live food such as crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, and worms have plenty of protein and calcium. This food should make up 70% of their diet.
As for the rest of their diet, it should come from vegetables. Cauliflowers are fine to feed them, but on occasion only.
Instead, vegetables such as bok choy, radish greens, and yellow squash are good food for baby bearded dragons. You can feed these veggies to them 3 times a week or more.
How To Prepare Cauliflower For Your Bearded Dragons
Before feeding cauliflower to your bearded dragons, you’ll need to prepare them first. They won’t be able to eat the entire vegetable if you try to feed them whole.
The first thing to do is clean the cauliflower thoroughly with water. This will help remove dirt and pest from the vegetable.
Next, with a sharp knife, cut the cauliflower into small pieces. Make sure each piece is no larger than the diameter between both their eyes. Feeding them cauliflower that is larger can risk them choking on it.
Lastly, you can feed them just the cauliflower or mix it with other vegetables to create a tasty and healthy salad. Just make sure to cut all the vegetables into small pieces before feeding them to your beardie.
How Often Can Bearded Dragons Eat Cauliflower?
You should not feed cauliflower to your bearded dragon very often. While the vegetable has plenty of nutrition that your beardie can benefit from, it also is high in goitrogens.
Goitrogen is a substance that can alter your bearded dragon’s thyroid function. If they consume food high in goitrogens, it could their metabolism to not work properly. When that happens, there is a good chance they could develop the metabolic bone disease (MBD).
Therefore, to prevent any health issues from arising due to cauliflower, it’s recommended to feed a small amount of the veggie, once or twice per month.
Other Vegetable That Bearded Dragons Can Eat
Carrots
Carrots are a great source of beta-carotene, which is a substance that can be turned into Vitamin A. In the right amounts, it can help with the growth and development of your bearded dragon. Of course, you should always make sure to feed your pet fresh carrots rather than feeding them from the can to ensure they’re safe for them to consume.
Celery
Bearded dragons can eat celery, but it should make up a small part of their overall diet. Make sure to remove the fiber from the skin of the celery and chop them into small pieces. Doing so will prevent your beardie from choking on it.
Lettuce
Lettuce is a great food for bearded dragons. Bearded dragon owners report that their pets love it, even more than they do most other greens. However, it’s important to note that you should feed them only romaine lettuce or butterhead lettuce, not iceberg lettuce. The iceberg lettuce has very little nutritional value and contains too much water, which isn’t good for the health of your beardie.
Conclusion
Cauliflower can be fed to your bearded dragon, but only in moderation. This vegetable contains goitrogens and a high amount of phosphorous, which can harm your beardie in a large amount.
