Can Bearded Dragons Eat Mango? | Dietary Considerations 2024

What’s a good summer season without mangoes, right? The juiciness! The sweetness! The mouthwatering pulp! Don’t you just love this king fruit? We all do! But do our beardies adore it as much as we do, and more importantly can bearded dragons eat mango at all?

Well in a nutshell, yes, they can. These docile lizards love this sweet treat however, you must not allow them to eat this sugary fruit regularly. Beardies can only eat mangoes occasionally! Follow us through this informative article to know why and gain knowledge about a bearded dragon’s diet necessities.

Nutrition Chart Of Mangoes

To make a decision for your beloved pet, you must take responsibility on your own. There are various sources to get dietary information on animals, but you can never follow them unless you analyze the information yourself and confirm its authenticity. Hence, we have listed the nutrients and values in this summer fruit to back up our statements. Below is a table that shows the energy and nutritional values of 100g of mango as confirmed by the US Department of Agriculture.

Along with all these nutrients, mango also contains good amounts of antioxidants, zinc, copper, selenium, beta-carotene, Vitamin K, Vitamin E, lutein, fatty acids, cryptoxanthin, and lycopene.

Benefits Of Mangoes For Bearded Dragons

Although mangoes should be fed very rarely, there is a list of benefits that they impart to your reptile. To start with, mangoes can be given as a treat to your loved beardie. Usually, beardies love the taste and smell of this sweet fruit. So, in case, your beardie refuses to eat greens and vegetables, you can top your salad with small chunks of fruit to get him to eat the whole salad unknowingly.

Secondly, mangoes have vitamin A, this vitamin prevents night blindness for living beings and also improves their eyesight during the day. Moreover, Vitamin A also helps in strengthening the immune system of these small animals. Also, Vitamin C helps in fortifying the immune system too along with tissue repair. Thirdly, the prebiotic fiber in this yummy fruit is higher than many other fruits and so it keeps the digestive system healthy, the fiber prevents constipation and other gut illnesses.

In addition, mango has very low-fat levels and cholesterol. Low cholesterol helps in preventing diseases like blood pressure and heart problems whereas the low-fat value prevents obesity. Usually, pet reptiles that are fed fatty foods, accumulate fat in their tails and so become lazy and obese. Not only this, the antioxidants protect the reptile from toxic chemicals and other harmful substances that might enter or develop in the body.

Best of all, the characteristic that makes mango an ideal fruit to feed bearded dragons is that it has a moderate water amount, unlike most fruits. The usual high-water content in fruits upsets the stomach of a beardie and results in diarrhea and other stomach issues. However, mango can be fed to your pet without any fear of these problems. Moreover, you can also read Can Bearded Dragons Eat Figs.

Disadvantages Of Mangoes

Here is why you must not feed bearded dragon mangoes regularly,

Firstly, the sweet nectar of mango might be a treat for our taste buds but it’s surely not healthy for the body. The high amount of sugar in this fruit will make your pet a target of obesity and then lead to a number of different illnesses. An obese beardie is more likely to get kidney diseases, heart issues, and liver diseases. Moreover, it makes a pet lazy and a little walk makes him short of breath which can be a problem later on. Not only this, but sugar can also cause dental problems like toothache, cavities, plaque, and difficulty in engulfing meals.

More importantly, mangoes contain more phosphorus than calcium. You should know that bearded dragons already struggle with low calcium and if we add on to the problem with more phosphorus, there can be a potential calcium deficiency. This is because phosphorus tends to absorb calcium and if the phosphorus-calcium ratio is not 2:1 or 1:1, there can be a metabolic bone disease in the future. Low calcium can also cause weak teeth and so lead to other dental health issues.

Lastly, too much Vitamin A can cause Vitamin A toxicity and so, you should make sure you are not feeding any other rich source of vitamin A while you are feeding mangoes to your pet. Also, find out Can Beardies Eat Avocado.

How Often Can They Eat Mangoes

To be clear, bearded dragons can eat a few chunks of a chopped mango twice a month. The stricter you are with the diet, the healthier they will be. Remember only 10% of the total bearded dragon’s diet should constitute fruits. And as mentioned above, the overfeeding of these sweet treats can prove to be fatal for their health.

Conclusion

Conclusively, you can feed mango to your beardie as a yummy treat only twice a month. The low water content, vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, fiber, and low cholesterol marks it a king fruit for beardies too. However, you must not feed them regularly as the unbalanced phosphorus-to-calcium ratio can cause metabolic bone disease and the high sugar can result in obesity, liver issues, kidney issues, and heart diseases. Also, read Can Bearded Dragons Eat Canned Peaches.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can bearded dragons eat mango peels?

Yes, you can feed mango peels or skin to your docile lizard. The mango peel contains antioxidants that are very healthy for their immune system. However, they need to be chopped nicely so that beardies don’t choke on them. Also, feed the peels in very small amounts too.

Can Bearded Dragons eat Mango stems?

No! Dragons should not be fed hard mango stems as they are hard and difficult to chew on. They can even cut inside the mouth of a young bearded dragon. Although they are not toxic, they can be very tough to digest.

Can beardies eat frozen or dried mangoes?

As a rule of thumb, you should only feed fresh fruits to your pet that are not chemically processed and are free of preservatives. Any processed fruit is never as healthy as the fresh kind. However, if you cannot get fresh mangoes in the market, you can feed frozen mangoes, if there are no added sweeteners or sugars in them. Unfortunately, dried mangoes cannot be fed to beardies at all, as they are sweeter than the already sweet fresh mangoes and so can inflict adverse effects on your pet’s health.