Can Bearded Dragons Eat Watermelons

If you are worried about feeding watermelons to your bearded dragon, you can expect answers to all the related questions here. In this in-depth article, you will understand whether or not bearded dragons can eat watermelons. In the following paragraphs, we will guide you about watermelons’ nutritional value, their benefits, and risks to bearded dragons. It covers all the answers you seek regarding watermelon consumption for bearded dragons.

Read through all the sections carefully as it contains important information that will help you find out whether or not to feed watermelons to your lizard.

Is it safe for bearded dragons to eat watermelons?

Yes, bearded dragons can consume watermelons.  Like any other fruit, they must be consumed occasionally. They can enjoy the rich and juicy watermelon from time to time. Few fruits offer certain nutritional value to bearded dragons. And, watermelon not being one of them, cannot be fed to bearded dragons every now and then.

Nutritional value of watermelons

It is important to consider the nutritional value of every fruit that contributes to the dragon’s diet. Therefore, we present the nutritional value of watermelons for your reference so you can take from it the needful.

How often should you feed them?

When feeding watermelons to your dragon, you want to ensure that you do it without any risks involved.

The low calcium, poor phosphorus ratio, and high sugar content clearly restrict the intake of watermelons for bearded dragons.

Therefore, make sure you only treat them occasionally. Perhaps, once a month. Although you can also feed it two to three every month, it is better to be on a safe side beforehand.

However, don’t let too much concern abstain your dragon from the juicy watermelons. They love it and other melons as well. You can limit its intake as a salad topper – which is both safe and ideal.

How to prepare watermelons for bearded dragons?

There is no cooking or special instructions needed to prepare watermelons for your dragon’s diet. Nonetheless, there are some precautions you must take before randomly feeding watermelons to them. One of them and most crucial is to check whether the watermelon is organic. It is not always possible to find a 100% organic one, yet the best you can do is to ensure it is herbicide and pesticide free.

Always wash it to rinse off any chemicals. If you want to know whether you can feed them watermelon rind as well, the answer is yes. You must wash it and carefully chop it down to small pieces. This way, they are easy to eat and digest. Too big or too small pieces can result in choking. Therefore, be careful as this part has a denser texture than the pulp.

As for the real deal, which is the soft inside of the watermelon – slice it and mix with salad. You can also use the juice to lure your dragon into eating the greens and vegetable salad. But, remember that juice must be diluted with water because the sugar content is not avoidable.

Most important of all are the seeds. Remove the seeds before feeding watermelon to bearded dragons. Seeds are not easy to digest and involve choking risks. Soft white seeds are permissible. Hard black ones should be removed meticulously.

What are the advantages of feeding watermelons to bearded dragons?

Despite the little intake of watermelon by your dragon, watermelon offers nutrients that they can benefit from. Though solely, they cannot contribute much. Nonetheless, in addition to other veggies and foods, watermelons boost the nutritional value of the bearded dragon’s diet.

Watermelon is a great source of Vitamin C, which is a vital nutrient. It plays a role in maintaining healthy skin, prevents digestive issues, and strengthens the immunity of bearded dragons.

Apart from that, they are also considered a decent source of Beta Carotene and Vitamin A. Vitamin A has its benefits but requires a controlled supply to bearded dragons like many other nutrients.

Speaking of other nutrients, watermelons also contain Vitamin B6, Copper, Calcium, and Potassium. Out of all, calcium is of great importance. Captive dragons and those suffering from bone disease lack calcium.

What are the disadvantages of feeding watermelons to bearded dragons?

As mentioned earlier, watermelons have a decent amount of calcium which keeps bones healthy. But, make no mistake. Never feed anything to your dragon that is more risk inducing than facilitating.

Calcium intake can be enhanced in dragons by supplements without introducing other nutrients or minerals in surplus.

As watermelons are abundant in other nutrients more than the useful ones, their consumption is limited to once or twice per month to avoid any complications. And, the above table of nutritional value indicates calcium is definitely not in abundance.

Sugar levels are too high in watermelons. It is the most important thing to consider for bearded dragons that you are feeding them sugar-rich foods. They make way for certain diseases.

First and foremost, sugar is responsible for gum and tooth decay in dragons. Their teeth are directly connected with their jaws. So, anything that harms the teeth can be a growing concern for overall bone health.

Digestion issues and diarrhea are other problems associated with high sugar intake. Apart from that, sitting sugar leads to overweight in dragons, making it difficult for them to lift themselves and perform certain activities.

Final word

Keep a close watch on everything your bearded dragon consumes. They are at high risk in terms of fruit consumption because most fruits have more than the recommended sugar content for them. Moreover, they lack the calcium content that is needed.