Yes, bearded dragons can eat zucchini, whether it’s raw or cooked. Zucchini has plenty of nutrition that your beardie can benefit from. With this vegetable, you should only feed them in moderation to avoid any health issues for your beardie. Zucchini has bad calcium to phosphorus ratio and it contains too much water content, but can bearded dragons eat zucchini?
Is It Safe For Bearded Dragons To Eat Zucchini?
Zucchini doesn’t contain any toxins so it’s safe for bearded dragons to eat.
However, what can make zucchini unsafe for them is how much of it they will eat. The zucchini contains a lot of phosphorous which is bad for bearded dragons. So if you feed too much zucchini to the dragons then it can cause some side effects.
Also, zucchini is full of water, which in small amounts, helps keep your beardie hydrated. But if they eat too much of it, it can cause them to become overhydrated and develop diarrhea.
Therefore, to ensure zucchini doesn’t cause any health problems for your beardie, it’s recommended to feed them on occasion.
Is It Healthy For Bearded Dragons To Eat Zucchini?
Zucchini is a healthy vegetable. It has a lot of vitamins, nutrients, and minerals which are very important to your bearded dragon’s health. Zucchini is an amazing food made up of many nutrients which have been proven to improve your pet’s overall health.
Nutrition Facts
One cup (223 grams) of cooked zucchini provides:
- Calories: 17
- Protein: 1 gram
- Fat: less than 1 gram
- Carbs: 3 grams
- Sugar: 1 gram
- Fiber: 1 gram
Zucchini is a great food for bearded dragons and it offers many health benefits. Below are some of the health benefits of feeding zucchini to your bearded dragons:
High in Antioxidants
Zucchini is a good source of antioxidants which is important for the overall health of the beardie. Antioxidants prevent free radicals from oxidizing other molecules in the body. This is helpful because it prevents damage to cells and tissues. Oxidation occurs when our body interacts with oxygen, and this causes damage to cell membranes, which can harm tissues and lead to aging.
Feeding food rich in antioxidants will help your beardie from getting sick and developing diseases.
Contribute To Healthy Digestion
In fact, zucchini is a great treat for bearded dragons. Here are the reasons why Zucchini is rich in fiber which is good for digestion and also helps with constipation. Fiber also helps with keeping your pet’s weight in check by filling them up and curbing their appetite.
Promote Bone Health
Zucchini is rich in vitamin K, which is essential for healthy bone formation. It is an important component in the chemical reactions involved in the coagulation of blood, and it may help prevent the calcification of soft tissues such as arteries and heart valves. Vitamin K also helps maintain strong bones by helping to activate certain proteins that are necessary for healthy bone mineralization.
Can Baby Bearded Dragons Eat Zucchini?
Bearded dragons can eat zucchini, but only in a small amount.
When they are young, they require a lot of nutrition, especially calcium and protein. For that reason, live food such as crickets, beetles, and worms. These food have a very high amount of protein to support their fast growth. Live foods should make up 80% of their entire diet.
In addition to the protein, dust calcium supplements on the live foods.
For the other 20%, vegetables and some fruits should be incorporated into their diet.
As for zucchini, while it’s a vegetable, it’s something that isn’t a staple food for baby bearded dragons. It doesn’t have enough nutrition to support its growth. Also, it has a poor calcium to phosphorus ratio, which can harm their health.
Therefore, if you want to feed zucchini to your baby bearded dragon, give them a small amount, once or twice a month.
How To Prepare Zucchini For Bearded Dragons
Zucchini can be served to your bearded dragon, either cooked or raw. However, it’s better to feed them raw since cooking will remove most of the nutrients.
Whether your giving them raw or cooked, the zucchini should be prepared first.
The first thing you want to do is clean them thoroughly. Scrub the vegetable so that it will remove pesticide residue and other harmful chemicals. While you can simply peel away the skin, it’s best to leave them on. The skin of the zucchini contains the most nutrients.
Then with a sharp knife, slice or chop the zucchini into small pieces. It should be no bigger than the distance between both of their eyes.
Once it’s in small pieces, remove any seeds that you see. This will prevent your beardie from choking on them.
After that, you can serve the zucchini to your beardie. You can either give them the zucchini itself or mix it with other vegetables.
How Often Can Bearded Dragons Eat Zucchini?
Bearded dragons can only eat zucchini in moderation. While the vegetable is nutritious, it doesn’t have all the nutrition that the beardie needs to stay healthy.
Also, it has very low calcium and poor calcium to phosphorus ratio. Both of these are not in favor of your beardie.
Therefore, to ensure zucchini doesn’t cause any health issues to your beardie, it’s recommended to feed a small amount, once or twice a month.
Other Vegetable That Bearded Dragons Can Eat
Acorn Squash
Acorn squash is healthy food for bearded dragons. In addition to being tasty, it provides many nutrients that are good for the health of your pet reptile as well as other nutrients required for optimum growth and development.
Pumpkin
Pumpkin is not only healthy and nutritious for bearded dragons, but it can also help to increase the amount of water that your pet drinks which will keep him hydrated. Like with any food, you should always monitor your pet while feeding him pumpkin just to be safe!
Pumpkin is a great choice for bearded dragons, though you should make sure to remove the seeds and strings if you don’t want it to be regurgitated at some point. You can also mix pumpkin with other vegetables in order to create the perfect food source for your pet.
Watercress
Watercress is a very nutritious vegetable that has high water content. It also contains vitamins A, C, E, B6, and folate. These nutrients help prevent illness and diseases. If you are looking for a healthy treat for your bearded dragon, consider adding some watercress to its dinner!
Conclusion
While bearded dragons can eat zucchini, it’s not something they should consume in large quantities. Make sure to cut it up into small pieces and only feed your dragon once a week.