The Dragon Garden

Like people, bearded dragons are omnivores, which means they eat all kinds of things. They eat insects including crickets, cockroaches, and lots of fruit leaves and vegetables. With a little work 25 percent or more of a young, bearded dragon's food can come from a garden. As beardies get older, you can give them more vegetables and fruit leaves, and less insects. Some sources recommend 20 percent insects and 80 percent vegetables for adult dragons. In the Dragon Garden we will focus on eight plants that can help feed your bearded dragon all summer long and throughout the year. The four perennials are grape vines, raspberry bushes, strawberry plants, and asparagus. Four garden annuals planted each year from seeds are kale, arugula, radish greens, and mustard greens. Greens from an organic garden are the best thing for a bearded dragon and can be fun and educational to grow. Variety is the key to a healthy bearded dragon. With a wide range of different kinds of leaves, your bearded dragon will get many needed nutrients. Note that many veterinarians recommend giving bearded dragons only crickets and insects that have been purchased at a store rather than caught in the garden, so focus on growing leaves for your beardie. The fruit produced in the garden is best consumed by children and adults, rather than the dragon. Fruits, like strawberries, raspberries, and grapes, should be given infrequently or not at all to bearded dragons. Many sources recommend adding fruit to the beardie's diet only once or twice a month. In the wild, bearded dragons live as solitary creatures in warm and arid areas of Australia. They favor deserts, subtropical woodlands, savannahs, and scrublands. Since they are omnivores, they eat insects, leaves, flowers, fruit and even small lizards or rodents. Wild bearded dragons also eat tree leaves, including mulberry trees. While much of a bearded dragon's food can come from a garden bed, other food can be picked from nature or picked from other plants that are part of the yard or landscaping. Make sure what you are picking for the dragon has not been sprayed with pesticides. Wildcrafting is the art of harvesting food that you have not planted in a garden, specifically for picking. If you look around your house at the trees and flowers, there may be some leaves you can wildcraft for your dragon. Dragon food also grows as weeds like dandelions and on trees like maple leaves.