Can Bearded Dragons Eat Mustard Greens? (Full Guide)

Mustard greens have grown in reputation over the last few years and are now commonly considered as a great option for healthy continuous people.

However, the real question is…can bearded dragons eat mustard greens?

We have thoroughly researched the nutrients in mustard greens as well as taking on board the opinions and advice of nutritionists and vets to bring you all the answers you need regarding feeding mustard greens to your bearded dragon.

So can bearded dragons eat mustard greens? Bearded dragons can safely eat mustard greens. The high levels of calcium and low levels of phosphorus make mustard greens an excellent choice to feed to your bearded dragon as part of their plant-based diet. 

Read on to find out…

• 5 bonus greens that you should be feeding your beardie!
• The benefits and potential concerns of overfeeding mustard greens
• If baby beardies can eat mustard greens?
• The fastest & easiest way to prepare mustard greens
• How often you should be adding mustard greens to the salad bowl

Mustard Greens | Nutritional Info

Before we can truly understand just how good mustard greens are for bearded dragons, first it’s important to take a look at the nutritional data.

This will allow us to see the levels of key nutrients that mustard greens offer.

To help us do this, we have added a table with the most relevant nutritional info for mustard greens. 

Don’t worry if you don’t know what nutrients to look out for and in what quantities as we will breakdown both the good and the bad later on in the post and you can always head back over to this table if you like.

Check out the nutritional data for mustard greens below…

Source:

Can Bearded Dragons Eat Mustard Greens? (More Info)

Mustard greens are the leafy greens of the mustard plant. They are soft, chewy and with a full, distinct flavour.

Bearded dragons can eat mustard greens and this is backed up by many veterinary outlets such as Tex Vet Pets, who included musted greens in a list of top foods for bearded dragon in a recent article.

As well as being a safe food for bearded dragons to eat, it’s also recommended that you add these leafy greens to your bearded dragon’s diet on a regular basis due to the fact they are abundant in key nutrients that are essential for beardies.

Mustard greens do actually contain moderate amounts of ‘oxalic acid’ which is a substance that can have a negative effect on bearded dragons.

We will take a closer look at the benefits of mustard greens and also the potential concerns such as oxalic acid below...

What Are The Benefits Of Bearded Dragons Eating Mustard Greens?

As we just mentioned, mustard greens are highly recommended by many vets and reptile nutritionists.

Here’s a breakdown of the reasons why so many experts suggest you add these greens into your beardies diet…

Mustard Greens Are Full Of Calcium

Calcium is an essential part of a bearded dragons diet. without it, they would become extremely ill and most likely suffer from illnesses such as metabolic bone disease.

In fact, Pet-MD states that poor nutrition will lead to calcium deficiency and ultimately metabolic bone disease or (MBD).

There are 2 ways that you can ensure your beardie gets all the calcium they need in their diet and they are…

• Feed calcium-rich greens and vegetables
• Offer a calcium supplement

Offering your bearded dragon greens and veggies that are abundant in calcium on a daily basis is essential to providing them with all the calcium they need to be healthy.

Mustard greens are one of the top greens available to increase your beardies calcium intake. 

They contain 115mg of calcium per 100g which is why they are considered to be one of the best greens for bearded dragons.

Kale is another excellent source of calcium for bearded dragons, although there have been reports that kale offers harmful substances to beardies.

We have looked at this in-depth and you can see what we found in our complete guide to bearded dragons eating kale here…

As well as offering a diet that’s high in calcium, it’s also recommended to provide your beardie with a calcium supplement.

Vetstream are one of the veterinary experts that recommend you use a high-quality calcium supplement.

We too totally agree with this and we would recommend you use Rep-Cal. This brand of calcium supplement is trusted throughout the reptile industry and is our number one choice.

You can take a look at the exact Rep-Cal calcium supplement we recommend you choose and the best place to get it from in our free guide here...

Mustard Greens Have a Good Calcium to Phosphorus Ratio

Something that’s just as important as the amount of calcium that foods contain, is the ratio of calcium to phosphorus.

Phosphorus can bind to nutrients such as calcium and interfere with their level of absorption. Source:

So basically, the more phosphorus your beardie consumes, the less calcium they will absorb.

The recommended ratio of calcium to phosphorus for bearded dragons is ideally 2:1 or at least 1:1

Looking at the table we provided, you can see that mustard greens offer 115mg of calcium and 58mg os phosphorus per 100g.

This means that mustard greens are comfortably around that 2:1 ratio and that’s another really good reason to add mustard greens to your beardies diet.

Mustard Greens Are High In Vitamin K

As well as offering a high amount of calcium, mustard greens also contain high levels of vitamin A. Source:

Again, taking a look at the nutritional table you can see that mustard greens contain 257.5 µg per 100g.

Vitamin K has many positive roles throughout the body but 2 of its main benefits are to support bone health and healing wounds. Source:

Vitamin K is a fat-soluble vitamin which helps to produce proteins for both healthy bones and normal blood clotting in the body.

Mustard greens also offer moderate levels of vitamins A & C as well as beta carotene which is a precursor for vitamin A.

All in all, mustard greens have a wide and balanced vitamin profile that is important for bearded dragons.

You can see if popular veggies and green such as asparagus and carrots have a balanced calcium to phosphorus ratio in our easy to follow guides below…

• Check out our guide on asparagus here…
• Check out our guide on carrots here…

Are There Any Concerns to Bearded Dragons Eating Mustard Greens?

Mustard greens don’t really have any high or low levels of nutrients that you should be concerned about, however, they do contain moderate levels of oxalates or oxalic acid.

Oxalates are a compound that are commonly found in vegetables, plants and leafy greens. Source:

Much like phosphorus, oxalic acid can bind to calcium and other trace minerals and stop them from being absorbed and used in the body.

Mustard greens 128.7mg of oxalic acid per 100g which is considered a moderate level.

This isn’t something that you need to worry about unless you are feeding mustard greens in excess. 

To put the number of oxalates that mustard greens contain into perspective we have put together a table that shares some of the most popular greens and vegetables for bearded dragons.

You can take a look at the comparison table for oxalates below…

Source:

Do Bearded Dragons Like Eating Mustard Greens?

Bearded dragons usually love mustard greens as a rule of thumb. This is due to the fact that they have a distinct and peppery taste.

Some greens can be a little bland in taste so adding greens such as mustard greens can add variety and flavour to the salad bowl.

Having said this, all beardies are different and while some will love mustard greens, some may find the taste too strong and prefer plainer greens.

You can always try your dragon with a small portion of mustard greens, mixed with other leafy greens and see how they get on.

Can Baby Bearded Dragons Eat Mustard Greens?

Mustard greens are great to offer to baby bearded dragons. This is due to their high calcium content and the amount of low phosphorus they contain.

Baby beardies need lots of high-quality calcium to support the fast-paced growth they encounter in the first 12 months of their life.

Bearded dragons actually grow up to 90% of their total length and size in the first 12 months of their life.

Eating foods such as mustard greens will help a baby bearded dragon to get the calcium and other nutrients they need in that vital first year.

How Often Can Bearded Dragons Eat Mustard Greens?

As we have talked about many times already in this post, mustard greens are full of nutrients such as calcium that are essential for bearded dragons.

This means that mustard greens can be added to your bearded dragon’s diet on a regular basis and even daily.

It’s also important to remember that it’s best to combine a number of greens and veggies in a mix to get a high amount of nutrients as well as a variety of nutrients.

One leafy green that is thought to be good for bearded dragons is spinach. You can see if it’s actually good for your beardie or if spinach is strictly off the menu in our guide here…

How to Prepare & Serve Mustard Greens For Your Bearded Dragon

Some veggies and greens that you feed your beardie will take a lot of preparation, while others will take next to nothing.

Mustard greens are one of those greens that can basically go straight into the salad bowl with minimal preparation.

Even though this is the case, we have put together a short guide that outlines how to prepare and serve mustard greens to your bearded dragons.

Check out the guide below…

Go For Organic – We always recommend going for an organic option if there’s one available. Pesticides and herbicides can have a negative effect on your beardies health and purchasing an organic option wherever possible is always the best option.

Give It a Wash – This is probably self-explanatory but giving any veggies or greens you intend to add to the salad bowl is essential. 

Best Served Raw – Greens and veggies such as mustard greens are best served raw. This will save you time and will also preserve the nutritional value of the food too.

Give It a Chop – Some bearded dragons like to have large leafy greens to tear, however, mustard greens can be quite large and difficult to add to the salad bowl in one piece so chopping them up into manageable pieces is recommended.

Time to Serve – Now you can serve the mustard greens, we recommend adding them in a veggie and greens mix to maximize the number of nutrients and calcium your beardie will consume.

5 Other Healthy Greens The Experts Recommend

As a bonus, we would like to give you 5 other greens that are highly recommended by reptile nutritionists.

The majority of these greens are high in calcium and other key nutrients and are a great option to feed to your beardie on a regular basis.

The greens we have picked are…

• Dandelion Greens
• Grape Leaves
• Turnip Greens
• Watercress
• Collard Greens

So you can better understand how healthy these greens are we have put them together in a handy table.

Take a look at the table here…

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