Can bearded dragons eat tomatoes? If you are a beginner bearded dragon owner, you might ask the same question. In this post, I will share with you some important information you need to know to keep your beardies healthy.
While it is true that bearded dragons can eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, not all fruits and vegetables are safe for them.
So, can bearded dragons eat tomatoes?
Bearded dragons can eat tomatoes on rare occasions. This is due to its high water content and disproportionate calcium-to-phosphorus ratio.
If you are new, you need to make sure that your beardies do not eat watery foods. As you know, watery foods such as tomatoes can upset their stomach and their whole digestive system leading to health issues.
To give us a better understanding of why tomatoes should NOT be fed regularly to beardies, I have included a table below. The table summarizes the important nutrients your beardies can get from eating tomatoes.
Related Article: Can Bearded Dragons Eat Papaya? (Is It Dangerous?)
Table of Contents
Nutritional Facts of Tomatoes
Nutritional Content Per 100g
| Name | Amount | Unit |
| Water | 94.52 | g |
| Protein | 0.88 | g |
| Calcium, Ca | 10 | Mg |
| Phosphorus, P | 24 | mg |
| Potassium, K | 237 | mg |
| Vitamin C, | 13.7 | mg |
Source: USDA Database Entry
As you can see from the table, tomatoes have high water content. In every 100 grams, 94.52% of that is water. That is too much for beardies. When beardies regularly eat a tomato, there is a high chance that they suffer from diarrhea and other digestive issues.
The other thing worth noticing is the calcium and phosphorus content. As you can see, these two constituents are out of proportion. The ideal ratio for calcium-to-phosphorus is 2:1. In this case, phosphorus is significantly higher than the calcium level.
As a rule of thumb, beardies should only have foods that contain the right proportion for calcium and phosphorus. Certainly, tomatoes are ruled out as part of the beardies’ regular diet.
Phosphorus is an essential mineral for bearded dragons. However, if it is too much, it could cause calcium level to dwindle. When that happens, beardies will most likely suffer from calcium deficiency related health issues.
The common health problems related to this is a metabolic bone disease. MBD is characterized by the brittle and weak skeletal system due to the absence or limited amount of calcium.
Metabolic bone disease can cause many behavioral changes in bearded dragons. Some of the most common symptoms are the changes in appetite, difficulty in walking, and some other behavioral changes.
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Should Bearded Dragons Not Eat Tomatoes at All?
Well, the truth is that tomatoes are not totally toxic to bearded dragons. That said, they can eat tomatoes rarely. In fact, as you can see from the table, tomatoes are good sources of vitamin C that help boost the immune system in bearded dragons.
I think the key here is moderation. Do not feed your bearded dragons tomatoes on a regular basis. Instead, feed it as a treat.
Also, if you feed tomatoes, make sure to add other greens or vegetables. My recommendation is to mix three to four types of greens and vegetables. This will not only make the salad healthier but also more enticing for beardies to eat.
Tomatoes can surely add amazing color to the green salad. Chop all the components or the salad finely to prevent beardies from choking.
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Can Young Bearded Dragons Eat Tomatoes?
Baby and juvenile bearded dragons consume mostly insects and other protein sources. They need these types of foods for their speedy growth. But they still eat fruits and vegetables.
Yes, baby or young bearded dragons can eat tomatoes very rarely. They can get vitamin C in tomatoes. However, because of the unbalanced calcium and phosphorus content, young beardies can only have tomatoes as a treat.
But as long as possible, choose healthier fruits instead. Tomatoes can only be a great addition to a salad to make it more colorful. But it should not be the main component. Young beardies are more prone to health issues. So you need to be careful.
There are a variety of safer and healthier foods for bearded dragons. I listed some of them below.
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Best Safe Fruits for Bearded Dragons
If tomatoes cannot be part of the beardies’ regular diet, don’t worry because there are many healthier fruits you can choose. You can also mix tomatoes with these fruits.
There are many healthy fruits you can choose from to make a salad for bearded dragons. But I only include below some that my beardies like the most.
Here are some of them:
- Apples (feed occasionally)
- Blackberries (feed occasionally)
- Blueberries (feed occasionally)
- Cherries (feed occasionally)
- Cranberries (feed occasionally)
- Figs (high in calcium and fiber; feed occasionally)
- Grapes (feed occasionally)
- Melons
- Peaches (feed occasionally)
- Pears (feed occasionally)
- Pineapple (feed occasionally)
- Plum
- Prunes (feed occasionally)
- Strawberries (feed occasionally)
- Watermelon (feed occasionally)
Although these fruits are healthy, feed them occasionally to your bearded dragons. This is because these fruits contain some nutrients that are not good for beardies in large consumptions.
In fact, most fruits are too watery for beardies. So be careful. I recommend that you mix these fruits with other healthier foods.
In addition, never feed bearded dragons with chunks of foods bigger than the distance between their eyes. This is because bearded dragons are prone to choking and other digestive problems when ingested hard and large chunks of foods.
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Best and Safest Greens for Bearded Dragons
Aside from fruits, part of the bearded dragons’ diet is a variety of greens. But you also need to be careful because not all greens or leafy vegetables are safe for reptiles.
But don’t worry, in this post I will share with you the healthiest greens you can feed to your bearded dragons.
Below are some of them:
- Cactus (raw leaf)
- Cactus pear
- Collard greens
- Dandelion greens
- Endive
- Escarole
- Mustard greens
- Acorn squash
- Butternut squash
- Hubbard squash
- Scallop squash
- Spaghetti squash
- Summer squash
- Turnip greens
Best Worms for Bearded Dragons
Aside from greens and fruits, bearded dragons need live animals to complete their healthy diet. Their balanced diet includes greens, fruits, and insects.
The challenge is to choose the best live insects for beardies. There are insects and worms that are not good for reptiles.
When it comes to choosing insects, I recommend the dubia roaches (click here to check these roaches on Amazon). By far, these roaches are best for bearded dragons.
When it comes to worms, the Phoenix worms and Silkworms are the best and the healthiest. You can buy these worms from the nearby pet store or order them online.
Check Phoenix worms on Amazon
Check Silkworms on Amazon
Related Article: Are Mealworms Bad for Bearded Dragons?
Final Thoughts on Can Bearded Dragons Eat Tomatoes
Tomatoes are rich in water and also contain disproportionate calcium-to-phosphorus ratio. This means that bearded dragons can only eat tomatoes very rarely.
As a rule of thumb, bearded dragons should not be fed with fruits and vegetables that are watery and have imbalance calcium and phosphorus content.
Watery foods could cause digestives issues in beardies. Also, foods that have disproportionate calcium-to-phosphorus ratio are not good for bearded dragons.
As a bearded dragon owner, you need to be careful. Beardies are prone to many health issues when consumed unhealthy foods.
I hope this helps. Thank you for reading.
