Have you questioned whether it’s safe to feed your bearded dragon mushrooms?
Do you have a desire to add them to your beardie’s next meal?
It’s essential to understand if a food can harm your beardie or not.
You need to do this research ahead of time.
Fortunately, we’re here to help with our articles on food and safety, including this one on mushrooms and beardies.
Table of Contents
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Mushrooms?
No, you should not feed mushrooms to bearded dragons due to their toxicity level. The fungi have high acidity levels and do not have proper calcium to phosphorus ratio.
As a bearded dragon owner, it’s important to learn what foods to provide to your beardie to ensure a healthy diet.
A balanced diet consists of proteins, vegetables, and fruits.
What Is Wrong With Mushrooms?
While humans may enjoy adding mushrooms to recipes, you should avoid giving them to bearded dragons.
Mushrooms contain oxalates, which, in high amounts, are toxic to bearded dragons.
Mushrooms have poor calcium to phosphorus ratio and can lead to metabolic bone disease (MBD).
The disease will weaken your lizard’s body and cause lethargy, a lack of energy, and can cause deformed limbs.
Because the calcium to phosphorus ratio in mushrooms is off, it limits the much-needed calcium absorption in bearded dragons.
Does Your Bearded Dragon Have Mushroom Poisoning?
If your pet managed to eat a mushroom, you may worry about the consequences of the forbidden snack.
Mushroom poisoning will cause GI problems, like vomiting and diarrhea.
The symptoms can last anywhere from 6 to 24 hours.
If the symptoms are solely GI-related, you don’t need to make a call to the vet.
If you notice your dragon lacking energy, depression, pupil constriction, or bleeding, you will want to seek medical attention.
How Do I Know If My Bearded Dragon Is Depressed?
Since depression is a symptom after eating mushrooms, you will want to know what it looks like.
If your beardie is depressed, you will notice weight loss, a lack of appetite, and lethargy.
Since these are symptoms of other illnesses, you will want to evaluate all possible scenarios to determine the exact problem.
Depression is also caused by a lack of stimulation or a tank too small for your lizard.
Long-term depression can cause significant health problems, so you want to address the situation as soon as possible.
What Is A Good Bearded Dragon Diet
Bearded dragons should have a varied diet, consisting mostly of proteins from insects, vegetables, and occasional fruits.
Foods high in nutrients and low in oxalates are ideal for bearded dragons.
Vegetables
Providing a healthy array of leafy greens and other vegetables is a great staple to bearded dragons’ diet.
Healthy greens include:
- Collard greens
- Mustard greens
- Bok choy
Avoid feeding bearded dragons spinach or beet greens due to their high level of oxalates.
Vegetables rich in vitamins and nutrients are essential for bearded dragons.
Giving your bearded dragons sweet potato, carrots, green beans, and bell peppers can help provide them with much-needed vitamins, like Vitamins A and C.
Insects
Insects provide much-needed protein for bearded dragons.
Examples of good insects to feed bearded dragons include:
- Dubia roaches
- Crickets
- Worms
- Mealworms
Dubia roaches are the top choice when it comes to feeder insects for dragons.
They are a great source of protein and calcium.
Added perks: they don’t smell and can’t climb the side of the tank.
Dangerous Foods for Bearded Dragons
There are specific foods you should never serve to bearded dragons.
They are toxic and prove to be fatal to lizards.
You do not want to give your beardie avocados, raw broccoli, or fireflies.
The oxalic acid in broccoli can cause kidney stones in bearded dragons.
How to Serve Food to Bearded Dragons
You want to make sure you correctly serve food to avoid your beardie from choking.
Food preparation varies based on the age of bearded dragons.
Baby Bearded Dragons
You never want to serve food to baby dragons any bigger than the space between their eyes.
Serving them food too large may be fatal to your pet lizard.
Food should be cut up into bite-sized pieces.
Babies need to be served smaller meals more frequently.
Overfeeding your baby bearded dragons can lead to health issues down the road.
Their diet should be about 40-60% protein and 20-40% vegetables.
Adult Bearded Dragons
Once your beardie reaches about 18 months, stop serving so many insects and switch to mainly fruits and vegetables.
You should still be mindful of the sizes of the food you are feeding your dragon daily.
Adult dragons should have their food cut up into pieces.
If you feel your dragon is not getting enough vitamins and minerals in their diet, provide them with supplements.
A calcium powder is often given to avoid calcium deficiency.
Do You Need to Give Bearded Dragons Water?
It is vital to keep your bearded dragon well hydrated.
If your lizard is dehydrated, they likely will be constipated as well.
While you may put a water bowl in their tank, it’s not mandatory.
Misting their face or giving them water through a syringe will help keep them hydrated.
If you decide to put a water bowl in their tank, make sure to inspect it for any leftovers after a feeding.
A water bowl may be used as a place for your lizard to relax.
You will want to keep the water cool to prevent any breeding of parasites or pathogens.
Final Thoughts
One of the most important things for a bearded dragon owner is to provide a healthy diet for their lizard.
Making sure you give them a balanced diet is vital for their health.
While giving your dragon a variety of food is important, you need to remember some foods your pet shouldn’t eat.
Mushrooms are toxic food extremely harmful to your lizard.
