Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I picked up some kale, sage, and wheatgrass potted plants today. I've put them in a planter with Miracle-Gro's organic potting mix (peat moss, sphagum moss, and a few other natural ingredients). After reading through the nutrition page for beardies, I thought maybe it would be good to add some of these plants to his diet for added vitamins and fiber.

The wheatgrass came from Petsmart, so after a good rinsing, I'm sure it's fine to be consumed. The kale and sage were from my local horsefeed store and though I asked if any pesticides have been used on them, they didn't have an answer for me. I don't think anything very harsh would be used, since the leaves are supposed to be consumed by humans, but nevertheless, I've scrubbed off the plants, soaked them in a bit of water, rinsed them repeatedly, and repotted them in this planter, just in case. We'll see how this goes. I'm keeping the planter in the house, to minimize the pests. ^_^

The root system of the wheatgrass was VERY potbound, so I'm wondering if it's going to spread and take over my planter. >_< Anyone have a Barbie-sized mower I can use?

Also, I'm including a couple of pictures of Charley from earlier, right after he ate a ton of superworms.

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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake possible mix (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

All three plants are safe for bearded dragons to eat..however, don't feed any of it for about 6 weeks or more to ensure any pesticides have 'grown out' of the plant itself.

Keep in mind though that none should be used as stables for bearded dragons. Kale though high in calcium is also high in Vitamin A and oxates, both which are harmful in high quantities..so mixing a little kale in with other greens (collards, dandelion etc) is fine for variety. Wheatgrass is good occasionally as well and sage is more a spice, but some added to a regular salad occasionally is ok too.

For more information on what plants are safe for bearded dragons and how frequent some can be fed..see the site below:

www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Feel free to eat as much as you want of those three greens..all are healthy for us too.

I have learned more about nutrition researching what is good to feed bearded dragons than I have researching what is good for me.
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PHLdyPayne

That's what I was figuring. I need to get him some collards as well, but I don't know if I'll bother to grow those. Since I always have a hard time locating a grocery store that has kale and fresh sage, I figured it would be easy to just grow them, then use the leaves sparingly. Yeah, I was planning to give them at least a month before feeding any of these leaves to him. The wheatgrass should be fine right off, since it was grown specifically for pets.

Since he's so used to just getting romaine lettuce, I thought maybe I'd work in some collards to his salad, then sprinkle it with occasional kale and sage. I'm not sure where to find good dandelion, though, since there isn't any growing in my yard. I would worry about finding random dandelion anywhere else though, since I don't know what could have been sprayed on it. If there was any in my yard, it would be easy since no pesticides have been sprayed out there in about 2 years. ^_^
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake possible mix (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

>>Keep in mind though that none should be used as stables for bearded dragons. Kale though high in calcium is also high in Vitamin A and oxates, both which are harmful in high quantities..

I don't know where the misinformaton that kale is high in oxalates originated but it is repeated often on internet forums. Kale is not high in oxalates, quite the opposite. It has one of the lowest oxalate contents of many of the commonly fed greens, much lower then its close relative collards. The figures for oxalate on the linked Melissa Kaplan site are derived from the U.S Dept of Agriculture analysis. Kale is part of the cabbage family along with collards and these greens contain goitrogens which can affect the thyroid function if fed exclusively. They are both good choices but need to be part of a varied diet with other types of non-goitrogenic greens
The vitamin A warning is also erroneous and often misunderstood by owners. It is only pre-formed vitamin A that is potentially toxic and this form of the vitamin is only found in animal sources like liver and eggs. Plants do not contain the active form of vit. A but rather only the precursor to vitamin A also known as pre-vitamin A or carotenes. Carotene is converted into the active form of Vit. A by the body only as needed. There is no risk of vitamin A toxicity with carotenes or plant based vitamin A.

http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/cal_ox.html

are all your pets named after mass serial murderers? or am i just imagining it?

You're not imagining it, it's true. My boyfriend started that trend, by naming Charley Manson. I told him I've got to find the perfect herp to name "Hannibal Lecter". ^_^

Charley Manson:

Eddie Gein:

Lizzie Borden: (loose in the house somewhere )

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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake possible mix (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Hannibal Lector, hmmm, another kingsnake perhaps? or a monitor or tegu..they eat just about anything 'meat'.
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PHLdyPayne

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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake possible mix (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)

Holly, I just noticed Lizzy Borden went missing. Wasn't she the one with the hatchet? How do you sleep nights?

Quig
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Don't interupt me when I'm talkin' to myself

With one eye open. ^_^
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Holly

0.1 Lavender California Kingsnake (Lizzie Borden) (missing )
1.0 Florida Kingsnake possible mix (Eddie Gein)
1.0 Bearded Dragon (Charley Manson)
1.0 Orange Marmalade Cat (Oliver)
1.0 Egyptian Arabian (Bagan)

2.0 Toddlers (Justice & Trevor)