Spinach leaves, jam-packed with fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, are a superfood for humans. They are a favorite ingredient in green smoothies, fresh-pressed juices, salads, and more. Spinach keeps us, humans, healthy. It’s best to have it in meals almost every day.
But while spinach is healthy for humans, it may not be so for your bearded dragon. It follows then that a question we will be addressing here, in this article, is this, can bearded dragons eat spinach?
Spinach contains a large amount of oxalate. Oxalate combines with calcium and keeps the bearded dragons from getting the calcium they need. So now, while spinach is good for humans, it’s not the case for bearded dragons. Bearded dragons need a lot of calcium to keep their bones healthy and strong.
The high amount of oxalate from spinach can keep your bearded dragon from getting and processing the calcium he needs.
Yes, you can feed your bearded dragon spinach. However, you can’t do so all the time. There are proper amounts of spinach to give them. There is also the right time to feed them spinach in their daily meals.
How Often Can Bearded Dragons Eat Spinach?
Before giving your bearded dragon any fruit or leafy vegetable, it is a must to look into their nutritional values.
When it comes to leafy greens, you need to look into the amount of protein and level they contain. You, too, must look at how much phosphorous and calcium they have. Keep in mind that the healthy phosphorous to calcium ratio for bearded dragons is 2:1. All these are important for your bearded dragon to have daily.
Looking at a hundred gram serving of spinach, you will find it has 49 milligrams of phosphorous, 99 milligrams of calcium, and 2.86 grams of proteins. While this looks good for your bearded dragon, there’s one setback with spinach as food for bearded dragons. It is the large amounts of oxalate it has.
As mentioned earlier, oxalates bind with calcium and keep the bearded dragon from fully absorbing the calcium in spinach. You may then ask, what is the point of feeding bearded dragons spinach if they cannot use calcium from it well?
Spinach having a large amount of oxalate then is why we say it’s best to give bearded dragons spinach occasionally. The most ideal is to give your bearded dragon some spinach leaves at least once or twice a month. They could use the health boost from the bits of spinach leaves on these rare occasions.
Expert Tip: If your bearded dragon has some health problems, you may need to check with your vet first if you can let them eat spinach.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Baby Spinach?
Yes, bearded dragons can eat baby spinach. But like with the regular spinach, baby spinach may not have the phosphorous, calcium, and protein level your bearded dragon may need. Baby spinach, like regular spinach, is nutritionally dense. It’s just that the calcium, phosphorous, and protein content of it are not enough for bearded dragons.
Pros and Cons of Baby Spinach
Spinach, both the baby and regular kind, are nutritionally dense. For one, it has a lot of protein. Second, spinach also meets the ideal phosphorous to calcium ratio requirement, 2:1, of bearded dragons to be healthy. You can give spinach leaves of the regular and baby kind to your bearded dragon occasionally because of this.
You must, however, be watchful of the oxalate the leafy green contains. Giving your bearded dragon a lot of spinach more frequently may make him unhealthy instead. Vets usually advise owners of bearded dragons to feed them with spinach at least once or twice a month.
Others would say it’s even better to let them have spinach once every two or three months. They advise this to keep your bearded dragon in good health. If you want to keep your beardie healthy, you’ll want to heed these.
You can also check with your veterinarian if your beardie has health problems. They can help you set your bearded dragon a proper diet up to nurse him back to good health.
Proteins are important to bearded dragons. The right phosphorous to calcium ratio is crucial, too, to bearded dragons.
While spinach has all of these, the high amount of oxalate is unhealthy for bearded dragons. Give your bearded dragon spinach just at least once or twice a month or once every two or three months. You do not want your beardie to be in bad health. It is still best to serve bearded dragons a mixed meal every day.
The ideal meal for bearded dragons is a mix of insects for protein, some pieces of watery and sugary fruits as appetizers, and lots of leafy greens with the right phosphorous to calcium ratio and a lot of protein, too. Giving your bearded dragon this kind of meal will keep him healthy.
It pays to know what your beardie can eat and what he can’t. You can plan his meals well when you know the fruits, the leafy greens, and even the insects he can and cannot eat. If you’re still unsure what to feed your beardie, you can always consult with the vet on this.
Veterinarians are knowledgeable on the things pets like bearded dragons can eat. You can get good answers to your questions from them regarding your beardie’s diet.
Expert Tip: Bearded dragons can eat different things like fruits, leafy greens, and insects. Unlike other pets, they are not fussy eaters.
Do bear in mind that bearded dragons, like other pet animals, however, have required dietary nutrients, too. They need lots of proteins, the right phosphorous to calcium ratio requirement, and more.
They definitely can eat a lot of leafy greens as they are rich in protein as the insects in their diet are.
Yes, bearded dragons can eat spinach. They can even have baby spinach. They can, however, only have these occasionally. There are still some things to consider when giving leafy greens like spinach to bearded dragons.
To be even more sure, you may want to check with your vet first before giving some leafy greens like spinach and fruits to your pet beardie.
