To answer the question “Can Bearded Dragons Eat Cucumbers?” in brief, cucumbers are a good addition to your bearded dragon’s diet if you thoroughly peel and wash them first, but they should only be used once every two weeks or so. Cucumbers should be a special treat for your lizard, not a regular meal.
To be happy and healthy, bearded dragons need a variety of fruits, vegetables, and insects, and cucumber should only constitute a minor percentage of their entire diet.
When introducing a new diet to your bearded dragon, consider the vitamin content and nutritional worth of the food, the lizard’s particular choice, and the amount you feed them.
Cucumbers are fantastic for keeping your lizard hydrated, despite the fact that they are mostly water and lack many of the more critical elements found in other fruits and vegetables, like as calcium and vitamin A.
They also include a little amount of vitamin C, K, potassium, and magnesium.
Bearded dragons can suffer a variety of dietary deficits, so carefully check the nutritional value of any food you give them.
Cucumbers are also high in fiber, which aids digestion and prevents impaction, a serious condition in which a solid mass of food or substrate obstructs the lizard’s digestive track.
Because bearded dragons are desert animals who don’t drink much water, a tiny bit of cucumber provided on a regular basis is ideal for keeping them hydrated and assisting with digestion.
What vegetables can beard dragons eat?
Cucumbers can be fed to your beardie every other week or so, but only in moderation. Cucumbers in excess can cause health problems for bearded dragons, but if fed in the appropriate proportions, they can provide nutritional benefits.
Cucumbers are an excellent addition to the diet of bearded dragons because they obtain most of their water from the items they eat. Cucumbers should only be eaten on rare occasions due to their high-water content.
Because bearded dragons are desert animals, they are less accustomed to drinking water. Although water is limited in the wild, bears have evolved to survive for several weeks without drinking.
Bearded dragons, in general, can live for weeks without drinking water and remain healthy because it is a common occurrence for them.
Cucumbers also have an abnormally high Ca:P ratio, which disqualifies it as a staple diet. Phosphorus in excess binds to calcium in the food, preventing it from reaching the bloodstream.
Because cucumbers bind to phosphorus, they can create calcium insufficiency in your lizard, which can lead to metabolic bone disease.
What vegetables are not good for bearded dragons?
When feeding your bearded dragon cucumber, keep the following health issues in mind:
Constipation
Constipation can result from improperly prepared cucumbers.
Cucumbers have a rough skin. Chewing and digesting will be challenging for your bearded dragon.
Seeds that are overly large and hard can clog the digestive tract.
Overhydration
Cucumbers, like spinach leaves, are mainly water.
Desert animals acquire the majority of their water from food. Unless your bearded dragon is dehydrated, cucumbers are unlikely to provide water.
It is possible for your bearded dragon to become dehydrated.
Diarrhea results from dehydration.
Bone metabolic disease
Bearded dragons need twice as much calcium as they need phosphorus.
Cucumbers fail to meet these criteria. Phosphorus is more abundant than calcium in them.
Excess phosphorus prevents calcium from being absorbed into the circulation. Calcium is an important mineral for the health of your bearded dragon.
Metabolic bone disease can be caused by a calcium shortage.
Cucumber Preparation for Bearded Dragons
1. Cucumber Cleaning
A guide to prepare cucumbers for your bearded dragon may be found below. This guidance applies to all cucumber and squash varieties.
Cucumbers, like other raw fruits and vegetables, should be properly cleaned to remove dirt and pesticide residue.
2. Cucumber Peeling
Put the cucumber on a cutting board or in your hand. Using a kitchen knife, trim both sides. Then, using a vegetable peeler, remove all of the skin while minimizing the amount of flesh wasted.
3. Slice in half
Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise with a sharp knife to expose the seeds.
4. Discard the Seeds
Cucumber seeds, as previously stated, are toxic to bearded dragons. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds.
Make sure there are no seeds left. Cucumbers without seeds are available. So, if you come across seedless cucumbers, don’t be concerned.
5. Cucumber Slicing
In a shallow basin, slice the now seedless and peeled cucumber into thin slices.
Prepare several slices ahead of time and keep them in the refrigerator for later use. Before feeding frozen slices to bearded dragons, make sure they are completely defrosted.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Cucumbers Seeds?
Bearded dragons should never be given the skin or seeds of any cucumbers you intend to feed them.
Because your dragon will be unable to chew through the peel, it will be swallowed whole, perhaps resulting in impaction.
Cucumber seeds, likewise, should be removed before feeding because they are small and solid enough to be ingested whole and cause impaction.
Impaction can be fatal, even in otherwise healthy bearded dragons, because a plugged digestive tract prevents your dragon from having regular bowel movements.
WHY CAN’T BEARDED DRAGONS GET CUCUMBERS ON A REGULAR BASIS?
Why can’t bearded dragons eat cucumbers on a daily basis? They appear to be the ultimate vegetable, don’t they? There are a few things that keep them from being considered a staple:
There’s too much water.
Bearded dragons do not require much water because they are desert species. In fact, bearded dragons are inherently dehydrated, thus this is a common occurrence until the dehydration is induced by diarrhea, which can occur if your beardie consumes too many cucumbers.
Although cucumbers include a number of important vitamins and minerals, they are primarily water. Beardies obtain the majority of their hydration from the things they eat, which is why cucumber is a good addition to their diet. The idea is to avoid feeding this type of food too frequently.
Calcium deficiency.
Bearded dragon staple vegetables have a good amount of calcium with less phosphorus (although a balanced ratio is appropriate) and have more nutrients than water. Cucumbers have a calcium-to-phosphorus ratio of 1:1.5, with phosphorus being the greater proportion.
This is an issue because phosphorus clings to calcium and prevents it from entering the bloodstream, effectively depriving the dragon of a vital mineral. Bearded dragons who consume too many cucumbers might acquire metabolic bone disease, a painful ailment that can lead to paralysis and, in the worst-case scenario, death.
Always keep an eye on your own beardie. Examine her reaction to cucumbers the first time you feed them to her.
How Often Can a Beardie Eat Cucumbers?
Every other week, a beardie can eat cucumber. They should not be consumed on a regular basis. Fruits should only make up about 10% of your beardie’s diet, because cucumbers are technically a fruit. If he is fed cucumbers too frequently, he may develop unpleasant side effects.
Conclusion
Although cucumbers are not an acceptable main meal for bearded dragons, a modest amount of cucumber combined with lots of other safe foods will keep your dragon healthy and hydrated while enriching their balanced diet with various essential vitamins and minerals.
Never feed your dragon cucumber peels or seeds, and only little, bite-sized chunks of cucumber.
When feeding bearded dragons, never leave them unattended, and keep a constant eye on their food consumption.
While bearded dragons aren’t picky eaters and eat a wide variety of foods, they do have personal preferences for particular meals, and many dragons enjoy cucumbers as a nutritious snack.