With the number of people adding a pet bearded dragon to their family being higher than ever right now, we have noticed more and more people asking various questions about caring for their pet beardie.
We really do see a wide range of questions but most of what we see is about the various goods you can feed a bearded dragon with a number of people specifically asking if bearded dragons can eat pineapple or not.
Bearded dragons can eat small amounts of pineapple as a treat food on occasion but for the most part, pineapple should only make up a very small part of a bearded dragon’s diet.
Due to there being so much confusion around giving bearded dragons pineapple as well as so many different questions being asked each month, we decided to publish this article.
Our hope is that we will be able to help as many of our readers as possible as we have collected all of the commonly asked questions that we see from the community and answered them all right here.
Can Bearded Dragons Eat Pineapple?
Bearded dragons can eat pineapple but it should only be used in small amounts and as a maximum you should only give it to your bearded dragon three times per month.
We know that it can be tempting to give a bearded dragon more pineapple than this as most beardies really do seem to enjoy eating as much pineapple as possible but you have to implement portion control.
Too much pineapple in a bearded dragon’s diet can end up causing issues with its macronutrient breakdown and eventually cause a number of different health problems.
Macronutrient Requirements Of Bearded Dragons!
As you can see from our bearded dragon macronutrient requirement breakdown about, around 50% of the calories your bearded dragon needs should come from carbs, 25% should come from fats, and 25% should come from protein.
Now, the exact breakdown required is debated often but the above should be a good starting point but some people reduce the fat and increase the carbohydrates in their bearded dragon’s diet.
The point is, too much pineapple can cause issues with keeping your bearded dragon’s macronutrient profile balanced as pineapple is almost 100% carbohydrate.
Too much pineapple can make it very difficult to balance the protein and fat requirements of your bearded dragon while also maintaining its standard leafy greens, insect, and vegetable intake to offer it all the vitamins and minerals that it requires.
Bearded Dragon Food Pyramid!
As you can see from our bearded dragon weekly food pyramid above, you should only really be offering your bearded dragon fruit once per week at most and even then, it should be different types of fruit.
Not only does changing the types of fruit that your bearded dragon eats help to increase its overall nutritional intake but it also helps to avoid spikes in certain types of sugar too.
People often see food pyramids like this and think that they can give their pet bearded dragon a fruit like pineapple once per week but this is not correct due to how high in fructose and citric acid pineapple actually is.
Although you can feed your pet bearded dragon pineapple a maximum of three times per month, once or twice per month will usually be much better!
If you are going with the twice per month option that we usually recommend due to how much bearded dragons like to eat pineapple, we would recommend you use it in alternating weeks.
For example, in a four week month, offer pineapple to your bearded dragon on week one and week three with other fruit being offered on week two and week four.
Is Pineapple Toxic To Bearded Dragons?
Pineapple is not toxic to bearded dragons when eaten in moderation but too much citric acid or carbohydrates can end up causing problems with your pet bearded dragon.
As we mentioned earlier in the article, pineapple is full of both carbohydrates and citric acid so this is just another reason that you have to try and make sure you only offer pineapple to your bearded dragons on rare occasions.
We have seen other people make the argument that if you are offering your pet bearded dragon pineapple then other fruits with citric acid in them should be avoided.
This includes:-
- Lemons
- Limes
- Oranges
- Grapefruits
- Tangerines
- Pomelos
- Strawberries
- Raspberries
- Cranberries
- Cherries
- Tomatoes
As you can see, there are a number of foods on there that bearded dragons do tend to enjoy eating and although it is not essential that you cut other citric acid fruits out, it can be a good idea.
You can make your own feeding schedule for your bearded dragon based on the food pyramid that we went over earlier in the article to integrate pineapple into their diet without issue.
You then use the alternating week strategy for the fruits that you give your bearded dragon too with an example below.
As you can see from the graphic above, this simple strategy allows you to add pineapple to the diet of your bearded dragon without you having to use it too much while also avoiding other fruits that are high in citrus.
We have dedicated articles going over bearded dragons eating apples and bearded dragons eating grapes and as we covered in both of those articles, for the most part, bearded dragons usually like both fruits.
This strategy allows you to minimize the overall amount of citrus in your bearded dragon’s diet and keep your pet as safe as possible.
How Much Pineapple Can You Let Your Bearded Dragon Eat?
The majority of people should be able to give their pet bearded dragon pineapple between once and three times per month in most situations.
This should easily be enough to offer the advantages of pineapple without risking any of the potential downsides.
In our opinion, once or twice per month is the sweet spot for letting your bearded dragon eat pineapple as it makes it easy for you to be able to balance to rest of the animal’s diet with other foods.
There is no set size of the pineapple chunk that you should let your bearded dragon eat due to it changing depending on the size of your pet bearded dragon.
Depending on the other foods that your pet bearded dragon has eaten, you may have to tweak the amount of pineapple that you offer too.
Issues with metabolic bone disease or other problems with the jaw of your bearded dragon can also cause you to have to cut it extra small.
One rule of thumb that we have seen people use is to get a pineapple chunk that is around the size of your bearded dragon’s jaw and then quarter that chunk.
This can give you the perfect size to let your bearded dragon eat the pineapple without having a risk of choking.
Then, depending on the other food that your bearded dragon has eaten that week, you can feed your beardie between one and four of those pineapple chunk quarters that you cut that day.
Do Bearded Dragons Like To Eat Pineapple?
The majority of bearded dragons seem to really enjoy eating pineapple and many of them will wolf it down due to enjoying the taste so much.
The issue is, that this can cause people new to keeping a pet bearded dragon to overfeed pineapple and as we have covered earlier in the article, too much pineapple is definitely a bad thing for a bearded dragon.
This is why so much responsibility falls on you, as the bearded dragon keeper to show restraint no matter how much it appears that your bearded dragon is enjoying its pineapple to stick to strict portion control limits.
A small number of bearded dragons tend not to like pineapple and this is usually the bearded dragons who don’t like the taste and sensation of citrus.
This is only a small minority but you will usually find that these bearded dragons tend to love apples and grapes as their fruit of choice so you can try them instead if you wish.
What Are The Benefits Of Feeding A Bearded Dragon Pineapple?
The main benefit of feeding your bearded dragon pineapple is the diet enrichment as most bearded dragons really do enjoy eating pineapple.
There are also a number of other vitamin and mineral benefits of feeding a bearded dragon pineapple with calcium and potassium being the most notable ones.
Although it really shouldn’t be relied on, the 3mg of calcium per service of pineapple for a bearded dragon can theoretically help you balance the calcium and phosphorus ratio to prevent metabolic bone disease from taking hold of your pet.
What Are The Risks Of Feeding A Bearded Dragon Pineapple?
Thankfully, all of the risks of feeding a bearded dragon pineapple are easily avoided with proper portion control and a well balanced diet.
The risks of feeding your pet bearded dragon include spiking the animal’s diet with too much sugar at once that can cause a number of issues in a bearded dragon if this is done on a regular basis.
Pineapple can also start warping the macronutrient profile for your bearded dragon’s diet to a level where it can be difficult to safley re-balance the ratio to meet the needs of a bearded dragon too.
As we touched on earlier in the article, you should do your best to avoid letting too much citric acid get into your bearded dragon’s diet as this can also end up causing a number of problems with the reptile in the future.
How To Prepare Pineapple For Bearded Dragons!
There is no need to try and cook your pineapple for your pet bearded dragon as bearded dragons can eat pineapple raw just like humans.
There will usually be no need to wash the pineapple too if you are cutting it fresh but if you are getting it from a pre-cut tub of pineapple that most stores stock now, it may be a good idea to give the pineapple a quick rinse.
This is not to try and remove dirt from the pineapple but the bottom chunks in those tubs are usually left to site in the juice of the other chunks meaning that the citric acid content can spike on the outside of the chunk.
Thankfully, rinsing the chunk of pineapple for a couple of seconds will usually be able to help prevent this.
From there, we would usually recommend that you use the strategy that we touched on earlier in the article where you try to quarter a chunk of pineapple that is around the size of your bearded dragon’s jaw.
There are a number of other ways that you are able to safely prepare pineapple for a bearded dragon to eat but this does seem to be one of the most common methods that is used.
Alternatives To Pineapple For Bearded Dragons!
There are a number of alternative food options to pineapple that you are able to try with your pet bearded dragon if you wish.
The two main ones that we usually recommend that you try are apples and grapes as most bearded dragons seem to really enjoy these two fruits too.
Conclusion
That brings our article going overfeeding your pet bearded dragon pineapple to an end and we hope that you have found it helpful.
For the most part, the majority of health bearded dragons should be able to have a small amount of pineapple added to their diet without having any problems.
Just keep in mind that you have to plan your bearded dragon’s diet if possible as we covered earlier in the article ot make sure that both the macronutrient profile as well as the vitamin and mineral profile are balanced.
