Can Bearded Dragons Eat Spring Mix? (Definitive Answer)

Sharing is caring!

Can bearded dragons eat spring mix?

It’s a good question, especially since beardies can eat canned fruits and quite a few vegetables on their own.

So, it makes sense that they’d be able to eat a pre-made mixture of them, right?

That’s not necessarily true, as we’ll find out below; so keep reading.

Don’t forget to check our guide to feeding bearded dragons correctly!

CAN BEARDED DRAGONS EAT SPRING MIX?

While bearded dragons requires leafy greens for their vitamins, minerals and in easing digestion, not all vegetables are healthy.

This salad is a combination of vegetables meant to provide a wide variety of nutritional benefits for you…but can bearded dragons eat spring mix?

Yes…and no. Spring mix might be good but you really need to make sure you know the vegetables are used in the mix.

For example, spinach never goes well with your beardie friend. Broccoli and parsley are also not good.

They all contain a high amount of oxalates which might bind calcium, causing metabolic bone disease.

They have also been linked to causing gout in beardeds, and so anytime you feed your pet any of these veggies, you are placing them at risk.

Plus, lettuce makes up the largest part of spring mix, and it’s not really all that nutritional for your scaly friend (especially if it’s iceberg lettuce).

Related: Can Bearded Dragons Eat Strawberries?

Potential Health Issues Associated With Spring Mix

bearded dragon eating lettuce on white background

The NC state veterinary hospital says that spinach, broccoli, and parsley usually contain goitrogens that decrease your reptile thyroid function by blocking iodine’s entrance into the thyroid gland.

Even for humans, goitrogens are bad when taken in excess. For us, they have also been linked with bone fractures.

If you feed your beardie friend spinach, broccoli, and parsley, you will have to be ready to supplement its diet with iodine and selenium.

This can be done by dusting your veggies with the two supplements or gut loading your live insects with the supplements before you can feed them to your bearded dragons.

It would help if you also dusted the spring greens with calcium powder. One way to reduce the goitrogens in your veggies is by blanching, freezing, and cooking them.

Not most bearded dragon owners are ready to do this when there are so many other alternatives.

Cooking also loses some of the vitamins in your vegetables. You want to throw raw leafy greens to your reptile, don’t you?

Though providing spinach, broccoli, and parsley to your reptile pet has its pros, such as that they are a good vitamin source, the cons are just too many.

We, therefore, advise you to avoid adding them into your spring mix completely.

Vegetables That Are Good For Bearded Dragons

Organic Green Collard Greens spring mix for bearded dragons

Instead of relying on bagged salads from a grocery store, why not make your own bearded dragon spring mix?

Do it once a week and you’ll have “grab and go” salads ready for your pal every day.

You can add the following vegetables to your spring salad mix: mustard greens, collard greens, beet greens, peas, green beans, carrots, turnip greens, and alfalfa hay.

All these are rich in Vitamin A and vitamin C. The quantity of spring mix that your bearded dragon takes depends on its age.

Young bearded drags do not need a lot of vegetables. They want more insects since they are growing, and at this stage, they require lots of protein.

So you will be better of feeding your juvenile dragons with lots of crickets, worms, dubia roaches, and other feeder insects.

This does not mean that they are not going to take veggies. You should balance their meals with at least 20% of veggies.

On the other hand, adults will need more of the spring mix/vegetables since adults need up to 80% of a plant-based diet.

The other 20% is topped up with a few insects here and there.

Check this video for more details on safe veggies for your bearded dragon:

Learn more about the bearded dragon diet and find complete lists on what else to feed them in our brand-new book!

Bearded Dragon Feeding Guide buy now

How Often Should You Feed Your Beardie?

Feeding your beardie pals should be done once a day so. The food you provide them should last them the whole day.

Other than the food, you will also need to give lots of drinking water to your reptiles.

Indeed, bearded dragons do not like drinking water because they mostly rely on their food’s water content.

That, though, does not mean that you should not have a water source in the vivarium.

You can place water in a tank with a trough connected to it. Use a pump to simulate water movement so that your bearded friend can agree to drink the water.

If the water is still or in a water bowl, your bearded dragon might not notice it or assume that it is a bathing pool where he will come during those hot days of summer to cool himself.

He might also see the water as its toilet where he defecates and urinates.

Take a look at this video for more tips on how often to feed your pal:

Can bearded reptiles eat canned spring mix?

Yes, bearded dragons can eat canned or frozen spring mix. At first, though, a picky dragon might not be interested and will leave your spring mix completely untouched.

At that time, it will want just fresh vegetables. But with time, it will get used to the canned veggies and eat them all the same.

The good thing about canned veggies is that you will always have a supply all year round, whether in the summer or during winter.

Canned vegetables, contrary to popular belief, are very nutritious.

In fact, literature from authoritative sites like WebMD shows that canned greens could be better than fresh ones. For one, they can retain the nutrients at the highest level possible.

Final Words: Can Bearded dRagons Eat Spring Mix?

While bearded dragons can eat spring mix, owners should take care that they do not add spinach, broccoli, or parsley into the salad mix.

Honestly, you’re better off buying vegetables individually and making your own mixes. Not only is it safer, but it’s actually cheaper in the long run.

bearded dragon eating veggies with text

Can bearded dragons eat spring mix? what are your thoughts about it? Share below!

Barry Stingmore
Barry Stingmore

Barry Stingmore is a British content writer living in Fuerteventura, Spain. An animal lover at heart, he shares his home with a dog and four rescue cats and has a passion for writing about animals big and small.

Barry loves finding answers to your animal-related questions, the more research involved the better! You can rely on him to find the facts.

Find him on FACEBOOK, TWITTER AND Linkedin
Read his latest ARTICLES.
Find more about him HERE.

1 thought on “Can Bearded Dragons Eat Spring Mix? (Definitive Answer)”

Leave a Comment

SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER

NEVER MISS A NEWS OR DISCOUNT