Fake foliage

I have tried putting fake foliage into his tank but he keeps trying to eat it. I have fresh veggies in his tank at all times but if I put foliage into the tank, for example a vine. He eats it and I don’t know why. As soon as I see him do it i take it out. I have tried a few times but I gave up. I didn’t let him eat them of course I put he would try to bite them. I just don’t want him to get sick. Do I keep trying or should I just not put anything like that into his enclosure? I thought it would make his terrarium look nice.
 

ChileanTaco

Juvie Member
Beardie name(s)
Taco
To him it looks like a plant...
My dragon (also) prefers live plants over chopped up salad, so I feed him mostly with live plants such as herbs, golliwog (turtle vine plant) and put in his "salads" as whole leaves he can rip apart.
I would remove the fake plants and replace them with real, edible ones. A plus with this: Always fresh veggies available, even when I'm gone for a few days.
 

Chris.

Juvie Member
Beardie name(s)
Luis and Lilith
Mine both did try to ear basically everything in the beginning. Even small stones but after they found out it's not eatable, they stopped and never tried again.

A lot of people do not have fake plants in their tank for exactly what you are describing.
 

ChileanTaco

Juvie Member
Beardie name(s)
Taco
Mine only always ate food, but I would suspect that he would try fake foliage. I would never put in fake foliage, and also closely supervise him when he's out of his enclosure to not get into any plants.
(To be honest, I'm also generally not a fan of fake plants, neither for pets nor for me. Real plants are so much more fun IMHO.)
 

Hazel_Basil10

Sub-Adult Member
Beardie name(s)
Hazel my female two year old beardie
Mine has never tried to eat the fake plants in her cage........ She mostly just sits on top of them or she would just chill by them but she would never try to eat them. But I am always ready to take them out when she does decide to try to eat them.
 

ScooterRenee2022

Member
Original Poster
To him it looks like a plant...
My dragon (also) prefers live plants over chopped up salad, so I feed him mostly with live plants such as herbs, golliwog (turtle vine plant) and put in his "salads" as whole leaves he can rip apart.
I would remove the fake plants and replace them with real, edible ones. A plus with this: Always fresh veggies available, even when I'm gone for a few days.
I do give him his veggies but where I’m from I have never seen any types of edible plants I can find for him. Do you know where I can get them from?
 

ChileanTaco

Juvie Member
Beardie name(s)
Taco
Here is a list of plants edible for bearded dragons; scroll down for those who usually can be bought potted:


Most herbs that are commonly used in the kitchen are edible for bearded dragons. You can get organic potted herbs in the vegetables section of supermarkets, or in garden centers. Easy would be e.g. parsley, lavender, mint... I have seen golliwog/ turtlevine plant often in garden centers, usually when catnip and cat grass are sold, it's also there.
Another option would be a garden center that ships, if there is really nothing where you live.
For those plants that aren't organic it's good to change out the soil, and then let them grow for a while before putting into your dragon's enclosure.

Another option that works often: Grow them. Even if you have no garden or balcony: Often they can be grown indoors on the windowsill.

What I do with live plants usually: If I want to provide a certain kind often, I have two of the same, one in the enclosure and another one to regrow. Once my dragon has eaten a significant fraction of the plant (i.e.: half of it), I switch it out and let the plant regrow outside of the enclosure.
 
Last edited:

Chris.

Juvie Member
Beardie name(s)
Luis and Lilith
Those are good to feed, you can grow them yourself and look nice on your balcony:
daisies, violas, forget-me-nots, hibiscus
 

Chris.

Juvie Member
Beardie name(s)
Luis and Lilith
They can be fed daily, as can most herbs and flowers. Only fruits and some lettuce should be fed only sparingly.
As for the hibiscus you can feed the leaves and the flowers, the others I only feed the flowers and mix with some leaves from dandelions and clover or rocket. Dandelion and clover flowers can also be fed of course ;)

You can use this as a guide. Just ignore the info on kale, kale is a good staple
 

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