Is Kale very bad for my bearded dragon?

Question

I have a friend who feeds his dragon Kale, almost ONLY kale, they are small beardies, he rarely feeds them crickets, recently one of his beardies died from an unknown reason, we cant figure out why... is Kale bad? i have read about it recently and some pet owners have said to stay away from it...? will it kill a baby bearded dragon? what's so bad about Kale...?
Any ideas...?

Answer 1

Kale is an excellent green to include in the diet of both herbivorous and omnivorous reptiles. It has a good calcium to phosphorous ratio and has one of the lowest oxalate levels of any of the commonly used greens. This site has the oxalate levels from the analysis of the U.S Dept. of Agriculture
http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/cal_ox.html

It is recommended as a staple green for beardeds in the care site written by biologist Dr. Katherine Tosney

http://www.biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/ktosney/file/BDcare.html
as well as in the Bearded Dragon Manual chapter on nutrition, authored by Dr. Susan Donoghue a vet who specializes in the field of reptile nutrition.

The misconception that kale is high in oxalates if often repeated in reptile forums and on web sites. Kale and it's close relative collards can affect the thyroid if they are fed exclusively but no green or family of greens should be fed exclusively. Variety is the key to nutritional balance in a diet. A single type of green would not even keep an herbivorous reptile healthy let alone one that also needs insect protein.
Your friends bearded died because it was malnourished from being fed ONLY kale but it did not die because it was fed kale.

Answer 2

Bearded Dragon Kale

Answer 3

Can Bearded Dragons Eat Kale

Answer 4

I do not feed kale to my reptiles - period. This is a poor choice of foods and if it is used should only be used in very small amounts in a larger and healthier diet.

Kale is high in oxalates. Oxalates bind calcium keeping it from being absorbed by the animal - and people, too. Kale itself is a contributor to killing some animals if fed alone (even if the lighting and temps are right), but other factors such as poor temps and a lack of good (or no) UVB can speed it along.

These beardies need gutloaded and calcium dusted crix, a varied diet of greens, correct temps and a good UVB source.

Your friend needs some education. Here's only one of many good websites on beardie care:
http://www.dachiu.com/care/abeard.htm

EDIT:
Good lesson on oxalates...:-) With the contradiction of info - I had to look for myself and I'm embarrassed to say this old dog should have known better. Kale does have some good qualities. There is also the issue of goitrogens, however. Kale is specifically mentioned in references for foods high in this compound. This is an iodine binding agent which can cause problems for the thyroid gland.
http://www.anapsid.org/iguana/hypothyroidism.html

As with many of the foods offered to our lizards - no one food is good to feed all by themselves. There are the core foods and what should be fed with every meal - then the foods for rotation and variety. Not one thing out there has the nutrition that lizards need all by themselves.

Again - get your friend to read the info out there. Tosney's has always been another good one to look to. If "friend" doesn't have access to a pc - maybe you would be kind enough to print some stuff out...:-)

Answer 5

--->> Tips---> https://trimurl.im/h5/is-kale-very-bad-for-my-bearded-dragon

Answer 6

whats kale

Answer 7

its okay