ᐅ Can Bearded Dragons Eat Basil?

image with a bearded dragon, basil and a text that says: can bearded dragons eat basil?

Bearded Dragons And Basil – What You Need To Know

Can bearded dragons eat basil? The short answer is yes; bearded dragons can eat basil. Herbs should be a part of your bearded dragon’s diet, as they offer an array of nutrients not available in other foods. Giving your bearded dragon basil will help balance his diet with some good stuff.

This article will look at the impact of including basil in your bearded dragon’s diet. If you think about feeding your bearded dragon basil, then keep reading.

Benefits Of Feeding Basil To Your Bearded Dragon

Basil offers surprising amounts of key nutrients in a balanced way that is safe for your bearded friend. Let’s take a look at some of these nutrients.

High In Calcium

As a bearded dragon owner, you’ll understand what vital role calcium plays in your bearded pet’s diet. By adding basil to your beardie’s diet from time to time, along with offering other calcium-rich greens, you give a great platform to reach their daily calcium quota.

Basil has healthy calcium to phosphorus ratio. For the calcium to phosphorus ratio to be healthy, it must contain equal amounts of calcium to phosphorus. The recommended ratio is at least 2:1.

Basil has calcium of phosphorus ratio of 177mg calcium per 100g compared to 56mg of phosphorus.

Large Amounts Of Vitamin K

The exceptionally high vitamin K content is essential for bone health and blood clotting.

Energy

Less than 30 calories per 100g is gobsmacking, meaning you do not have to worry about the daily calory intake of your bearded dragon because it can’t even get close to the limit.

Vitamin C

Basil is rich in vitamin C and is great for your beardie’s health and immune system.

Phosphorus

This ingredient is vital to the well-being of your bearded dragon’s bones. It is essential to the growth and density of teeth and bones.

Water

The percentage of water in basil is amazing. It means that they get additional water in their system.

In addition, basil is high in vitamin A, and it is a very cheap herb to procure and easy to find.

Valuable Nutrients Found In Basil

The nutrients found in basil offer your bearded dragon a boost of immunity health, better kidney function, and better digestion. Basil is also an anti-inflammatory and contains antioxidants for battling common sicknesses and cancer.

You should only offer basil once a week as it’s not considered a staple food for bearded dragons.

Nutritional Information of 100g Fresh Basil:

Water	92.09g
Fiber	1.6g
Protein	3.15g
Calcium	177mg
Phosphorus	56mg
Vitamin B6	0.155mg
Vitamin C	18mg
Vitamin K	414.8ug
Vitamin E	0.8mg

Risks Of Feeding Basil To Your Bearded Dragon

Basil is great for all its nutritional value. Bearded dragons can only eat basil in limited amounts. Here are some reasons why.

Too Much Calcium

The calcium/phosphorus balance is essential when feeding your bearded pet. Your bearded dragon can only have a 1:1 or 1:2 calcium to phosphorus ratio. More than this can cause bone problems from not absorbing enough calcium.

The calcium/phosphorus ratio in basil is 3:1, making it unsafe for bearded dragons to eat in large quantities.

Too Acidic

Basil hosts several acids, including chicoric, rosmarinic, and caftaric acid. Too much acidic food can be harmful to your bearded dragon.

As long as you use basil sparingly in your bearded dragon’s diet, the above concerning areas will not affect him.

Can Bearded Dragons Eat Dried Basil?

Although bearded dragons can eat fresh basil, dried basil is an entirely different substance. When basil is dried, the nutrients become concentrated, and you have much higher amounts of vital nutrients such as calcium.

It is not only the healthy nutrients that are concentrated. Dried basil has high fat, sugar, carbohydrates, and phosphorus concentrations. This said we recommend that you not feed your bearded dragon-dried parsley.

Can Bearded Dragons Eat Basil Seeds?

Basil seeds should never be fed basil seeds because they are rich in fat. Excess fat can lead to obesity and other health problems. Basil seeds also have a very rough texture and will be hard for your bearded dragon to chew.

How To Prepare Basil For Your Bearded Dragon

The upside of serving greens and herbs to your bearded dragon is that they usually do not take up much preparation before being served. Take the following steps to prepare basil for your bearded dragon’s meal.

Organic

It is always good to feed your bearded dragon organic food where possible. Pesticides can be extremely harmful to your pet lizard. You can easily grow basil on your windowsill.

Wash

It does not matter if you buy basil or grow your own. You should always thoroughly wash them.

No Need To Cook

There is really no need to cook fresh basil. Cooking will wilt the basil and reduce the nutritional value.

Chop Or Not

Depending on the size of the basil leaves, you can either chop them into smaller pieces or offer them as they are.

Continue To Serve

This is literally how easy it is to prepare basil for your bearded dragon.

Can Baby Bearded Dragons Eat Fresh Basil?

Baby bearded dragons mainly need insect proteins to support their fast-paced growth. Sometimes their need for high calcium greens is overlooked.

Baby bearded dragons can safely eat fresh basil as part of a balanced diet containing other greens. Baby beardies can eat basil as long as it is in moderation.

Finally

From this article, it seems clear that bearded dragons can eat fresh basil as long as it is in moderation. You can add basil to your baby or adult bearded dragon’s diet. We suggest that you also look at dandelions and collard greens in your beardies diet.

Remember always to read about new foods you think to introduce to your bearded dragon. Even the healthiest foods can have health risks.

Continue to read our main article “What do Bearded Dragons Eat?” for all the ins and outs on general diet questions, and get a further detailed breakdown of other popular foods in the articles below:

Can Bearded Dragons eat tomatoes?