Bearded dragons that are fed incorrectly, can be pretty picky when it comes to food. That´s why a lot of beardie owners are looking for food their bearded dragon might love to eat. So, can bearded dragons eat grapes?
Grapes can be fed to bearded dragons occasionally. Most bearded dragons love them, but they contain a lot of water and sugar which makes them inappropriate as everyday food. Bearded dragons should only be fed seedless grapes.
However, how often should you really feed grapes? Why is it bad for beardies that grapes contain a lot of water? Continue to read to learn more about this.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Grapes?
Most bearded dragons in captivation are known for being very picky and bearded dragon owners are having a hard time to find greens and fruits that their bearded dragon is actually willing to eat.
Bearded dragons often times prefer fruits over vegetables and that´s why most owners feed more fruits than vegetables. The problem is that owners think that fruits are as healthy as greens, since we all learned that fruits are healthy, right?
Unfortunately though, fruits can be pretty bad for bearded dragons and while bearded dragons can eat fruits like grapes, you should not feed grapes too often to your bearded dragon. I explain to you why grapes can be pretty bad in detail later. First let´s talk about how often you can feed grapes.
How Often Can You Feed Grapes?
Grapes should only be fed as treats from time to time. How often you can really feed them to your bearded dragon depends on your bearded dragon´s health.
If you have a bearded dragon that is absolutely healthy and is not overfed or fat at all, there is no problem with feeding your bearded dragon a couple of grapes once a week.
Further you can use grapes to get your bearded dragon to eat more greens. To do this, simply cut a grape in half and rub it on the greens you are about to feed your bearded dragon.
You can then put small pieces of that grape between the greens so that your bearded dragon eats greens by accident while going for the grapes. One half of a grape or maybe even a full small grape per bowl of greens should be okay here.
Why Grapes Can Be Bad For Bearded Dragons
There are a couple of reasons why grapes can be bad for your bearded dragon. Let me break those reasons down for you.
Grapes Contain Oxalates
I assume that you have never heard of oxalates. Don´t worry, me neither, but I did my research and want to explain to you shortly why oxalates can be bad for your bearded dragon.
Whether it be in humans or in bearded dragons, oxalates bind calcium which means that even if you make sure that your bearded dragon gets a lot of calcium every day, the grapes take parts of that away.
Grapes are relatively low in oxalates, but they still contain them and feeding too many grapes could absorb too much calcium which your bearded dragon needs so badly.
Grapes Have Seeds
I am pretty sure that you know that you can actually buy seedless grapes. Unfortunately, even though those grapes have less seeds than most other grapes, it is not guaranteed that seedless grapes do not have any seeds at all.
That is why it is very important to check every grape you feed for seeds. Remove every seed you can find no matter how big or small it might be.
Bearded dragons can get impacted from those seeds, which means that they are not able to have a bowel movement anymore until they get help or die. There are actually a lot of bearded dragons that died from eating stone fruits like grapes, so be very careful here.
If you already fed a lot of grapes and you fear that your bearded dragon might swallowed a seed and is unable to defecate now, give your bearded dragon a warm bath and rub its belly gently.
Warm baths can help impacted bearded dragons to relax and have a bowel movement. If your bearded dragon is not able to defecate for 7 days, you should definitely take your bearded dragon to a reptile vet immediately.
If you need more information on that, click here to read my article on bearded dragons that are unable to defecate.
Grapes Contain A Lot Of Water
You might be confused right now, because you always thought that water can´t be bad for bearded dragons. The truth is that too much water is actually pretty bad for bearded dragons.
Bearded dragons come from the dry woodlands of Australia and they are used to being dehydrated for a very long period of time. So bearded dragons do not really need a lot of water. Actually they get most of the water they need from their food.
While that does not mean that you should not offer a water bowl, it definitely means that you should not offer too much food that contains a lot of water. Grapes contain a lot of water and this can lead to diarrhea in bearded dragons.
As you probably know, diarrhea in bearded dragons can lead to dehydration and even though bearded dragons are used to being hydrated, diarrhea can dehydrate a bearded dragon way too much and lead too health problems.
If you want to know more about dehydration in bearded dragons and what you can do about it, click here to read my bearded dragon dehydration guide.
Sugar And Fruit Acid
Grapes are high in fiber, which is great for bearded dragons. But they also contain sugar and fruit acid and this can be pretty bad for your bearded dragon´s health. That is why it is recommended to not only feed grapes rarely, but to feed fruits in general rarely.
As I said before, most pet bearded dragons are overfed and way to fat. Feeding a bearded dragon foods that are high in sugar can make this even worse.
You won´t believe it, but reptiles can actually get diabetes and fatty liver disease. Many bearded dragons die from that.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most of the questions you might have had were already answered above, but there are a couple of common questions I want to answer here as well.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Grape Skin?
Bearded dragons can eat grape skin without any problems, since it is easy to digest and bearded dragons can swallow it without any problems. That does not mean that bearded dragons should eat a lot of grapes every day, though.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Grape Leaves?
While grapes should not be fed to often to bearded dragons, grape leaves are the exact opposite here. Grape leaves are high in protein and calcium and low in phosphorus. Grape leaves are the ideal food for bearded dragons.
Can Bearded Dragon Eat Red/ Purple Grapes?
It does not matter if the grapes are green, red or purple, bearded dragons can eat all grapes. Still, feeding bearded dragons grapes every day is not recommended.
Conclusion
I don´t want to be a fun killer here. I know that it is really cool to feed a bearded dragon those foods they really love.
And I also know that every bearded dragon owner only wants the best for their beardie, but those are the facts.
So can bearded dragons eat grapes? Yes, you can definitely feed your bearded dragon grapes occasionally. Just don´t overdo it.
Source: https://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1920/2
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