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When you budget out a diet for your bearded dragon, you probably spend most of your time thinking about insect protein. And while it’s true that insect protein is a crucial staple in your beardy’s diet, it can make up as little as 15% of the food they eat. It’s important to find good stuff to give your beardy; stuff that’s nutritious and high-quality. But greens don’t last very long in the fridge and the cost can add up a lot over time. To keep your beardy’s care cheap, we recommend growing your own beardy food in your garden.
In this article, we’ll talk about the five best plants you can grow to keep your beardy’s diet cheap and keep your beardy healthy. Let’s dive in.
Why Grow Your Own Bearded Dragon Food?
In short, growing your own bearded dragon food is a fun, simple project that will save you a bunch of money.
The main thing every bearded dragon owner should know about beardies is that they are obligate omnivores. They need a lot of dietary variety to stay healthy. Juveniles like more insects, adults need about a 50/50, and old beardies like a ratio of about 85% veggies to 15% insects.
We have a whole article on the cost of keeping a bearded dragon. But suffice it to say, your beardy’s food isn’t exactly free. The biggest life hack to keep your costs down is to keep a colony of feeder insects in the house. But that still leaves you with anywhere from $25-50 per month in leafy greens, especially if you’re shelling out for organic food.
But, if you produce all your beardy’s food at home, your monthly cost to keep a bearded dragon will be next to nothing. Bearded dragons thrive on cheap leafy greens like dandelions, collards, and hibiscus, all of which you could easily grow in your yard and have fresh on hand.
The Five Best Beardy-Friendly Veggies to Garden
These are the top veggies we recommend if you’re trying to take your beardy completely off-grid. Because what’s better than store-bought organic? Home-grown organic, that’s what.
Beardy Gardening No-no’s
This should go without saying, but we’ll say it anyway. The main rule of thumb when gardening for your beardy is to be very careful what you put on your garden. If you can, avoid pesticides and make sure you wash everything you give them thoroughly. If you wouldn’t eat it, don’t feed it to your pet!
Beyond that, there are a few foods you should avoid. Never give your bearded dragon onions, garlic, or chives, as these three can cause digestive issues very easily. You should also stay away from rhubarb, as it contains oxalic acid, which will stop them from absorbing any calcium in their diet.
1. Dandelion Greens
Once you learn about how great dandelion greens are, you’ll start wondering why we all call them weeds. Dandelions are basically a superfood, and they grow everywhere! They’re chock full of vitamins (especially A and K) and calcium. They make pretty tasty people food, too. If you’re curious, you can sauté them with a little oil and lemon as a side dish.
You could grow dandelions in a raised bed with your other veggies, but they require very little effort and can easily spread and shade out your other plants. So you might as well just grow them in your yard or park strip. All you need to do is scatter seeds and water them about as often as you water your lawn.
Boom. Instant beardy food.
2. Collard Greens
The main benefit of collards (aside from being a common favorite for bearded dragons) is how much they produce. By the time they’re ready to harvest, they will put off leaves over a foot tall.
They’re pretty easy to grow as a row crop- you can plant them in the spring or fall. They like full sun, unless you live somewhere hot, in which case they’ll enjoy some afternoon shade. They need about an inch of water a week.
Collards are super healthy too, with lots of vitamin A, C, K, and calcium to support healthy beardies everywhere.
3. Mustard Greens
Mustard greens are a much smaller, but faster-growing option. This is a nice way to round out your beardy garden if you’re also growing something more slow-growing like collards.
You can space them a little more closely together than your massive collards- give them about four to six inches apart. Give them partial sun, keep the soil damp (not soaked), and let them grow for five or six weeks before harvesting.
Nutritionally, mustard greens are just as good as dandelions and collards, and beardies love the spicy zing of flavor they have.
4. Hibiscus
You might not have thought of this one. Hibiscus flowers are gorgeous, and beardies love the greens, too. They’re rich in antioxidants and vitamins.
Depending on where you live, hibiscus might not be an outdoor plant. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. If you live in a temperate climate with cold winters, hibiscus could be a good option to grow in a pot indoors, so you always have some greens on hand for your beardy.
Hibiscus like full sun in warm climates, well-drained soil, and intermittent water. They need regular watering but tend to like it when the soil dries out a bit in between waterings, meaning don’t keep the soil damp 24/7.
5. Carrots (and Carrot Tops)
One for your beardy, one for you. Beardies will take sliced carrots, but they’ll just as soon take carrot tops. So if you’ve already got a garden going, just plan to include carrots and save the tops for your beardy!
Carrots like full sun six to ten hours per day. Keep them moist while germinating, and then back the water off a little. Plant them in loose soil and as they grow, thin them out to make sure they’ve got about three inches of room on either side.