Can Bearded Dragons Eat Apples? Things You Should Know

Many people reach out to us asking: can bearded dragons eat apples? We’ve decided to write a detailed answer.

Bearded dragons can eat apples, but not as a staple. Apples offer a lot of health benefits and are one of the safer fruits for beardies to eat. But because of their high sugar content, beardies can’t eat them every day. Too much sugar is harmful to beardies.

Beardies shouldn’t eat fruit every day, even apples. As you may already know, bearded dragons are omnivorous animals. They need a balanced diet of plants, fruits, and insects. Adult beardies should eat 20% insects and 80% plants, with fruits making up only 10% to 20% of those plants.

What’s Good About Apples for Beardies?

Apples are a nutrient-rich food that humans and bearded dragons can both benefit from. Apples are high in Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Fiber, Potassium, Iron, and water.

Here is why apples are healthy for beardies.

• The vitamins A and C in apples enhance your dragon’s immune system, vision, reproduction, and growth.
• Fiber helps with digestion and constipation.
• Carbohydrates provide energy for your beardie.
• Potassium controls blood pressure, supports muscle function, protects against kidney issues, and reduces water retention in beardies.
• Iron, which facilitates blood flow and oxygen transportation
• The high water content keeps your dragon hydrated.

Adding apples to your bearded dragon’s diet can be beneficial as long as they’re not overdone (once a week is fine).

What’s Bad About Apples for Beardies?

No fruit is healthy for your bearded dragons in high doses, including apples. Even though apples are healthy for beardies, giving them too much can hurt them.

The main reason why bearded dragons cannot eat apples every day is their high sugar content. Too much sugar can cause tooth decay, obesity, fatty liver disease, and even diabetes in dragons. Your dragon could get heart failure and die if it consumes a lot of sugar for a long time.

Can Bearded Dragons Have Green and Red Apples?

Besides taste, green apples have more fiber, protein, potassium, and iron than red apples. Bearded dragons can eat both green and red apples, but remember to peel the colors first!

Can Bearded Dragons Eat Apple Peels?

Even though it’s perfectly safe for us humans, bearded dragons should never eat apple peels.

Apart from increasing the choking risk, the apple peel is uncomfortable and difficult for your dragon to chew. Furthermore, apple peels can contain pesticides and toxins, especially if they’re not organic. These substances can potentially kill a bearded dragon.

How Can Bearded Dragons Eat Apples?

To serve apples to your beardie safely, follow these steps:

• Buy organic apples when possible.
• Peel the apple.
• Cut the outermost flesh into bite-sized pieces.
• Remove any seeds, stems, or pieces of core from apple slices.
• You can serve it alone or with a mix of veggies

When you’re feeding your lizard a new fruit like an apple, let it sniff it first or mix it with some crickets to get used to the taste. Keep an eye on your beardies the first few times they eat apples. Make sure they’re not coughing or having trouble swallowing. If your bearded dragon has trouble eating the slices, it’s probably because they are too big.

Seeds are another thing to watch out for. Whenever you feed your beardie an apple, make sure you take out the stem, seeds, and any remaining portions of the core because dragons can’t digest them. Hard-to-digest food can cause gut impaction, which is a clogged digestive tract that can be deadly.

Conclusion

Bearded dragons can eat apples occasionally as a treat. You can feed your beardies apples once a week. Beardies shouldn’t eat apples too often because they’re high in sugar. The apple needs to be peeled, the seeds and stems removed, and it needs to be cut into bite-sized pieces.

For a complete list of foods and how much you should be feeding your bearded dragon, please visit our bearded dragon diet page.