Adult Will Not Eat Salad!

I've had Sunny for almost three weeks now and he's still not interested in vegetables or fruit. So far I've tried dandelion greens, collard greens, some spinach, pear which he kind of likes, acorn squash, apple, carrot and that's it as of now. He loves bugs and eats them readily, dead or alive. I've been cutting up his salad very fine and shredding every thing else so that when I sprinkle his food with bugs, he eats some greens by chance but not on their own. I've even had to gut some dubia roaches and stuff them with greens just to get him to eat some! I try wiggling his fruits/vegetables in hope of triggering a feeding response but he usually just tilts his head up at me, wondering where his bugs are. I'm going to keep trying of course, but I'm worried about him not eating as much as he should.

Not uncommon.

All my adult lizards , bluetongue skinks and dragons , who should be eating SOME greens and veg regularly , go through fads where they aren't interested in the greens or veg , even if I handfeed it to them (they'll be so stubborn that they'll either clamp their mouth closed or if I manage to trick them into eating some between the insects , they will spit it out and actually turn around so I can't easily get to their mouths LOL ....)

So gut load the crickets (or roaches or locusts) with the greens and veg you want the dragon to eat, and they will still get the benefits of these.

Haha, mine does the same! And I'll do that, thank you.

Sunny ate some pear pieces today all on his own. I've been holding out on feeding him the past few days to try and entice him to eat his greens, which he still hasn't. He's 484 grams and 17 inches long so he's doing great anyway. I gave him a morio worm to remind him how hungry he probably is and then he took to it. Still a work in progress though.

He's still a good weight so I'd keep it up. Hopefully you will find more favorites soon and get him into his salads.

also many will not agree, but where are they going to find collard greens or whatever greens in the desert? :lol: haha but i think they are great for them obviously but i thin if they wont eat much dont stress about it too much. my beardie will eat his greens when im not around most of the time so maybe yours is too. hope salad eating starts soon!

Yeah, I know what you mean. I'd just rather be safe than sorry especially since he's recovering from bad husbandry and muscle tremors. Plus, he's ten years old and fairly stuck in his ways. I've left his vegetables and whatnot in his tank before but he just leaves them to bake and dry out. When bearded dragons bask and open their mouths, is this a bad time to pop some greens in? Does anyone know if this is potentially dangerous because it's the only time he actually eats greens.

If he's 10 then I'd just give him what he wants. That is a really good long run and he is probably pretty set in his ways at this point. Try to keep it as healthy as possible but I wouldn't push too hard. He probably won't wind up eating a whole lot most of the time at that age anyway. I used to pop food in their mouths when they gaped to bask because I first thought it meant they were hungry :lol: You can try to offer food when he has his mouth open and see if he chews at it. It's likely to just be annoying to him though. Try cutting squash up into narrow worm shapes and see if that interests him. It is healthy and has a fairly high water content that might help keep him hydrated.

I fed him yesterday and today, didn't want him to get too hungry, I was starting to feel bad. But what you said is good to know, thanks. He'll be glad you agree that he should get more bugs. I also thought it meant they were hungry when they opened their mouths like that when I first got him. :lol: