Bearded dragons need to eat insects as well as vegetables and fruits. The new owners are often confused about the amount of insects and vegetables in the diet of the bearded dragon. Also the type of vegetables ideal for the bearded dragon are few, and quite a number of greens are not safe to feed the bearded dragons.
So we will be discussing if the delicious and crunchy greens called iceberg lettuce is suitable to feed the dear pet of yours, the bearded dragon.
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Cn iceberg lettuce be fed to the bearded dragon regularly?
Bearded dragons usually do not like their share of green diet much, but you can see them eating iceberg lettuce with much enthusiasm. But while you make it a part of its regular diet, it will be a difficult situation as the dragon will suffer from malnutrition.
There is not much mineral neither does it contain any good amount of vitamins. So other than filling the tummy and keeping the creature hydrated, iceberg lettuce cannot do much to the system of the bearded dragon.
How often can you offer iceberg lettuce to your bearded dragon?
Other than offering the iceberg lettuce as a part of their regular diet, you can keep some fresh and crunchy iceberg lettuce inside their cage, which they can sometimes munch on. This will act as a snack and they will not eat the whole lot of lettuce as their main course.
You need to offer the nutritious meal like mixed platter of roaches, crickets and healthy vegetables like kale, mustard green and collards.
What is the nutritional value of iceberg lettuce?
Iceberg lettuce contains little amount of vitamins like A, C and K along with folate. It also has potassium and good amount of calcium. All these are very much necessary for the bearded dragons or other reptile pets. But when you feed the lettuce in a good amount, as we have already warned, the bearded dragon may get under nourished.
Why the bearded dragon sometimes does not eat lettuce?
As we have discussed that iceberg lettuce can offer good amount of water and thus sometimes consuming it can be beneficial for the hydration process of the bearded dragon. But some bearded dragon owners worry about their pet when the dragons refuse to eat such greens.
There is no specific reason for not liking iceberg lettuce or any other greens for that matter, only the case can be that the dragon has its tummy got filled by the bugs that you have offered in the last meal.
If you are still worried about how to feed some lettuce to your dragon, then feed it less bugs and offer greens at the time of its feeding. They would be eating greens when they get them at the time of their hunger.
Is iceberg lettuce toxic to the bearded dragons?
No there is no chance of toxicity due to the consumption of iceberg lettuce for the bearded dragons. They can eat it as and when they would like, only the amount should be restricted due to the absence of nutrition in this green vegetable.
Bearded dragons are small creatures and their stomach gets filled easily with scanty amount of food. If your dragon does not eat high protein diet with lots of calcium, potassium, phosphorus and other minerals and vitamins then they will suffer from malnutrition which will affect their health.
When feeding iceberg lettue can help the bearded dragon to stay healthy?
Iceberg lettuce contain good amount of water so curing the problem of dehydration is a much known benefit of this green.
Along with that, it can help the dragon in coping up with diarrhea which is sometimes seen among many pets. The water level of the body will be replenished if the dragon can have iceberg lettuce at the time of loose motion.
Can you feed the baby bearded dragon with iceberg lettuce?
For the baby bearded dragons, most of the diet should consist of high protein ingredients. Only little amount of greens are required to fix the necessity of vitamins and fibers in the body of the baby bearded dragon.
But it is always preferred to offer them some highly nutritional greens like mustard green and turnip greens, which are rich in different vitamins and minerals. So iceberg lettuce will not fit this bill and thus you should not feed this greens to the bearded dragon until it gets matured.
The ratio of green and insects in the diet of the dragon
The age of the bearded dragon is a factor which ensures that the amount of vegetable it can eat along with the amount of the insects.
You can feed more protein to the baby bearded dragon as protein is essential for growth. So at that stage 80% insects along with 20% greens will be ideal for it.
When the bearded dragon grows to be a juvenile, you can feed it 50% of greens and same amount of insects. But the matured bearded dragon needs 25% insects and 75% of the diet should consist of vegetables.
Iceberg lettuce is a favorite green of us human but before feeding that to the bearded dragon we need to know the nutritional quotient of this vegetable.
The consumption of lettuce is helpful for anyone as it contains 96% of water. So consuming this green will improve the hydration factor of the consumer. So if the bearded dragon can eat this green then it will fulfill the deficit of the water and that will be much beneficial for the creature.
When the bearded dragon is suffering from the dehydration you can see it moving slowing, with sunken eyes and dull skin. So it seems that you can make it lively by feeding some iceberg lettuce as that will be the right option for the pet to stay healthy.
But that is not the reality. Iceberg lettuce does not contain many nutrients other than water. So feeding it with iceberg lettuce in a good amount will not be beneficial other than just maintaining the hydration level. It will only fill the stomach but the bearded dragon will suffer from nutritional deficit when fed the iceberg lettuce regularly.
