ᐅ Can Bearded Dragons Eat Parsley?

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How Safe Is Parsley In Your Pet Dragon’s Diet

Bearded dragons are very finicky about what they eat. And if you’ve asked yourself the question “can bearded dragons eat parsley?”, you’re in luck. Cause we’ll give you all the ins and outs on the topic.

The short answer is that yes, a bearded dragon can eat parsley about once a month. But to keep your beardie safe, there are a few things you need to know.

So read on, and we’ll tell you all about it.

The Benefits and Risks Of Feeding Parsley To Your Bearded Dragon

Parsley has excellent vitamins and minerals to offer your bearded dragon, especially calcium, which is critical to your bearded dragon’s health. Although parsley is rich in calcium, it is also high in oxalates. Oxalates bind to calcium within bearded dragons and not only stops the calcium from being absorbed, but it can also increase the chances that they will develop kidney stones.

The Nutritional Facts Of Parsley

Vitamin A, C, and K

Vitamin A and C are helpful nutrients that can help boost your beardie’s immune system and get rid of radicals. Vitamin K helps with blood clotting and your bearded dragon’s growth.

Calcium

The high amount of calcium in parsley will help offset the high number of oxalates in parsley. This will make the parsley a little safer to eat and is essential for strong bones and other biological functions. Adding it to your beardie’s diet can prevent the onset of metabolic bone disease.

Phosphorus

Parsley also contains phosphorus that can bind to calcium and prevent absorption. It, however, still falls within the 2:1 ratio recommended by experts.

Sugar content

Parsley has low sugar content, which is good for your bearded dragon. Your beardie can become obese or develop fatty liver disease if the sugar content is too high.

Oxalates

Oxalates are found in abundance in parsley. They interfere with calcium absorption and can cause metabolic bone disease.

Can Your Baby Bearded Dragon Eat Parsley?

It is not recommended to feed your baby or juvenile bearded dragons parsley. However, if you prefer to do so, it must be given in moderation, only occasionally and in conjunction with other greens. This is mostly due to the effect of too many oxalates in parsley outweighing the calcium that your baby beardie needs.

Preparing A Parsley Feast For Your Bearded Friend

Assuming that you are picking fresh parsley fresh from a plant, we highly recommend that you wash the parsley thoroughly to ensure they are clean, germ-free, and free from all bacteria and pesticides.

You should start by washing the parsley properly, then finely chop it into appropriate bite-sized pieces. You can use a pair of scissors to chop the parsley.

Add the chopped leaves to a healthy salad bowl, and top it up with the occasional fruits or other greens. By doing this your beardie won’t even know it is there.

Your bearded dragons can eat parsley leaves as well as parsley stems because both are rich in vitamins and minerals. Parsley stems must be mixed with other vegetables and not be served alone as they can become choking hazards.

Avoid feeding parsley flakes to your beardie because it contains preservatives and other elements that can be very dangerous to your bearded dragon’s health.

The parsley root is also dangerous for your beardie because it sits in the ground for about 99% of the time. When picking parsley, it doesn’t matter how well you think you cleaned it, there will always be a chance that not all the dirt and chemicals are removed.

A Final Thought

So all in all then – can bearded dragons eat parsley? We would in general recommend not to feed parsley to your beardie. This is largely due to the potential danger of feeding them too many oxalates, which we discussed can lead to a variety of health problems.

If you still want to feed parsley to your beardie as a monthly treat, and as long as you keep to very small portions, your bearded dragon should be fine and can safely eat it.

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: