No, bearded dragons should not eat oranges; they are too acidic and high in sugar, which can cause digestive upset, diarrhea, and long-term health issues like Metabolic Bone Disease due to oxalic acid binding calcium, and diabetes from excess sugar. Citrus fruits interfere with calcium absorption and can harm their delicate digestive systems, so they should be avoided entirely in favor of safer, non-citrus options.
Fruits like strawberries, apples, watermelon, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, fig, mango, prickly pear, grapes, melon, and peaches are safe for bearded dragons to eat in moderation. Fruit should only make up a small part of a beardie's diet since they are high in dietary sugars.
Adult bearded dragons don't need to eat every day--their metabolism slows down as they age. When figuring out what to feed bearded dragon daily, adults do best with fresh greens (collard, mustard, dandelion) available every day, and protein (like TopFlight Dubia roaches) just 2-3 times a week.
Bearded dragons can safely eat scrambled eggs. They can also eat hard boiled eggs. Just remember these pointers: Adult bearded dragons should eat no more than half an egg at a time, max. If you're scrambling the egg, don't mix any additional ingredients with it.
Other fruits and veggies such as oranges, tomatoes, lemons, limes and pineapples are very acidic and could cause issues with the dragon's digestive tract. Some great foods to feed your bearded dragon every day include mustard, collard and dandelion greens, alfalfa, arugula and squash.
Avoid feeding these toxic items to your reptile:
Avocado, Eggplant, Rhubarb, Rosemary, or Sage. Azalea, Buttercup, Daffodil, Lilly of the Valley, Marijuana, or Tulip.
The most common causes of death in bearded dragons often stem from improper husbandry, leading to conditions like Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) (due to lack of UVB/Calcium), severe parasitic infections (like nematodes), or Atadenovirus (ADV), a highly contagious and often fatal virus causing liver/gut issues. Other frequent culprits include impaction from eating prey that's too large, respiratory infections, and systemic organ failure, with inflammatory diseases being a top category in pathology studies.
Vegetables that are Safe for Bearded Dragons to Eat
A juvenile bearded dragon could eat up to 50 insects every day! They need to be offered some kind of insect every single day. They should also be offered fresh greens but they may not start eating them much until they are a bit older. Adult bearded dragons only need to be fed insects two or three times a week.
Eggshells can contain harmful bacteria that will make your dragon sick. Dangerous to swallow. Eggshells would have to be ground to a powder to be consumed safely since the bits and pieces of egg shell can scratch your beardie's throat and cause choking or gut impaction.
Here are a few fun things to offer your beardie as a treat, according to VCA Animal Hospitals:
Can bearded dragons eat oranges? Not really! Once again, ingesting a small amount of an orange won't kill your beardie. However, it's a bad idea to feed any citrus fruit to your bearded dragon because the highly acidic content will hurt their stomachs!
Each bearded dragon is unique but generally sociable and tolerant of humans. Some may be fine with other beardies in captivity, but many prefer to be alone. Beardies love their owners. They'll recognize you, look in your eyes, beg for food, and sometimes want to be held.
Store-bought insects such as crickets, roaches, superworms, wax worms, black soldier fly larvae, etc. Pinky mice may also be an option for your dragon as they can be a great source of calcium, especially for reproducing females. If pinky mice are given, only one mouse should be given each week.
Adult bearded dragons can quickly become obese if they are overfed. They no longer need the same amount of protein as babies or juveniles; primarily they need nutrient-rich greens and veggies. Appetite changes are quite common in adult bearded dragons.
A typical juvenile can eat 20 to 50 insects each day. Adults will consume more greens than insects, fresh greens should be introduced daily. When using supplements such as waxworms, or Calciworms® dragons should be fed 3 to 5 worms 3 times a week.
Baby dragons should be fed twice daily, with the greens chopped up small. Juveniles and adults should be fed once daily. Older bearded dragons (larger than 30cm) need about 40 percent livefood and 60 percent greens. Feed in the morning so that the dragon can digest its food during the day.
Beardies are HIGHLY susceptible to firefly toxicity – it only takes half of a firefly to kill an adult bearded dragon. These bioluminescent bugs contain steroidal pyones called “lucibufagins”. These steroids are self-defense toxins that fireflies contain to help them avoid being eaten by predators, such as birds.
While a juvenile bearded dragon's diet may have fruit on the list, this should be in limited quantities, and not every day. Adult bearded dragons should eat mostly plants and vegetation, and less animal matter and insects. This will keep them at a healthy weight and prevent them from becoming obese.
Beardies do get most of their hydration from the foods they consume, which is why foods like cucumber can be a smart addition to their diet. The key is not to feed this kind of food too often.
This article provides a quick and easy guide to the most common signs that your bearded dragon may be sick.
Being a diurnal species, bearded dragons need a day and night cycle. According to data on sunrise and sunset times in bearded dragons' natural habitat in Australia, a cycle of 14 hours/day during summer and 10 hours/day during winter (with gradual adjustments in-between) is appropriate.
Bearded Dragons and Salmonella
These germs can easily spread to their bodies and anything in the area where they live and roam. You can get sick from touching your bearded dragon or anything in its environment and then touching your mouth or food and swallowing Salmonella germs.