Can Beardies get vegetables through insects?

My beardy just will NOT eat vegetables. I have made numerous salads with dandelion/collared greens, included blueberries or butternut squash etc. I've mixed in worms too and what she does is pick the worms out individually....lol.

Is it possible for her to get nutrients if I feed my Dubia roaches the greens/veggies, then feed those roaches to her?

Beardy815":royuh78n said:

My beardy just will NOT eat vegetables. I have made numerous salads with dandelion/collared greens, included blueberries or butternut squash etc. I've mixed in worms too and what she does is pick the worms out individually....lol.

Is it possible for her to get nutrients if I feed my Dubia roaches the greens/veggies, then feed those roaches to her?

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How old is she?

She is roughly a year old now... She will only eat greens if I put them in her mouth whilst she is chewing a bug or piece of squash. I don't think she gives things a second look if they don't move.

She is still growing and will till about 16 months but, you should offer salads daily to get her ready for the transition to mostly veggies. Right now she is still on the 80% bug diet and, will soon transition over. It happens over time, not all at once. The time is close though so, just keep offering those veggies.

We've got one just like her, but ours is almost 5 years old, and the only way we can get him to eat any greens is to try to slip a leaf in his mouth while he's chewing on a bug (just like yours). They're all different, but at least yours still has some time to learn to like veggies before she develops a lifelong habit of being a strict carnivore like ours seems to have done, not for lack of effort on the part of his human slaves. We put a salad in his terrarium every day, but he ignores it 99.9% of the time.

They do go after movement so some people wad greens up into little balls or wormy shapes and roll them around to try to get the beardie interested, so that might be worth a try, although I think our beardie has already figured out that if it's green, it's not going to taste like a bug.

If it's any consolation, our beardie has managed to stay reasonably healthy for at least the last couple of years on a diet of mostly bugs and hardly any veggies, and has even survived adenovirus, so it probably won't be the end of the world if yours never learns to like veggies a whole lot. At least she likes squash. :roll:

What you could try is holding a piece of lettuce and make it interesting by moving it around and making it seem alive. It worked for my dragon Marty. He was the same way and refused to eat anything that didn't move. Once they see it move and eat it, she may realize she likes it.

As a note you should already be feeding your bugs something good and healthy. A lot of us use the greens/veggies for this.

If she is filling up on good sized bug meals she may not feel too motivated to eat veggies as it may take reducing the size or frequency of big meals.

One tactic to introduce veggies, which I have found works is this;

Get some white plasty card, or a plain white plastic tub lid will do. Put this in a corner of their viv and place small bits of green leaf (dadelion, colard or corriander etc) dotted on the plastic. Your beardie should be intrigued by the contrast in shade and should flick their tongue on the veg to investigate it and will likely end up eating a fair ammount of it. Do this once a week or so and it should get them to recognise veg as a good food.

Another good way to introduce veggies is through some kind of a homemade slurry or baby foods through a dropper.
My oldest has been reluctant to really try anything that doesn't naturally wiggle, but she loves baby food dripped on her nose. This is more tedious than just setting a salad inside, but it's a good way to ensure they are getting their nutrients from veggies as well as introducing them to new flavors.

You can purchase jars of baby food at most stores, just be sure to check the ingredients that nothing artificial has been added. The ingredients should only list the vegetable/fruit that it contains. If you'd prefer, with a food processor you are able to create your own to ensure what you are feeding them.

The goal is to have them eating solid veggies, and for this I recommend beardie approved bright veggies (peppers, carrot shavings, etc) mixed with greens (and maybe some wiggly worms.) I haven't personally fed either of these to my dragons, but I've heard that the bright colors really entice them.

My youngest loves raw green beans, and my oldest loves baby food butternut squash. As long as she's eating some veggies, I'm happy

Thanks for all the good ideas for tricking beardies into eating their veggies, everyone! :mrgreen: