Jump To…
Key Points
- Freezing saves time for busy pet owners, allowing you to prep meals in advance for your bearded dragon and gut-loading insects.
- Frozen vegetables make it easy to provide a balanced, varied diet for your bearded dragon without frequent trips to the store.
- Frozen vegetables often retain more nutrients than fresh produce stored in the fridge for several days.
- Studies show frozen vegetables are nutritionally on par with fresh vegetables, especially for vitamins and antioxidants.
- Blanching vegetables before freezing helps preserve key nutrients like trans-β-carotene.
- Buying pre-frozen vegetables can be more effective than freezing your own, making busy people’s lives easier.
- Store frozen vegetables at -18°C (0°F) or lower to ensure they retain their vitamins and antioxidants.
- Use frozen vegetables within 3-12 months to ensure they maintain optimal nutrient levels.
Why Freezing Meals Helps You and Your Bearded Dragon
Can bearded dragons eat frozen vegetables? Sure can. Because bearded dragons can eat frozen vegetables (defrosted of course), it provides an ideal way to make meals in bulk ahead of time. This way you can get your hands on the right sized portion, when you need it and still provide a nutritious meal!
For ideas on what vegetables you can freeze for bearded dragons check out the food chart.
Why Frozen Vegetables Are Ideal for Busy Folks!
Most of us have pretty busy lives and making life easier when it comes to looking after our pets is important. Instead of shopping for fresh produce weekly for your bearded dragon, you can prepare meals in advance. The convenience of being able to take a frozen food portion from the freezer when you need it saves the hassle of frequent trips to the store and means their meals can be prepared ahead of time.
Frozen vegetables are an easy and effective way for us to provide a wide range of nutrients through vegetables and vegetation. There are outdated beliefs that fresh produce always outperforms frozen in terms of nutritional value, but research has shown that this is not the case. Studies have found that frozen vegetables often retain nutrients better than fresh produce, which can lose vitamins and minerals during storage and transportation (Li et al., 2017).
Once harvested, vegetables begin to lose nutrients, and fresh produce in shops may already be days old, further degrading their nutritional content (Li et al., 2017). Freezing vegetables can prevent further nutrient loss, trapping the nutrients where you want them (Grover et al., 2023).
… our study found frozen produce samples to have significantly higher nutrient contents than fresh- stored more frequently than the inverse.
Li et al., (2017)
When you’re busy, buying a large variety of fresh vegetables every week for your bearded dragon is unrealistic. Of course, you will have a selection of vegetables already for your bearded dragon since you are probably eating what you are buying as well.
However, buying frozen vegetables or fresh produce once a month, preparing and freezing it in advance, allows you to offer your pet a wider variety of vegetables and ensures they get a balanced, nutrient-rich diet. This method also solves the daily hassle of finding ingredients and preparing fresh meals when you come home from work.
When accounting for a storage period that mimics that employed by consumers, our findings do not support the common perception that fresh produce is nutritionally superior to frozen produce.
Li et al., (2017)
Since bearded dragons can eat frozen vegetables, and you will have meals prepped ahead of time, your bugs can also benefit from it. Now you can prepare your gut-loading foods for your bugs ahead of time as well. With your nutrition packed gut loading diets prepared ahead of time for your crickets and cockroaches you will become the opitimy of organization! Frozen vegetables for gut-loading ensure your feeder insects are loaded with essential vitamins and minerals, benefiting your bearded dragon.
Frozen vegetables provide a quick and convenient way to to ensure a balanced diet without the hassle of always keeping fresh produce on hand. But lets not forget that bearded dragons can also eat frozen fruit! Using frozen foods means you can access the best produce, year round.
Since bearded dragons can eat frozen vegetables (at least those on the safe foods lists) lets take advantage of it and make it a quick and convenient way to have portioned foods ready to go.
The Science of Freezing Foods for Bearded Dragons
1. Frozen Vegetables vs Fresh: What Happens to the Nutrients?
Research shows that frozen vegetables often retain essential nutrients like vitamin C, trans-β-carotene, and folate as well as, or even better than, fresh produce stored in the refrigerator for several days (Li et al., 2017). For example, broccoli and green beans preserved more vitamins in their frozen state than when stored fresh for a few days, challenging the common belief that fresh is always more nutritious.
Frozen vegetables are also highly effective in maintaining antioxidants and vitamins, especially when stored at -18°C (0°F) or lower (Grover et al., 2023). For example, frozen carrots kept at -25°C (-13°F) retained more vitamin C compared to those stored at higher temperatures.
In fact, when it came to specific nutrients, frozen vegetables outperformed fresh-stored produce more frequently than the reverse. This means that the findings of this research did not support the assumption many consumers have—that fresh vegetables are always more nutritious than frozen.
2. What Happens to the Anti-Nutrients while trying to Keep the Good Stuff
Of course, what we want to achieve is to maximize the nutrients we want to keep and reduce anti-nutrients. At the same time our aim is not to cook the food but to preserve it as close to fresh state as possible. To do that we need to blanch or steam the vegetables we prepare. Researchers give us great insight into how to achieve this.
Fortunately a number of antinutrients, like goitrogens and oxalates, can be reduced through the procedures here for preparing your vegetables ahead of time for your bearded dragon. The post on What Bearded Dragons Can’t Eat and Toxic Foods goes into great detail on the antinutrients in foods.
Here is an example. To keep vitamin compounds (SFN) and natural antioxidants (BITC) while reducing goitrogens in cabbage, steam it at 100°C for 4 minutes.
Research by Panduang et al., (2023) shows us that cabbage is best steamed at 100°C for 4 minutes. This reduces goitrogens by an impressive 82%! In the meantime, the vitamin compound (SFN) in cabbage actually increased a whopping 235% while the natural antioxidant (BITC) increased 12%.
Increasing the steaming time of cabbage to 6 minutes still reduces the goitrogens (78%) but the natural antioxidant (BITC) is decreased by 29% while the vitamin like compound (SFN) increases to 55%.
For cabbage, blanching destroys more of the natural antioxidants and vitamin like compounds than steaming, so steaming may be your best option.
Chinese kale is also best steamed at 100°C for 2 minutes. At this rate the steaming reduced goitrogens by a nice 32% whereas in blanching the goitrogens actually increased. The natural antioxidant (BITC) decreased by about 11% and the immune supporting SFN increased by 140%.
| Component | Goitrogen Level (Goitrin) ng/mL |
|---|---|
| Cabbage Raw Value | 251.5 |
| Cabbage Blanched (100°C, 2 min) | 53.2 |
| Cabbage Blanched (100°C, 4 min) | 48.2 |
| Cabbage Steamed (100°C, 2 min) | 45.2 |
| Cabbage Steamed (100°C, 4 min) | 45 |
| Cabbage Steamed (100°C, 6 min) | 55.3 |
| Chinese Kale Raw | 82.3 |
| Chinese Kale Blanched (100°C, 2 min) | 90.4 |
| Chinese Kale Steamed (100°C, 2 min) | 56.1 |
| Chinese Kale Steamed (100°C, 4 min) | 62.2 |
This shows us that how we preserve foods has an impact on both anti-nutrients and nutrients. Choose the best methods of preparing food which blanching or steaming to maximize the results that you want.
3. How Freezing affects Fruits
Freezing fruits like raspberries and apples preserve their bioactive compounds and antioxidants. Even after 12 months of storage at -24°C (-11°F), these fruits show minimal loss in their nutritional value (Grover et al., 2023).
4. Preserving Carotenoids and Lycopene in Frozen Foods
Carotenoids are some of the nutrients we want to preserve in frozen foods for bearded dragons, along with other reptiles.
Carotenoids can degrade during freezing and storage, particularly in certain vegetables. According to Behsnilian & Mayer-Miebach (2016), some vegetables, like carrots and spinach, can lose up to 40-70% of their carotenoids over long storage periods at -18°C (0°F). However, vegetables like green beans and broccoli tend to retain their carotenoids better under similar freezing conditions, with less degradation over time.
Lycopene, a key nutrient in tomatoes and red vegetables, is especially sensitive to freezing. Behsnilian and Mayer-Miebach (2016) found that lycopene can experience a significant loss—up to 57%—after long storage periods at typical freezer temperatures of -18°C (0°F). To reduce this loss, storing vegetables at lower temperatures, such as -25°C (-13°F) or below, is recommended for better preservation of lycopene.
By maintaining lower freezing temperatures, you can better preserve the carotenoids and lycopene in vegetables.
How to Retain Most of the Nutrients in Vegetables and Greens
Freezing vegetables like spinach and peas can help retain higher nutrient levels compared to fresh-stored options. For example, bearded dragons can eat frozen peas. As it happens, frozen peas retain more vitamin C and folate than their fresh counterparts (Li et al., 2017). So frozen peas in your bearded dragon’s diet can be timesaving and nutritionally sound choice!
1. Quick Freezing is Best: Do you need an Ultra-Fast Freezer?
While quick freezing produces smaller ice crystals and better preserves texture, most of us simply don’t have an ultra-fast freezer. Fortunately, the texture of frozen vegetables for bearded dragons isn’t as important. As long as your freezer is set to -18°C (0°F) or lower, the frozen vegetables will retain their nutritional quality for long-term use (Grover et al., 2023).
2. What is the Best Freezing Temperature to Preserve Nutrients?
The whole point of this exercise is to provide optimal nutrition to our bearded dragons using frozen foods. So it makes sense to ensure we use the right freezing temperatures to back it up.
To maintain the highest quality in frozen vegetables, they should be stored at -18°C (0°F) or lower. Temperature fluctuations can lead to nutrient degradation and texture loss, so keeping the temperature stable is essential (Grover et al., 2023).
3. The Importance of Blanching Before Freezing Vegetables
Blanching is an essential step before freezing vegetables for your bearded dragon. This process deactivates enzymes that would otherwise cause nutrient degradation, color loss, and changes in flavor during freezing. Vegetables like broccoli, spinach, green beans, and carrots benefit from blanching, as it helps preserve key nutrients, including trans-β-carotene (Li et al., 2017; Behsnilian & Mayer-Miebach, 2016).
Research by More & Khodke (2023) looked at the effects of blanching and steaming on β-carotene levels in carrots. When using the recommended times for blanching and steaming carrots the β-carotene was only slightly affected. In the raw state carrots were 24.75 mg/100g. Blanching for 2 minutes saw the carrots lose 6.5% (23.13 mg/100g) and steamed for 3 minutes resulted in a drop of 12.6% (21.64 mg/100g). Carotenoids, such as β-carotene and lycopene, are stabilized during blanching, ensuring they remain available in the food even after freezing (Behsnilian & Mayer-Miebach, 2016). Behsnilian and Mayer-Miebach’s 2016 study highlighted that β-carotene remained stable during frozen storage, while lycopene showed more significant degradation over time, especially when stored at higher temperatures.
Here are the key points to keep in mind:
- Underblanching: If vegetables aren’t blanched long enough, the enzymes remain active, leading to a decline in quality during freezing and storage.
- Overblanching: Blanching for too long can result in the loss of some heat-sensitive nutrients and make vegetables too soft. It can also reduce or destroy levels of desired nutrients, although sometimes it is the opposite of that as discussed earlier in this post.
- Blanching Times: Blanching times vary by vegetable. For example, green beans require 3 minutes of blanching, while carrots need up to 5 minutes for optimal nutrient preservation (Behsnilian & Mayer-Miebach, 2016).
Blanching also destroys microorganisms on vegetables’ surfaces, making frozen vegetables safer for long-term storage.
4. Equipment for Blanching Vegetables for your Bearded Dragon
Vegetables can be blanched in a pot that you likely already have. However, using a blancher will make everything easier. A blancher is a pot that has a blanching basket and cover. Once the vegetables have reached their desired cooking time you simply take out the basket of vegetables from the pot and pop them in ice water to cool and stop the cooking.
For steaming vegetables use a pot with the steaming basket. The steamer should have 3 inches between the water and the steamer basket (National Center for Home Food Preservation – National Center for Home Food Preservation, 2014) so that there is plenty of room for the water to be at a continuous rolling boil without directly touching the vegetables.
Don’t use a microwave for blanching. The enzymes that need to be inactivated may survive and there are also issues with poor flavor, texture and color (National Center for Home Food Preservation – National Center for Home Food Preservation, 2014).
Microwave blanching may not be effective, since research shows that some enzymes may not be inactivated.
National Center for Home Food Preservation (2014)
5. 3 Steps to Blanch Vegetables for Freezing
Blanching vegetables is key to preserving their nutrients and quality before freezing them. Here are simple steps to ensure your bearded dragon can eat frozen vegetables that pack a nutrient punch!
Step 1: Prepare the vegetables: Wash, peel, and cut the vegetables as needed. Always handle food with clean hands and tools to avoid contamination.
Step 2: Choose your method:
Steam: Place the vegetables in a wire basket above boiling water, ensuring they don’t touch the water. Cover and steam according to recommended times. If the vegetables have different blanching or steaming times, then they will need to be cooked separately. The water must be continuously boiling to reach 100°C.
Boiling Water: Boil water in a large pot. Once it’s boiling, add the vegetables and cover with a lid. If the water doesn’t return to boiling within a minute, add fewer vegetables next time.
Identify the right amount of water and fill your pot (University of Minnesota 2024):
- For leafy greens (e.g., spinach, kale): Use 2 gallons (7.6 liters) of water per pound (0.45 kg).
- For other vegetables: Use 1 gallon (3.8 liters) of water per pound (0.45 kg).
Identify the required blanching time (University of Minnesota 2024):
- Beans (Green): 3 minutes (boiling), 5 minutes (steam)
- Broccoli (1.5-inch flowerets): 3 minutes (boiling), 5 minutes (steam)
- *Cabbage (shredded): 3 minutes (boiling), 5 minutes (steaming).
- Carrots (diced): 2 minutes (boiling), 3 minutes (steam)
- Cauliflower (1-inch flowerets): 3 minutes (boiling), 5 minutes (steam)
- Greens collards: 3 minutes (boiling), 5 minutes (steam)
- Greens (all others): 2 minutes (boiling), 3 minutes (steam)
- Peas (Edible pod): 2-3 minutes (boiling), 4-5 minutes (steam)
- Squash (Summer): 3 minutes (boiling), 5 minutes (steam)
Step 3: Cool rapidly: After blanching, quickly cool the vegetables by dunking them in ice water for a few minutes to stop the cooking. Drain them well, and pat dry with clean towels to prevent freezer burn.
Ingredients to Add or Avoid with Frozen Vegetable Meal Plans
To make these meals plans you will need some fresh and some frozen vegetables. The vegetables that you buy fresh will need to be blanched and the veggies you buy frozen are good as is. Plan ahead for a month worth of meals.
Purchasing frozen vegetables from the shop will save time and effort plus they have already gone through the required procedures for freezing by the manufacturer.
Only combine the already frozen vegetables with your fresh choices once they are both in the same frozen state to avoid unfreezing the already frozen goods.
1. Fruits and Vegetables to Avoid Because They Don’t Freeze Well
While bearded dragons can eat frozen vegetables and fruits, not all of them freeze well. Some can lose their texture and nutrients when frozen. High water-content vegetables and fruit can be particularly troublesome as they become mushy. Here’s a list of items that are better served fresh on the day rather than freeze:
- Cabbage
- Cos lettuce
- Cucumbers
- Zucchini
- Watermelon
2. Can Bearded Dragons Eat Frozen Crickets and Other Bugs?
Technically bearded dragons can eat frozen crickets and other insects however, it is not ideal. Fresh and live insects provide a hunting challenge, stimulation and exercise for your bearded dragon. Young bearded dragons eat a lot of insects but as they move into adulthood, beardies will not eat many insects at all. Missing out on the opportunity for exercise at the least would be a poor option.
3. Should you add Supplements to the Frozen Meals?
Don’t add supplements to the food mix until it is about to be fed to your bearded dragon. Some deterioration of the nutrients is likely, so it is best to add calcium and vitamins directly before feeding timing. In addition, most of the calcium and vitamins should be gut loaded in the insects and dusted on them. Supplements should be kept at cool temperatures, such as in the fridge.
Step-by-Step Bulk Meal Plans for Bearded Dragons
1. Equipment
- Steamer and lid with sufficient room to leave a 3 inch gap between the top of the water and the steamer basket.
- Cutting board and knife.
- Paper towels for drying.
- Bowl with ice water for cooling.
- Bowl for mixing ingredients.
- Ice cube trays for shaping portions.
- Bags or other containers for freezing foods.
1. Recipes for Preparing Bulk Meals for Bearded Dragons ahead of Time
For each recipe there are some foods to steam, foods already frozen from your supermarket and some fresh ingredients for the day.
Defrost the required portions for the next day overnight in the fridge and bring it to room temperature before serving. Directly before serving add the required calcium or other supplements if needed.
Set up steamer and cooling station for each recipe before proceeding. Fill a pot with water, ensuring it remains about 3 inches below the steamer basket, and bring to a rolling boil.
Prepare a bowl of iced water for cooling which is needed immediately after removing the vegetables from the steamer to prevent the vegetables from cooking further.
Dry the vegetables with paper towels to prevent the moisture turning into freezer burn later on.
Any of these recipes can easily be increased or modified to suit your needs. These recipes are to give you a guide on how to prepare bulk meals ahead of time.
1.1. Veggie & Petal Salad for Bearded Dragons with Fresh Red Pepper
Ingredients
Bulk vegetables to be steamed
- 1 cup collard greens,
- 1 cup rocket (arugula)
- 1 cup Bok choy leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves
Pre-frozen vegetables
- 1/2 cup frozen grated carrots
Single-Meal Fresh Addition
- 1 tablespoon red pepper (capsicum), for adding fresh on feeding day
- 6 rose petals, for adding fresh on feeding day
Directions:
- Prepare the greens: Rinse the rocket, collard greens, bok choy and basil thoroughly under cool water to remove any chemicals and roughly chop into bite-sized pieces.
- Steam the ingredients: Add the collards to the steamer and cook for 2 minutes. At the 2 minute mark quickly add the rocket, Bok choy and basil leaves so as not to lose too much steam. Cover the pot with the lid again, and blanch for a further 3 minutes.
- Cool rapidly: Immediately transfer the greens to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.
- Mix the other ingredients: Add the pre-frozen chopped carrots. Do not allow the carrots to defrost. Portion out the food into large ice cube trays and freeze.
Once frozen, pop the cubes into zip lock bags or any other way you normally store foods in your freezer. Pop the date on the bags with a permanent marker and freeze. - Defrost, add fresh ingredients and serve: Defrost the portion for feeding and serve with the fresh ingredients.
1.2. Veggie Medley with Fresh Zucchini
Ingredients
Bulk vegetables to be steamed
- 1 cup mustard greens
- 1/2 cup broccoli leaves
- 1/4 cup grape leaves
Pre-frozen vegetables
- 1/4 cup peas
- 1/4 cup cauliflower
- 3 blueberries
Single-Meal Fresh Addition
- 1 tablespoon chopped zucchini, fresh, for adding on feeding day
Directions:
- Prepare the greens for steaming: Rinse the mustard greens, broccoli leaves, and grape leaves under cool water. Chop as desired.
- Set Up steamer and cooling station: Fill a pot with water, ensuring it stays about 3 inches below the steamer basket, and bring the water to a rolling boil. Prepare a bowl of iced water to cool the vegetables immediately after steaming.
- Steam the vegetables: Add the mustard greens, broccoli leaves and grape leaves to the steamer and cook for 3 minutes.
- Rapid cooling: Immediately transfer the steamed greens to the bowl of ice.
- Combine and portion: In a mixing bowl, add the pre-frozen peas, cauliflower, and blueberries to the cooled, steamed greens (do not thaw the pre-frozen items). Stir gently to combine.
- Freeze for storage: Scoop the mixture into large ice cube trays, filling each section to create individual portions. Freeze until solid, then transfer the cubes into ziplock bags or other freezer-safe storage containers. Label the bag with the date.
- Defrost, add fresh ingredients and serve: Defrost the portion for feeding and serve with the fresh ingredients.
1.3. Beardies Green Feast with Fresh Cucumber and Lettuce
Ingredients
Bulk vegetables to be steamed
- 1 cup collard greens
- 1 cup turnip greens
- 1/4 cup mulberry leaves
- 1/4 cup kale
- 1/4 cup squash
Pre-frozen vegetables
- 1/8 cup corn
- 1/8 cup peas
Single-meal fresh addition
- 1 tablespoon cucumber, peeled and diced
- 1/2 small leaf of Cos lettuce, chopped
Directions:
- Prepare the greens for steaming: Rinse the collard greens, turnip greens, mulberry leaves, kale, and squash under cool water. The squash may be best diced into cubes. Chop the veggies into pieces as needed.
- Steam the vegetables: Place the squash into the steamer basket. The squash will need to be cooked for freezing. Once the squash is cooked, remove it and cool rapidly.
Add the collards to the steamer and cook for 2 minutes. At the 2 minute mark quickly add the turnip greens, mulberry leaves and kale into the steamer basket. Cover and steam for a further 3 minutes to cook. - Rapid cooling: Quickly transfer the steamed vegetables to the ice water.
- Combine and portion: In a large mixing bowl, add the pre-frozen corn and peas to the cooled, steamed vegetables (do not thaw the pre-frozen items). Gently stir to mix.
- Freeze for storage: Spoon the mixture into large ice cube trays, filling each section to make individual portions. Once frozen, transfer the cubes into ziplock bags or other freezer-safe containers and label with the date.
- Defrost, add fresh ingredients, and serve: On feeding day, defrost one portion and let it reach room temperature. Add the fresh cucumber and Cos lettuce. Sprinkle with calcium or vitamin supplements if needed, following recommended guidelines.
Hacks for making the Best Frozen Foods for your Bearded Dragon!
1.1. Store at the Correct Freezing Temperature
For general nutrient retention, frozen vegetables should be stored at -18°C (0°F) or lower, and they can be safely kept for 3-12 months. This temperature is sufficient for maintaining the levels of vitamins and antioxidants in most vegetables.
However, if your freezer can reach lower temperatures, such as -25°C to -30°C (-13°F to -22°F), it will provide even better nutrient preservation, particularly for sensitive nutrients like carotenoids and antioxidants.
While freezing slows down the loss of carotenoids, they still break down over time. For sensitive vegetables like tomatoes (useful for feeding your insects), try to use them within three months.
Based on the study by Behsnilian & Mayer-Miebach (2016), certain carotenoids, such as lycopene found in tomatoes and red vegetables, are more stable at -25°C (-13°F) or lower, while at -18°C, they may degrade significantly after 12 months.
Carrots can be stored for up to two years in a well-sealed, icy freezer (Behsnilian & Mayer-Miebach, 2017).
For best quality, consume frozen vegetables within 8-12 months of freezing to ensure they retain their optimal nutrient levels (Grover et al., 2023).
Key Guidelines:
- -18°C (0°F): Suitable for most vegetables, and can retain vitamins like vitamin C, β-carotene, and folate for up to 12 months.
- -25°C (-13°F) or lower: This is ideal for vegetables with lycopene, like tomatoes, which benefit from longer storage at lower temperatures to reduce nutrient loss.
1.2. How Long Can I Store Frozen Meals for My Bearded Dragon?
The useful life of frozen vegetables varies based on which vegetable it is and at what temperature it is stored.
For example, Grover et al., (2023) recommends the following storage times for frozen vegetables:
- Spinach, Rocket Leaves, and Watercress: When stored at -20°C (-4°F) for 6 months, these vegetables showed a slight reduction in antioxidants, with watercress experiencing a significant improvement in antioxidant capacity. Carotenoid levels in spinach and rocket leaves even increased over time.
- Green Beans: When air-blast frozen and stored at -18°C (0°F) for 12 months, vitamin C retention was better, especially when frozen quickly. It may be better to buy pre-frozen beans rather than prepare and freeze your own.
- Carrots: Stored at -25°C (-13°F) for 6 months, they had a moderate antioxidant reduction, but antioxidant activity was only minimally affected.
- Broccoli: Stored at -18°C (0°F) for 12 months, broccoli retained more vitamin C than broccoli stored at higher temperatures. However, broccoli stored at -7°C (19°F) lost nearly 50% of its vitamin C after just 57 days.
1.3. Defrost in the Fridge Overnight
When you’re ready to serve your bearded dragon its frozen meal, thaw the vegetables in the refrigerator the night before or use cold water to defrost them quickly. Avoid microwaving or using hot water, as these methods can degrade nutrients. Serve the vegetables to your bearded dragon at room temperature.
Concluding the Frozen Veggies Story
As we explored, yes, your bearded dragon can eat frozen vegetables and by taking advantage of this, you can prepare great nutritional meals ahead of time making your busy life a little easier.
Whether using pre-frozen vegetables or preparing and freezing fresh produce yourself, science shows us that frozen vegetables can retain essential nutrients just as well, if not better, than fresh-stored options.
By following best practices—such as blanching, using airtight storage, and keeping your freezer at the right temperature—you can ensure your bearded dragon gets a balanced and nutrient-rich diet, even when life gets hectic. Don’t hesitate to use frozen vegetables to simplify your routine and give your pet the variety it needs to thrive.
FAQs
Can my bearded dragon eat frozen vegetables?
Yes bearded dragons can eat frozen vegetables and using the right techniques science shows us that it can be superior to fresh vegetables. Don’t let outdated beliefs hold you back. In fact, frozen vegetables often retain more nutrients than fresh-stored vegetables (Li et al., 2017; Grover et al., 2023).
References
- Behsnilian, D., & Mayer-Miebach, E. (2017). Impact of blanching, freezing, and frozen storage on the carotenoid profile of carrot slices (Daucus carota L. cv. Nutri Red). Food Control, 73(Part B), 761–767.
- Grover, Y., & Pradeep Singh Negi. (2023). Recent developments in freezing of fruits and vegetables: Striving for controlled ice nucleation and crystallization with enhanced freezing rates. Journal of Food Science, 88(12), 4799–4826.
- Johnston, A. (2023). Vegetable blanching directions and times for home freezer storage. Extension.umn.edu.
- Li, L., Pegg, R. B., Eitenmiller, R. R., Chun, J.-Y., & Kerrihard, A. L. (2017). Selected nutrient analyses of fresh, fresh-stored, and frozen fruits and vegetables. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 59(59), 8–17.
- More, P. G., Khodke, S. U. Effect of blanching time on quality parameter of blanched carrot slices. Pharma Innovation 2023;12(1):1699-1702
- National Center for Home Food Preservation – Blanching Vegetables. (2014). Nchfp.uga.edu.
- Panduang, T., Phucharoenrak, P., Karnpanit, W., & Trachootham, D. (2023). Cooking Methods for Preserving Isothiocyanates and Reducing Goitrin in Brassica Vegetables. Foods (Basel, Switzerland), 12(19), 3647.
