How to Feed Bearded Dragons Romaine Lettuce

Bearded dragons enjoy fresh greens daily.

Despite its intriguing folklore-inspired name, bearded dragons enjoy a diet rich in leafy greens--not unsuspecting hunters searching for dragon-protected treasure. Romaine lettuce adds a substantial source of vitamins A, K and C to your pet reptile's omnivorous diet. Bearded dragons also enjoy dining on fresh fruit, flower petals, leaves, insects, desert rodents and small lizards. If you're keeping a bearded dragon as a pet, romaine lettuce is one of the easiest and readily available nutritious foods to prepare for the reptile.

Things You'll Need

• Romaine lettuce
• Cutting board
• Knife
• Bowl
• Sink
• Towels
• Reptile feeding bowl
• Plastic bag

Instructions

1. Select fresh, crisp heads of romaine lettuce from the grocery store or farmer's market. Look for green leaves, free of slimy, dark, rotting patches or dry brown spots.

2. Peel off the outer leaves of the head. Cut the thick section of stem from the base of the lettuce, allowing the leaves to break apart from the head.

3. Fill a large bowl or the sink basin with room-temperature water. Swish the romaine lettuce leaves in the water using your hands. Rub away any bits of soil, sand or insects from the lettuce.

4. Lay the lettuce leaves on a towel. Pat the tops of the leaves with a dry towel to remove excess moisture. Turn the romaine lettuce leaves over and pat the backsides until dry.

5. Chop two or three romaine lettuce leaves into 1-inch size pieces. Place the lettuce in the reptile's feed bowl--ensure greens constitute 85 percent of the pet's diet. Bearded dragons cannot overeat romaine lettuce. Give them as much as they can finish in one eating session.

6. Supplement greens and fresh produce with 15 percent protein--such as mealworms, crickets, superworms or roaches--twice per week, according to the Long Island Herpetological Society.

7. Give the bearded dragon romaine lettuce in the morning. Allow the pet to bask under his heat lamp after mealtime for at least two hours to aid in digestion.

Tips & Warnings

• Romaine lettuce will stay fresh in the refrigerator for five to seven days when washed, dried and stored in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer.

• Remove any uneaten fresh foods--including romaine lettuce--from the pet's habitat within an hour of feeding time. Fresh produce spoils quickly in the pet's warm, desertlike enclosure.

• Avoid storing romaine lettuce next to apples, pears and bananas. These fruits release ethylene gas, causing the lettuce leaves to turn brown.

References

• Long Island Herpetological Society: Bearded Dragon
• The World's Healthiest Foods: Romaine Lettuce

Resources

• Petco: Bearded Dragon