feeding fruits

[ShaneArmstrong]

Hello everyone.

I read that nutritional site listed here but it essentially says never feed the beardie fruits. I find that hard to believe so I want some insight from the rest of you. Do you feed your beardie fruit?

Fruit is just as healthy but I get that the sugar is not that healthy for them and fatty tissue disease can happen from this.

So I am curious do you feed them fruit? If so, what?

Thanks,
Shane

 

[Momomo]

Hi Shane,

I don't think the website says to never feed your beardie fruit.. If we're talking about the same website of course (http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html). It lists some fruits that can be fed occasionally such as apple, cantaloupe etc. and some that can fed very rarely (kiwi, banana). Therefore you CAN feed them fruit, just occasionally. You should never feed citrus fruits though. I personally haven't given my beardie any fruit for a long time.. he doesn't seem very much interested in it. And also because I mostly have citrus fruits and bananas at home.

 

[Soulwind]

What's wrong with citrus? Even beautifuldragons lists the citrus fruits as occasionals.

Pretty much all real fruits are on the occasional list. Which means a regular, rotating,
variety of different things. They can have an "occasional" item every day, just not the
same item every day.

 

[jducky18]

Citrus is extremely acidic and can damage your beardie's organs, and their bodies aren't designed to digest citrus. As for feeding occasional foods every day, if you look at the nutrition chart, each fruit and vegetable has different vitamin and mineral properties, and most of the occasional foods have one or two minerals that would be unhealthy in large doses like feeding every day. Alternating occasional foods is great, but it might also be nice to give your dragon a rest every few days with a very simple salad of just staple foods. That is also my personal opinion, it is your dragon, after all, and you know best what your dragon will eat.

 

[Momomo]

Totally agree with jducky18. I think occasionally means once in a while, not rotating occasional items every day. I could be wrong of course, I just don't see the point in feeding my beardie those occasional food items every day.

 

[jducky18]

To be quite honest, I think of it like children. All of those "occasional" fruits and veggies are basically like different kinds of candy. Every candy is unhealthy in one way or another, so feeding a child a different candy every day is still feeding them candy. Three or four times a week, you can absolutely have candy, but every day might be a little much. It's your dragon, so in the end it's up to you to decide what to feed them.

 

[Soulwind]

Oh, don't get me wrong. I didn't/don't mean to feed a rotating schedule
of occasional foods INSTEAD of staples. I meant that I think it's good to
give a small amount of all kinds of different foods ALONG WITH the
daily staples.

So (this is just an example)
My base salad mix is Collard Greens, Mustard or Turnip Greens, and some Squash

Monday - (base salad mix) plus a couple of blueberries
Tuesday - (base salad mix) plus a small amount of carrots
Wed - (base salad mix) plus a few strawberries or cantelope
Thur - (base salad mix) plus a small amount of fresh green beans
Friday - (base salad mix) plus a small amount of mild peppers
etc, etc, etc

I didn't know about the citrus acid issues though, thanks for bringing that up.

[Of course, right now this is all a moot point for me -- I can't get either of the little stinkers to
touch anything that doesn't have 6 legs or wiggle] :mrgreen: I keep trying though.

 

[Momomo]

I got ya Soulwind, I definitely did not think you meant occasional fruits instead of staples. Your menu seems like a pretty good variety, you sure do spoil your beardies :mrgreen: I think I will actually start introducing more fruit and berries towards the summer, like I said, I dont have much fruit in my fridge these days.

 

[StreetMoggy]

I think your diet sounds good. Feeding anyting the exact same thing day after day isn't healthy. Everything needs Variety, changing up feeders, greens and fruit and veg will ensure your animal gets the full spectrum of vitamins. Fruit has sugar yes, but it's also really packed with vitamins, and usually at a higher content than veggies. Fruits make great treats, I'd rather give my dragon a fruit treat than a meal worm.