Bearded dragons can eat fish when they find some within their natural habitat. However, even though a little may not hurt them, feeding bearded dragons any fish outside their environment can expose them to parasites and harmful bacteria that may effect them.
Through the rest of this article, I will let you know how much fish is safe for bearded dragons and what can make this proteinous food unsafe. I will also share a list of healthy and nutritious foods that your bearded dragon can eat.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Cooked Fish?
Since there is a high chance that live fish may contain harmful parasites and bacteria, removing fresh fish from your pet’s diet is a no-brainer. But what if you cook the fish? After all, cooking kills most bacteria.
Bearded dragons should not eat cooked fish. They also shouldn’t eat live or canned fish. The main reason is that their digestive system is not well suited to handle the bones in most fish. Your pet may choke on fishbones or get injured while eating them.
In addition, feeding your dragon too much fish can cause a deficiency in vitamin B1 and vitamin B2, leading to illnesses like gout.
How Much Fish Should You Give Your Bearded Dragon?
Beardie parents must be careful with what they feed their pets. Bearded dragons are desert lizards, and they tend to eat anything they find within their natural habitat. Occasionally, you may find a bearded dragon eating fish in the wild. Nonetheless, fish isn’t one of the common foods found in their environment.
If you must feed your bearded dragon any fish, ensure that it is only on rare occasions. However, since there’s little to no evidence that fish benefits bearded dragons, you probably don’t need to feed your beardie any fish.
Meanwhile, a body of research has highlighted a few potential risks to including fish in a bearded dragon’s diet. In the next section, I will show you some of these risks and what makes fish unsafe for your pet.
Why Fish Is Unsafe for Bearded Dragons
Like every other mammal, humans need protein in their diet, and they get a lot of it from fish. But it’s not the same with desert lizards, such as bearded dragons. Fish may actually be unsafe for your beardie.
Here are a few of the potential risks of including fish in your bearded dragon’s diet:
Parasitic Infection
Live fish may contain pathogens like bacteria and parasites. Feeding your bearded dragon any live fish can expose your pet to illnesses caused by these pathogens.
Some of the likely parasites in freshwater fish that can harm your dragon include earthworm, tapeworm, and leeches.
While one may argue that not all fish contain pathogens, there is no way to know or control which fish has these pathogens. Instead of taking the risk, it’s better to be caution and avoid feeding your beardie any live raw fish.
Nutritional Deficiency
Most fish, including minnows, contains an enzyme called thiaminase that can be harmful to bearded dragons.
You may already know that vitamin B1 is an essential nutrient that provides energy for many reptiles, including bearded dragons.
If you give your pet fish, the thiaminase can kill the vitamin B1 present in their body, leading to low energy levels. A prolonged deficiency of vitamin B1 caused by feeding your beardie too much fish can also cause brain damage and may eventually lead to a fatal outcome.
Risk of Choking
It’s true that bearded dragons have large jaws that help them crush foods into digestible bits. However, fish bones can still be dangerous for your beardie, especially if the bones are large. IN that case, your pet will find it difficult to digest the bones and may choke on them.
Fishbones may also cause internal injuries to the bearded dragon that you may not notice at first.
Excessive Protein
Bearded dragons need protein in their diet. However, too much of it may lead to severe consequences.
Being a highly proteinous food, fish may eventually be a curse to your bearded dragon. Too much protein in your reptile’s diet can cause obesity and diabetes—or even worse, heart failure.
Too Much Fat
Fish is an excellent source of fatty Omega 3 fatty acids for humans. But it’s not the same with bearded dragons. Unlike humans who can burn off fat with regular activities, bearded dragons can’t.
As pets, bearded dragons don’t exercise or move around as much as their mates in the wild. Whatever fatty foods they eat will get stored up in their body and may make them obese in the long run.
To avoid making your beardie overweight, consider eliminating fish from its diet.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Feeder Fish?
Pet owners with bearded dragons who want to give their pets some fish often use feeder fish, such as goldfish and minnows. Since other reptiles like lizards eat feeder fish, you may be curious to know if they are safe for your bearded dragon.
Bearded dragons shouldn’t eat feeder fish. These fish can be harmful to their health. Feeder fish are often grown in large fish tanks where some farmers add chemicals that may be toxic to bearded dragons.
Feeding your bearded dragon feeder fish also means that your pet may ingest the fish’s fecal waste. Fish feces stay in the water, and feeder fishes may become contaminated with it.
What Foods Can Bearded Dragons Eat?
As a beardie parent, it’s essential to know which foods make a balanced diet for your pet. You can feed young beardies a variety of meals, but as they grow older, you will need to change their diet.
Here are some of the foods bearded dragons can eat:
● Fruits: Apples, bananas, blueberries, grapes, strawberries, watermelon, etc.
● Vegetables: Kale, dandelion greens, collard greens, etc.
● Insects: Ants, beetles, crickets, and Dubia roaches.
● Worms: Earthworms and super worms.
If your beardie is still in the infant stage, it will need more protein than vegetables for healthy growth. Give it three parts of any suitable protein for every portion of vegetables that you feed your baby bearded dragons. Make sure that your bearded dragon eats three times daily.
For adult bearded dragons, it’s the only way around: they should eat three parts of vegetables for every portion of a suitable protein. To maintain healthy growth, feed your adult beardie once a day.
Conclusion
A bearded dragon needs a healthy amount of protein in its diet to stay healthy. Fish is a common source of protein for humans, but it’s not suitable for beardies.
Feeding your bearded dragon fish exposes it to parasites and pathogens. In addition, feeding bearded dragons too much fish can cause nutritional deficiencies and eventual illness.
Instead of giving fish to your beardie, choose foods that are healthier for it, such as certain fruits, vegetables, insects, and worms. Your beardie can get all the protein it needs from earthworms and mealworms.
