Can Bearded Dragons Eat Blueberries

Below is the nutrition label for blueberries. We have added a few calculations to the label to make it more relevant for reptiles.

Blueberry Health Concerns

Overall blueberries have a few areas of concern. Due to their small size it's easy to control the portions which makes them less of a health risk. Below are the main areas of concern:

Blueberries are very acidic and have an average pH value of 3.2. This is way too acidic for bearded dragons and can cause digestive discomfort. Fortunately blueberries are fairly small a few blueberries mixed with other foods can help neutralize the acidity.

Blueberries have almost 10g of sugar (per 100g serving) which should make them more of a treat than a meal. Bearded dragons are not used to digesting a lot of sugar, so a diet too high in sugar can lead to mouth and digestion issues.

Blueberries have twice as much phosphorus than calcium which is not ideal. Phosphorus blocks calcium absorption so meals containing too much phosphorus may prevent any calcium from being absorbed (for that meal). Calcium is important for bearded dragons and diets low in calcium can overtime lead to severe skeletal and health issues.

Mixing a few fresh blueberries in with your beardies meal can be a tasty way to encourage your beardie to eat their greens. Just remember too many blueberries can upset your beardies stomach (due to their high acid levels). So you should always mix blueberries with other foods and keep the portion sizes small. Try not to feed blueberries more than once per week.

Fresh blueberries are the best choice for beardies as they don't have added sugars and are usually easier to prepare.

• Use smaller blueberries for younger bearded dragons. If any blueberry is larger than the distance between your beardies eyes they will need to be cut in half to reduce the risk of choking or other digestion issues.
• Check and remove any stems that may have not been previously removed
• Discard any stale or sickly looking blueberries
• Wash the blueberries and serve at room temperature.

Frozen blueberries can be used, but you need to make sure they do not have any added sugar (i.e. unsweetened). Make sure all blueberries have thawed to room temperature and prepare them the same as fresh blueberries.