Can Bearded Dragons Eat Mustard Greens

Can bearded dragons eat Mustard Greens? Are Mustard Greens For Bearded Dragons OK? Yes, bearded dragons can eat mustard greens regularly.

What Are Mustard Greens For Bearded Dragons?

Mustard greens are another leafy green vegetable family that encompasses various different plants. The term mustard greens, when referring to keeping of bearded dragons at least, is most commonly applied to curled-leaf mustard or American mustard. Other subspecies exist across the world however and all are related if they are members of the Brassica juncea family.

The mustard plant is cultivated and grown across the world and the Brassica juncea is grown in the US, Canada, UK, Denmark, Bangladesh and India. It’s often grown in these countries to produce the seeds which are then ground into a spice, known as the condiment, mustard. Which, if you like that sort of thing, is delicious (and I do).

In the case of mustard greens for bearded dragons though, it is the leaf of the plant that is the important part.

Can Bearded Dragons Eat Mustard Greens?

Yes, bearded dragons can eat mustard greens regularly. We consider them a staple vegetable for bearded dragons and they can have them every day. They do seem to be more readily available in the US compared to the UK, but they are available in specialist shops within the UK too. To date, we’ve not seen them in the supermarket – but if you have different information please leave us a comment below!

Mustard greens for bearded dragons are a reasonable source of calcium, vitamin C, folate and dietary fibre. They’re also quite high in water content, which helps to keep your bearded dragon hydrated. At this time we have been unable to find the oxalate content of mustard greens however.

Advantages Of Mustard Greens For Bearded Dragons

Disadvantages Of Mustard Greens For Bearded Dragons

How Should I Feed Mustard Greens To A Bearded Dragon

Mustard greens can be fed as part of a balanced staple green leafy vegetable diet. You can mix them up with other vegetables and place them in a dish. Cut away any fibrous stems as they’ll be too hard and unappetizing for your bearded dragon.

The greens can be placed in the vivarium in the morning once your bearded dragon has warmed up (it’s best to let them bask for a couple of hours before feeding if possible) and can be left in place throughout the day. If they become dried out or mostly eaten they’ll need to be replaced.

You can dust the leaves with a good quality calcium supplement every few days.

How Much Mustard Green Should I Feed A Bearded Dragon?

Mustard greens can be fed every day. They should be placed in a suitable dish in the morning and can be left in the vivarium all day – replacing when they get too dry or have been mostly eaten. You’ll not overfeed mustard greens to your bearded dragon so don’t worry if they eat loads.

Mustard greens should be dusted lightly with a calcium supplement to increase the calcium content at least twice a week. They can also be lightly sprinkled with some water before being placed in the dish to help keep them a little bit more fresh throughout the day.

Place the mustard greens and salad mix at the cool end of the vivarium so that they last longer before drying out. Dried mustard greens aren’t going to be appetizing for your bearded dragon. You may find you need to replace them at least once throughout the day if your bearded dragon hasn’t eaten them before they go dry and wrinkly.

You should mix in other vegetables to give your dragon some variety, but there’s no upper limit on how much they can have.

Nutritional Data For Mustard Greens For Bearded Dragons

Can I Grow My Own Mustard Greens?

Mustard seeds are available in the UK, USA and Canada from Amazon. There are a variety of different mustard plants. We’ve concentrated mainly on the American mustard, or Indian mustard plant but there are also Chinese mustard plants which seem to more resemble a bok choy type of shaped plant.

Summary

So, can bearded dragons eat mustard greens and are mustard greens for bearded dragons OK? The answer is yes, mustard greens are an excellent leafy green vegetable for bearded dragons. They can be fed regularly, although should form part of a balanced diet so mixed with other vegetables too. Mustard greens are a good source of calcium, fibre and water.

Frequency: STAPLE.

For more information on other vegetables that Bearded Dragons can eat, please see our larger overview post at ‘What Vegetables Can Bearded Dragons Eat?’

References

1: US Department of Agriculture FoodData Central. Fetched on 6th February 2021 from https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/1103126/nutrients

2: Oxalate data sourced from St Josephs Healthcare, Hamilton, Canada fetched on 1st February 2021 from https://www.stjoes.ca/patients-visitors/patient-education/patient-education-k-o/pd-9447-oxalate-in-food.pdf

Featured Image by Heidi Hanson from Pixabay