earded dragons have been gaining immense popularity among pet owners over the past few years. Hitting precisely, it is one of the best lizards known to humankind (obviously not a step ahead from dinosaurs). These fascinating little lizards are ideal pets by being hardy, alert, and tame. You don’t have to invest much effort in their grooming. And above all, their exotic nature.
However, the diet of any captive-bred bearded dragon can confuse many breeders. Bearded dragons are native to the Australian environment. In the wild, they tend to eat most vegetation and insects to fulfil their nutrition requirements. However, when these species are raised as pets, it doesn’t mean they can eat every vegetation particular to any other place. Some of the common fruits and vegetables are even so dangerous for your bearded dragon that you would never want your beardie to have a chunk of it. So, having complete knowledge of your bearded dragon’s diet is necessary to maintain health and growth.
Celery is one of the most popular vegetables of all seasons. It has hundreds of health benefits and nutrients in it. However, is celery safe for bearded dragons? If yes, then what is the best way to feed celery to the bearded dragon. Continue reading to learn the answers to all these questions.
Table of Contents
Can Bearded Dragon Eat Celery?
Yes, bearded dragons can safely feed on celery.
However, always feed celery in small proportions. It is still the best idea to make it a part of a bowl of salad.
Never feed celery to your bearded dragon more than once a week. You should better give it once in a fortnight or once a month.
Celery is very common in people following a calorie-restricted diet. So, it is a prevalent opinion that it does not contain many nutrients. However, to your surprise, this vegetable is packed with adequate hydration and essential vitamins and minerals. The critical thing to note is that you need to make it edible for your beardie because celery may choke your beardie in its raw form.
We will discuss some pros and cons of feeding celery to your bearded dragon in the upcoming sections. Moreover, how you prepare celery food for your little friend.
Nutritional Content Of Celery:
Celery, as mentioned before, is full of nutrition. However, every nutritional food may not be necessarily healthy for your beardie. Many veterinarians suggest that excess celery is never a good idea for your bearded dragon. To understand this, you need to understand the nutritional components of celery.
The things we always avoid in excess are
- A High Amount Of Minerals Other Than Calcium
- High Sugar Content
- High Water Content
- High Fibre Content
So, If we talk about all the nutritional components in one cup of celery, we come up with the following chart:
| Components | Amount |
|---|---|
|
Calories |
14 |
|
Protein |
Less Than 1 gram |
|
Fat |
Less Than 1 gram |
|
Carbohydrates |
3 grams |
|
Fiber |
1.6 grams |
|
Sugar |
1 gram |
|
Water |
79% |
|
Other Nutrients Are:
Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin K, Folate, Vitamin C, Flavonoids, Potassium, Sodium, Iron, Calcium, Phosphorus.
|
|
Benefits Of Celery:
Celery has many advantages, including:
Source Of Energy:
Carbohydrates and proteins are some of the most important energy sources for any living being. They provide energy for daily activities and maintain normal metabolism. The best part is that they are not stuffed with calories. Therefore become one of the most reputable sources of nutrition for bearded dragons. Another such source of calorie-restricted food is broccoli. You can look into the nutritional facts of broccoli and learn how to incorporate it effectively into the diet of your bearded dragon.
Our pet beardie is not habitual of many home exercises. On the other hand, in the wild, they had much freedom to move. Thus, the surplus of food with the most minor energy-burning activities becomes the primary source of obesity in the bearded dragon.
Obesity not only causes lifelong diseases in bearded dragons and puts much strain on the heart. Therefore, always be extra cautious if your beardie starts gaining extra weight. It would be best if you customize its diet accordingly.
Antioxidant Source:
Antioxidants are one of the essential dietary components. They fight cancer-causing free radicals and help to prevent it. They are also necessary to boost one’s immune system to fight with any exotic agent. Moreover, antioxidants play an essential role in the process of repair and regeneration in the body. The benefits of antioxidants in reptiles and humans are primarily the same. However, you need to know that bearded dragons cannot use most antioxidant-enriched foods such as oranges as a part of their diet. So, you better need to jump to other sources like celery, cantaloupe, and raspberries for this purpose.
So, you must consider that the bearded dragon has enough sources of vitamin C and E in their diet.
Vision:
Celery has another one of the essential components as vitamin A. This vitamin ensures the health of epithelial tissue, including skin, and helps to improve vision. Another important fact is that if you want to breed your little beardie, then you must include vitamin A enriched foods such as apples in its diet. Vitamin A strengthens the growth and reproductive system in bearded dragons. It will also maintain the immune system.
Prevent Blood Clotting:
Celery has a handsome amount of Vitamin K in it. This vitamin serves the most crucial role in preventing excessive blood clotting. An excessive blood clot can result in thrombus formation, leading to multiple severe problems, e.g., heart attack, tissue necrosis, etc. Moreover, vitamin K also serves the purpose of strengthening bone and optimizing growth.
Fibers Are Necessary:
Fibers help in increasing the motility of the GIT tract. Thus, an adequate quantity of threads is always necessary to ensure the healthy motility of the gut. When you add too many insects to the diet of bearded dragons, they tend to suffer from constipation. So, these are some of the best herbal sources to prevent any constipation. Moreover, fibers also help to avoid any ulceration in the gut. Other sources of fiber are broccoli. You can look into the complete guide of food for bearded dragons to know a lot more about the nutritional foods you can add to the bowel of your bearded dragon.
The case is reversed if your dragon is suffering from diarrhea. Even if the beardie is suffering from slightly loose bowels, the patient will worsen. So, be careful whenever you add components rich in fibers to the diet of bearded dragons. Always make sure to limit their amount to a safe extent.
Good Hydration:
Hydration is one of the most necessary things you need to consider when picking on bearded dragons’ diet. Celery contains 79% of water, so it is an excellent source of essential water for metabolism. Some of the bearded dragons do not like drinking from the water pot. So, you need to include such foods having good water content in them. However, make sure that you never overdo it. An excess of water is the most significant cause of diarrhea in pet beardie. It can then cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalance.
Routine Blood Pressure Maintenance:
Potassium is one of the essential minerals that maintain normal blood pressure in the body. Moreover, it helps fight any problem related to water retention. It also helps in proper kidney functions.
Increase RBC:
Celery is rich in iron, which is the essential hemoglobin component found in red blood cells. Red blood cells are the richest component of blood, making it all of the red part. Always include iron-rich sources in the diet of the bearded dragon. It will help fight with all the major kinds of anemias in bearded dragons. It also ensures the standard functionality of the liver and spleen.
Adequate Calcium To Phosphorus Ratio
As a general rule, we always avoid food with low calcium to phosphorus ratio. Or, in simpler words, you should never give phosphorus-rich foods to your bearded dragon. Celery contains 40 mg of calcium and 24 mg of phosphorus in one cup. So, now you know how healthy this vegetable can be for your little beardie.
Calcium is also one of the most critical minerals for bearded dragons. Bearded dragons are often short of calcium.
Calcium helps in the strengthening of bones and prevents any metabolic bone disorder. Bearded dragons need a lot more calcium than any other nutrient. It is because they get short of it in days.
However, most of the foods that contain calcium also have potassium in them too. Potassium does not allow the absorption of calcium into the blood. Moreover, it also prevents its deposition into the bones. So, we never prefer any food that has a high potassium concentration in it.
A ratio of 2:1 or better 1:1 for calcium and phosphorus is preferred for easy absorption of calcium into the blood to become part of bones. The rate is usually not met in every food. However, make sure in the bowl of salad you are feeding to your bearded this ratio is high or at least equal.
Moreover, mind that giving a diet with high phosphorus will continuously end you with multiple bone disorders even if you provide calcium supplements. The symptoms include a deformed skeleton, brittleness of bones, and even immobility. However, all these can b reversed. So, contact your vet as soon as you see such symptoms in your beardie.
Again celery is one of the healthy sources of calcium for your bearded dragon. It will not harm in any way the absorption of calcium from an overall meal. Even it facilitates it
Celery Is Low In Sugar
Something worth mentioning about celery is that it does not have a lot of sugar. High sugar causes not only obesity but also diarrhoea and gum problems. The case worsens when you also include some fruits in the diet too.
High sugar foods affect the teeth directly, which can play havoc in the case of lizards. Humans have their teeth inserted into the sockets, preventing damage to the jaw bone if the teeth are affected. However, in the case of bearded dragons, the teeth are rooted directly into the jaw bone. So, if your beardie suffers from any tartar build-build up, spread in the whole jaw which w, will worsen up the station. You do not want to see your little friend in moaning pain, do you?
So, always take care of the amount of carb content in the food.
Harms Of Excess Celery:
The benefits of celery are well established. However, excess of everything can bring in terrible results. So, if you increase celery in the diet of your bearded dragon, the following things can happen:
Stones Formation
Celery has a moderate concentration of oxalates in them. So, if you increase its quantity, these oxalates can form stones after chelation. These stones can even worsen and can become the cause of the ulcer.
It causes not only stone formation but also hypocalcemia. Moreover, unlike other components, a meagre amount of oxalic acid can also be quite harmful—the most prominent source of oxalic acids are greens, apart from looking into other diet options for bearded dragon and explore which can cause hypocalcemia in these lizards. Never pair two or more sources in a single bowl that can potentially cause hypocalcemia in bearded dragons.
Let us compare the oxalic acid concentration in various greens to let you have a better idea:
So, if you add parsley, broccoli or spinach in the bowl of your bearded dragon, do not add raspberries and oranges, which are also high in their oxalate content.
Diarrhoea:
Celery is rich in water and fibre. So, if you give it in excess, it can cause a source of diarrhoea in bearded dragons. Diarrhoea can not only lead to severe dehydration but can also cause electrolyte imbalance. The situation can worsen to the extent that it may cause extreme fatigue.
Less Energy
Celery contains fewer calories, which are not enough to meet your little beardie’s daily needs. Bearded dragons have a much smaller stomach, so every bite counts. Suppose you include a lot of celery in the diet of the bearded dragon. In that case, it may not give enough energy for daily activities. So, your little beardie may run out of fatigue.
Not Loved By Bearded Dragons:
When we talk about fruits, bearded dragons crave them. However, for celery, the situation is the opposite. Somehow, bearded dragons do not like having celery. Even they tend to leave it in the bowl of salad. They may even are reluctant to eat it if you feed it alone.
Can Juvenile Bearded Dragon Eat Celery?
Bearded dragons need a lot of nutrition for their growth and reproduction. You have to be very careful in the number of nutrients you are feeding your little friend.
As far as a juvenile bearded dragon’s diet is concerned, celery is not poisonous for them.
However, you should not include celery in the diet of bearded dragons.
It is because baby beardie must have at least 50 to 80% of insects in their diet. So, in the rest of the part, you should not compromise on low nutrition foods. Remember, every bite counts for your little beardie. So, make it full of nutrition to help it grow at a faster pace. You may look into What Do Bearded Dragons Eat? A-Z Feeding Guide With Schedule to have complete knowledge of the things you can feed your little beardie.
Can Bearded Dragon Eat Celery Leaves?
Celery leaves are okay for your bearded dragon. However, please do not include many celery leaves as they have a fair amount of oxalates in them.
The best way is either remove leaves and feed only stalk. Or you may provide both leaves and stalk by mixing them.
However, if you combine them, do not make a whole portion of leaves and another whole of the stalk and then mix it. It will make the total portion size equal to two parts. Have half of the leaves and half of the stem, and then combine it. In this way, the entire portion size will not increase for your beardie.
How Often Can Bearded Dragons Eat Celery?
Celery does not have an adequate concentration of any essential nutrient in it. However, that doesn’t make it nutritionless. Precisely, the amount of nutrition does not fulfil the daily needs of bearded dragons. So, you better think of it like treat food to bring a change in the diet.
You can feed celery once a fortnight or once a month. Give celery in a bowl of salad with other highly nutritious foods.
How should You Prepare Celery For Your Bearded Dragon?
Celery needs a bit different preparation than other greens when you feed it to your beardie.
- Pick fresh celery for your beardie. Never include stale vegetables in the diet of bearded dragons.
- Wash it thoroughly before cutting. Veterinarians suggest removing as many pesticides, insecticides, and chemicals from food as possible before feeding it to your bearded dragon.
- Then nicely cop it into small pieces. Remember to chop the leaves into small pieces too. Ensure bite size is always smaller than the throat of your beardie.
- You better steam it lightly to make it a bit soft before feeding. However, raw vegetable is also good to provide.
- Sprinkle the chops on the bowl of salad containing other highly nutritious foods.
- The best way to have the perfect idea about the quantity of celery is to feed it as a topper for your salad. Or, if you include fruits in the bowl, you may need to balance them with celery.
Can We Feed Frozen Celery To Bearded Dragons?
Yes, you can feed frozen celery to your bearded dragon.
However, remember to thaw it before feeding. You will be able to remove any extra water from it in this way. It also has a complete store of nutrients as a fresh vegetable. So, frozen celery is entirely safe for your bearded dragon.
Conclusion:
Celery, no doubt, is completely safe for your bearded dragon. It also contains the proper nutrients in it, unlike the general idea of it being nutritionless. Moreover, the best part is low sugar and adequate calcium to phosphorus ratio. However, the bottom line is that it does not have any crucial nutrient essential for the growth of bearded dragons in sufficient quantity. So, you better be careful with the amount and quantity you are going to feed. Remember, your little friend has a small stomach, and every bite counts for him. So, be sure to couple low nutrition foods such as celery, broccoli, etc., with other high nutrition foods to balance the bowl.
I am a graduate of a veterinary university. Dealing with all the kinds of pets from the dawn to dusk, it’s like understanding their language. That is the best time ever, I must say!
Writing has always been my orphenadrine. I love to share my experience and talk about the most common issues people have been facing with their pets. My writing career began in 2015. I aimed to work for pets to share my experience and make pet humans relation a lot better. I usually talk about the most significant or recurrent cases of the day. During my practice at pet centre, I face a lot of questions by pet owners. Moreover, I also own a variety of pets myself including different species of mammals, birds and reptiles.
Therefore, I have decided to educate all the pet owners about their little friends who can’t talk the way we do. Understanding what they are telling us is all we need to do. And most of us fail to perceive.
So, I am here to serve the purpose. Let’s help each other in better understanding the needs, behaviours, and problems of our best friends with the best possible solutions!
