Grapefruit is one of the nutritious fruits you can eat. It is rich in citric acid necessary for the human body as a source of Vitamin C.
But if you are thinking of feeding grapefruit to your bearded dragon, you should read this post before doing so.
So, can bearded dragons eat grapefruit?
Unfortunately, the bearded dragons cannot eat grapefruit. The reason behind is that grapefruit has high citric acid and sugar content. A nibble can be tolerated for beardies though but not more than that.
As we all know, citric acid can cause physical potential problems in bearded dragons if they ingested it in large amounts.
Although grapefruit is healthy for humans, feeding it to beardies can be a different story.
The table below summarizes the nutritional content of grapefruit.
Table of Contents
Grapefruit Nutritional Facts
Grapefruit contains many nutrients that may or may not good for bearded dragons.
Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
| Energy | 138 kJ (33 kcal) |
| Carbohydrates | 8.41 g |
| Sugars | 7.31 g |
| Dietary fiber | 1.1 g |
| Fat | 0.10 g |
| Protein | .8 g |
| Vitamins | Quantity %DV† |
| Thiamine (B1) | 0.037 mg 3% |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 0.020 mg 2% |
| Niacin (B3) | 0.269 mg 2% |
| Pantothenic acid (B5) | 0.283 mg 6% |
| Vitamin B6 | 0.043 mg 3% |
| Folate (B9) | 10 μg 3% |
| Choline | 7.7 mg 2% |
| Vitamin C | 33.3 mg 40% |
| Vitamin E | 0.13 mg 1% |
| Minerals | Quantity %DV† |
| Calcium | 12 mg 1% |
| Iron | 0.06 mg 0% |
| Magnesium | 9 mg 3% |
| Manganese | 0.013 mg 1% |
| Phosphorus | 8 mg 1% |
| Potassium | 148 mg 3% |
| Zinc | 0.07 mg 1% |
| Other constituents | Quantity |
| Water | 90.48 g |
Source: Wikipedia
As you can see, grapefruit contains essential vitamins and minerals. However, as you can see, it is high in Vitamin C. This means that grapefruit is considered acidic.
Related Article: Can Bearded Dragon Eat Mango?
Another thing is that grapefruit also high water content. As you already know, fruits with too much water content are not good for bearded dragons. They can potentially cause diarrhea and other digestive issues.
In general, I don’t recommend feeding your bearded dragon with grapefruit. There are many healthy foods for beardies that won’t cause any health issues.
What Healthy Foods Bearded Dragons Can Eat?
If grapefruit is not good food for your beardy, don’t worry, there are many healthy foods your bearded dragon can eat.
If you are a beginner, it is a real challenge to you when it comes to choosing the right food for lizards. This is because bearded dragons are prone to health problems when fed with unhealthy foods.
Fortunately, this post was written to somehow help beginners like you to come up with the right decision. In this section, I will share with you some foods that are healthy for your bearded dragons.
However, before talking about those foods, there is something very important to remember when preparing a meal for bearded dragons.
You have to remember that bearded dragons are omnivores. This means that these lizards eat both plants and animals. And they need to have a balance between these food varieties in order for them to stay healthy.
The ratio for plants and animals’ consumption differs according to your beardies’ age. For young bearded dragons, for instance, they eat more animals than plants. Their diet must consist of about 70-80% of animals (e.g. worms and bugs).
The reason behind this is that young bearded dragons need more protein for their speedy growth. So they eat more animals than plants.
The adult bearded dragons on the other hand eat more plants (e.g. fruits and green leafy vegetables) than animals. Adult beardies have already reached their growth potential so they don’t need a considerable amount of protein. As a result, they eat more greens instead.
What Animals Are Safe for Bearded Dragons?
Bearded dragons, especially the young ones (babies and juveniles) eat more animals such as insects and worms. Unfortunately, not all insects and worms are safe for beardies.
In fact, there are types of animals that are toxic and could potentially kill your beardies. So if you are a brand new to this, you should make sure that you choose the safe and healthy foods for your beardies.
Related Article: Can Bearded Dragons Eat Earthworms?
The good news is that, as I’ve said, this article is meant to help people who are starting their journey as bearded dragons’ owners.
That said, I have made a shortlist of insects and worms you can feed to your bearded dragon. Take a look at the list below:
- Butter worms
- Cockroaches
- Crickets
- Earthworms
- Hornworms
- King worms
- Mealworms
- Phoenix worms
- Superworms
- Waxworms
Important note: When you choose mealworms, make sure that they are for adult bearded dragons. Mealworms have a hard exoskeleton that is not digestible when digested by young beardies.
In other words, do not feed your baby or juvenile bearded dragon with mealworms. These worms could potentially cause impaction and other digestive issues.
Another important thing to remember is that you do not feed your bearded dragons with insects and bugs you caught in your house. Those tiny animals may have hazards with them which in turn harms your lizards.
I recommend only feed your beardies with bugs or insects that you bought from the pet store. And when it comes to commercial insects, crickets and Dubia roaches are the best choices.
Both crickets and Dubia roaches are commonly considered as healthy food for bearded dragons. However, they have pros and cons you need to weigh.
Pros and Cons of Choosing Cricket
The following are the pros and cons when feeding your beardies with crickets.
Pros of Choosing Cricket
- They don’t usually dig and hide
- They have softshell that could easily digest
Cons of Choosing Cricket
- They have a bad smell
- Make noisy sound
- Could easily escape
- Could also easily get dirty
Click here to view live crickets on Amazon.
Pros and Cons of Choosing Dubia Roaches
The following are the pros and cons when feeding your beardies with Dubia roaches.
Pros of Choosing Dubia Roaches
- They are quiet
- Do not escape
- Don’t have a bad smell
- They live longer than crickets
- They are clean
- Easy to breed
Cons of Choosing Dubia Roaches
- They hide or don’t move at all which makes hard for a bearded dragon to see them
- They have a hard shell
- They are, of course, roaches which may creep you out
Click here to view live Dubia roaches on Amazon.
If you are wondering what are the best insects you can give to your bearded dragons on a consistent basis, I recommend both crickets and dubia roaches. These two are tested as healthy and safe foods for beardies.
But if you ask me what is the best insect, I would say that dubia roach is the one. As you can see from the list above, dubia roaches offer many benefits than negativities.
Related Article: Can Baby Bearded Dragons Eat Mealworms?
However, it is very important to remember too that a balanced diet in bearded dragons consists of animals and greens.
As mentioned above, vegetables are an important part of the beardies’ diet. However, not all vegetables are safe for bearded dragons. If you are not careful, your beardy can get sick if given the wrong greens.
In this section, I provide a shortlist of safe and healthy vegetables you can feed to your beardies on a regular basis.
Safe Vegetables for Bearded Dragons
The truth is that there are plenty of healthy and safe vegetables you can offer to your bearded dragons. But I just choose the safest ones that you can include in the staple food list.
Here are the following:
- All types of squash
- Raw asparagus
- Raw bell peppers
- Bok choy
- Raw cabbage
- Carrots
- Celery
- Chicory
- Collard greens
- Peeled cucumber
- Endive
- Kale
- Kohlrabi
- Mustard greens
- Raw okra
- Parsnips
- Pumpkins
- Turnip greens
- Raw yams
- Raw zucchini
As I have mentioned earlier, the list of healthy vegetables for bearded dragons is longer than this. However, I just want to give you a quick list you can start from. If you are new to caring bearded dragon, this list could help you make a correct and healthy decision for your beardies.
Related Article: Can Bearded Dragons Eat Papaya?
However, crickets and vegetables are not enough. Bearded dragons also need to eat fruits as they used to in the wild.
Like vegetables, not all fruits are healthy and safe for bearded dragons. There are fruits that should be avoided especially those that are high in water and toxic substances.
Fortunately, in this post, I included some of the safe and healthy fruits for bearded dragons.
Safe Fruits for Bearded Dragons
Again, there are plenty of safe and healthy foods you can choose for your beardies. However, in this post, I only included the ones that I have tried for my bearded dragons.
Below are some of them:
- Apples
- Apricot
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Chayote
- Cherries
- Cranberries
- Figs
- Grapes
- Mango
- Melons
- Peaches
- Pears
- Plum
- Prunes
- Strawberries
Quick reminder: When choosing fruits for bearded dragons, avoid those that have high water content and oxalic acid. These substances can both hurt the overall health of beardies.
Final Thoughts on Can Bearded Dragons Eat Grapefruit
Grapefruits are nutritious fruits for humans. However, as you can see in the table above, these fruits contain substances that may not good for bearded dragons.
One of the issues is the acid content. Bearded dragons cannot take acidic fruit because it can bring harm than good to them. In addition, grapefruits have high water content making it a viable cause of diarrhea and other digestive issues.
Thus, choosing other fruits instead is a good idea. As mentioned, there are many safe and healthy fruits you can feed to your bearded dragons. Always make sure that you offer the best and safe foods for your beardies.
I hope this helps. Thank you for reading!
