Bearded dragons can eat a variety of green leafy vegetables. However, it is important to remember that not all greens are safe for your beardies.
So, can bearded dragons eat endive?
Bearded dragons can eat endive. You can add it to your beardies’ salad. It has a good calcium to phosphorous ratio making it one of the safe and healthy greens for bearded dragons.
Aside from the calcium and phosphorous ratio present in endive, it also contains vitamins and minerals that may be also good for beardies.
Table of Contents
Nutritional Facts of Endive
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
| Energy | 71 kJ (17 kcal) |
| Carbohydrates | 3.35 g |
| Dietary fiber | 3.1 g |
| Fat | 0.2 g |
| Protein | 1.25 g |
| Vitamins | Quantity %DV† |
| Vitamin A equiv. | 108 μg 14% |
| beta-Carotene | 1300 μg 12% |
| Thiamine (B1) | 0.08 mg 7% |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 0.075 mg 6% |
| Niacin (B3) | 0.4 mg 3% |
| Pantothenic acid (B5) | 0.9 mg 18% |
| Folate (B9) | 142 μg 36% |
| Vitamin C | 6.5 mg 8% |
| Vitamin E | 0.44 mg 3% |
| Vitamin K | 231 μg 220% |
| Minerals | Quantity %DV† |
| Calcium | 52 mg 5% |
| Iron | 0.83 mg 6% |
| Magnesium | 15 mg 4% |
| Manganese | 0.42 mg 20% |
| Phosphorus | 28 mg 4% |
| Potassium | 314 mg 7% |
| Zinc | 0.79 mg 8% |
Source: Wikipedia
As you can see, the endive contains about 1% of the protein necessary for beardies’ growth. This protein amount can also be good for adult beardies which consume more greens than insects.
When added into their salad, adult beardies will be able to have protein although they don’t eat more live animals.
Related Article: Can Bearded Dragons Eat Celery?
Aside from endive, there are greens you can give to your bearded dragons. You can give them flowers and greens, fruits, and vegetables. These foods are requirements in order for them to have a balanced diet.
In this post, I include some of the safe alternative foods for your beardies. Not all of the following though may be available in your place. So pick the ones that are accessible.
Flowers and Greens for Bearded Dragons
The following are some of the safe flowers and greens you can offer to your beardies:
- Alfalfa flowers
- Astilbe
- Baby’s tears
- Basil leaves or flowers
- Chinese lantern flowers
- Carnation petals
- Chamomile
- Clover
- Dahlia flower head
- Dandelion leaves or flower head
- Day lilies flowers
- Fennel
- Geranium flowers or leaves
- Impatiens
- Hibiscus flowers or leaves
- Hens and Chicks
- Lavender
- Mesquite leaves
- Mint
- Mulberry leaves
- Oregano
- Pansies flowers
- Green bean leaves
- Peppermint
- Petunia
- Phlox
- Rose petals
- Rosemary leaves or flowers
- Squash
- Thyme leaves or flowers
- Yucca flowers
My caveat is that, don’t give your beardies what you don’t add to your salad. This is to keep your bearded dragons safe from toxic plants.
Further, do not feed your beardies with greens you picked in the wild. Those greens may have toxic materials such as pesticides or herbicides with them.
Related Article: Can Bearded Dragons Eat Cauliflower?
It is important to note that even those plants that are safe for humans may not be good for beardies. Plants of these kinds usually contain oxalic acid that can only do harm to your beardies than good.
Vegetables for Bearded Dragons
Apart from flowers and greens, another food you can serve to your beardies is fruits. There are many fruits you can add to your bearded dragon’s salad. They are accessible and inexpensive.
However, you need to be careful when feeding your beardies with fruits. This is because fruits are known to have high water content which may in turn cause digestive issues in bearded dragons.
When beardies eat many watery fruits they may suffer from diarrhea which will also result in dehydration.
Related Article: Can Bearded Dragons Eat Papaya?
Aside from water content, many fruits also contain a high amount of oxalic acid. Oxalic acid binds with calcium which will result in calcium deficiency in beardies.
When this happens, your reptile will eventually develop the metabolic bone disease a condition wherein the bone becomes rigid and brittle.
Vegetables to avoid:
- Beet tops
- Collard greens
- Parsley
- Spinach
- Swiss chard
Vegetables for occasional treat:
- Bok choy
- Cilantro
- Dandelion greens
- Escarole
- Kale
- Mustard greens
- Watercress
Vegetables as staple food:
There are a few vegetables that I can recommend as staple foods for your bearded dragons.
The following are some of them:
- Endive
- Chicory
- Radicchio
- Turnip greens
Although it is labeled as a staple food, you don’t need to feed these vegetables on a daily basis. It only means that these foods are safe even for daily serving.
What I learned from years of caring bearded dragons is that, when they are fed with the same type of food over and over again, they become picky or lose their appetite.
In this case, you can mix three to four types of vegetables and chop them finely. This will make your beardies’ salad more colorful. And because it is chopped into smaller pieces, they won’t be able to choose their favorite food.
Fruits are also essential sources of nutrients that beardies need. But like greens and vegetables, not all fruits are safe for them. This is because most fruits have a high water content that may cause digestive issues.
However, there are a variety of fruits you can serve to your beardies on an occasional basis.
Fruits for occasional consumption:
- Apricots
- Apples
- Dates
- Kiwi
- Mango
- Melon
- Papaya
- Peaches
- Plums
I did not include grapes and raisins in the list. I had a bad experience with grapes and raisins in my bearded dragons before. So I keep everything as safe as possible.
Be reminded also that beardies especially the young ones are prone to choking and impaction. This is likely to happen when you feed your beardies with large chunks of food.
So when feeding bearded dragons with fruits, always consider the size of the food into consideration. Never feed fruits that are bigger than the distance between the two eyes of the beardies.
Related Article: Can Bearded Dragons Eat Grapefruit?
The space between the beardies’ eyes is indicative of the size of food they can easily swallow without having potential problems.
So I suggest that you chop the fruits into small bite-size pieces to avoid digestive problems in bearded dragons.
Another thing to remember is that always make sure that you thoroughly wash the fruit before chopping it. Fruits especially those you can buy in the market might have chemicals like pesticides. This is harmful to beardies especially if consumed in large amounts.
Final Thoughts on Can Bearded Dragons Eat Endive
Bearded dragons can eat a variety of greens. But not all greens are safe and healthy for beardies. Some of them are in fact toxic to beardies.
Endive, on the other hand, is safe for bearded dragons. You can feed it to your beardies as a staple food.
However, always make sure that you wash endive thoroughly before adding it to their salad. Always take safety precautions first at all times.
I hope this helps. Thank you for reading.
