Why is spinach added to the ‘Fluker's Crafted Cuisine Juvenile Bearded Dragon Diet Reptile Food?

Reptile nutrition remains in its infancy regarding what we know about it, but there are things we certainly do know that we have applied to how we formulate diets and ensure best health for captive reptiles. Spinach certainly does contain oxalates, which can bind calcium, but this does not limit its nutritional value. Spinach has many excellent properties, from protein content to mineral and trace element concentrations that are beneficial to reptiles. Spinach has been made a villain in reptile nutrition, but it is not warranted. Calcium commonly passes through the GI tract for many reasons, including low vitamin D for absorption, chelation with other products, or because the reptile doesn't need it. Calcium is but one mineral and the relationship it has in a reptile is complex. It is important that if we hope to move reptile nutrition forward, we will need to continue to do evidence-based and hypothesis driven research. Fluker's has supported this type of research for the past 25 years. This diet wasn't "vet supported" but created by a veterinarian with 25 years’ experience in herpetological medicine and nutrition. We are currently evaluating diets while doing CT scans on these animals to measure bone density. This is how we are moving reptile nutrition forward. In addition, please do note that the "Feeding Directions" state that a varied diet is important for reptiles and that this diet should be combined with other products to diversify the diet. Few, if any, companies manufacturing reptile diets make this statement and understand its importance. Finally, as to its standing in the diet. Spinach is the 10th ingredient. By its location in the ingredient list, it is not a main ingredient but instead a secondary nutritional product being used to improve the diet as only spinach could. The movement to semi-moist diets is important. These types of diets are expected to help offset some of the chronic dehydration issues we see in reptiles (e.g., gout commonly found in bearded dragons) by increasing moisture content of the diet.