Dealing with a stubborn eater (greens)

Columbia is now about 14 months old and is acting like a stubborn kid. I've had him for about 6 months now, and in the beginning he was curious about greens and occasionally ate both from hand feeding, and by going to his salad dish on his own. Since he was already a juvenile when I got him, it's quite possible his breeder didn't raise him on greens and that's why he's not acclimating to them.

Ever since he was treated for coccidia in January, he's been very stingy about his greens, going from eating very little to eating nothing at all. I cut down his bug feedings from once a day to 4 days a week, 10 minute all you can eat feedings, but one of those 4 days being 5 minutes instead of 10 minutes. I've been feeding only crickets (dubias became more expensive), and occasionally a few superworms in his salad. He just picks out the worms and ignores the salad.

For the last two and a half weeks, I have not fed him any bugs at all to see if he would give in. A couple days ago he ate a tiny piece of carrot. Another day he ate half a leaf of spinach (just to see if he would eat it - I haven't offered him spinach before, and I won't offer it regularly). I've tried not dusting his salad, to see if he would prefer it without but he doesn't seem to notice the difference. I bought bee pollen, but I accidentally bought tiny pearls instead of dust, so I can't really "dust" his salad. I did add it to the salad anyway, but also no reaction. I've tried different kinds of lettuces, salad types and cabbages, kale, bok choy, spinach, dandelion greens from our completely natural garden, clovers... as for veggies: carrots, sweet potato, bell peppers of different colors, cucumber, squash, sweet corn, coriander, bean sporuts, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, grapes, probably more that I can't remember. He seems uninterested in all of it, even raspberries, which he never said no to a few months ago. Don't recommend me collard/turnip/mustard greens, I can't find them in my country.

His behavior seems normal. He's alert, reacts well, looks around a lot. Though he doesn't move a lot. But he does hold up his body normally, he's not slouching, I wouldn't call him lethargic. Since he's been eating so little, his stool has been very irregular in timing.

Another concern of mine is his lack of basking. This varies from day to day, but sometimes he will go hide in his cave on the warm side of the tank, or go lay in the corner (the spot under his hammock, on top of a corner cave) of the cool side of the tank. When he does the latter, I always get worried and move him to his basking spot in the morning because he gets really cold there.
Sometimes I just wait and see if he moves on his own, which he has done before, but the vast majority of the time he just lays there. When he's in his warm cave, I will regularly hear him moving around and scratching the floor. My question is, should I 100% let him be when he's not basking, or am I right to move him under the basking lamp if he doesn't move on his own?

I know this is a lot of information, but he's my first dragon and I am concerned :S so far today, he woke up in his cave, which I removed around 1pm so he could warm up. I'm going to try blending up or pureeing some greens to see if he will eat that, but I'm not sure if that's a permanent solution. He might eat the puree, but not move on to solid greens.



Husbandry:
- enclosure is 150cm * 60 cm * 80 cm*
- Arcadia 12% UVB T5, covers 3/4th of the enclosure, distance from bulb to cage floor varies from 45cm at the lowest spots to 35cm around his basking area
- digital probes measure humidity in the 30%-40% range, cool side around 25 celsius and warm side about 28-29 celsius
- infrared thermometer measures basking spot range from 38-42 celsius
- lights are on 13 hours, off 11 hours, controlled by a timer
- substrate is paper towels, there is also a piece of slate tile
- for supplements I dust with Herptivite multivitamin twice a weeks, pure calcium twice a week, and calcium with D3 twice a week. I can't take him out for natural sunlight regularly because our climate is too cold

He is 44cm from snout to tail tip - but he does have a nipped tail, I would say he's missing 2-3cm or more. I weighed him last at April 20, he was 439 grams. He's been gaining weight steadily, he measured 423 grams on April 9. I haven't weighed him since, because our scale broke.



TL;DR:
Dragon is refusing greens. I've held off on insect feedings for 2 and a half weeks, how long can I keep it up before giving in or force feeding? Any other tips to make him eat?
If he is hiding in his cave or elsewhere, should I move him to his basking spot, or leave him be indefinitely?

You need to get your scale fixed or buy another one--- and you need to keep track of his weight- him not basking makes me wonder if the length of the UVB is causing him to hide out all the time - does he have areas in the tank that he does not haft to sit under the UVB I know you said it was 3/4 of the tank does not leave alot of space to get out and sit in the open w/ out being under it -- that is just a thought ---- what about smell of the poop? Is it really bad when he does go? Parasites can cause lack of appetite along w/ dehydration- if hes not eating greens how is he getting water? I would get a stool sample and take it in to the vet to see if he does have parasites since you said he is eating only crickets and they can cause parasites - dubias are a better feeder its too bad they are so expensive where you are --- I would get another scale - take a sample in to the vet for fecal testing and make sure hes hydrated --- start there -- I can give you some tips on getting him to eat but we need to first rule out the other things first
Karrie

I’ll get a new scale first thing over the weekend, and see about getting a fecal sample checked out.

I offer him water with a dropper almost everyday, he does drink a fair bit.

He does have a shaded area on the cool side of the tank, the spot where I mentioned he sleeps a lot, I can try to set up some more shaded areas to see if he’s more comfortable.

He’s mostly pooped when he’s in the bath, smell doesn’t seem too bad, but the texture has varied considerably - periods of time where it has been very liquid, no solid form, but with a normal urate. Last time he pooped, about a week ago, it was in the bath, it was small but well formed, the urate was hard and slightly discolored so I’ve offered him more water more often.

Ok so its possible he doesnt have parasites but it can be a cause of lack of appetite --- thats why I was asking about smell -- it is not uncommon for them to have a runny stool as well depending on what they have eaten and if hes got good formed urate and moist not dry and chalky then hes hydrated -- so you can rule that out --- I would get your scale keep track of his weight -- if hes losing it and I mean really noticeable then something is going on --- can you post some pic of him -- we need to let some others on here look at him maybe they can give some ideas on what might be going on w/ him -- it could be nothing and just a slow time for him -- but the loss of weight will definitely be an indicator of something else going on --- I know my 10 month old spent the day in his hide yesterday all day never came out --- is eating some not like he has been - this morning hes out basking so they can go thru periods of not eating and sleeping more --- if he is losing a lot of weight then it would be a good time for a vet check up
Karrie

Hi there, yes it would be good to post pics of him, here''s how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

One thing you can do is to feed the nutritious veggies to your crickets to " gutload " them the night before they are given to your dragon. He will get more nutrition that way. And while he's chewing on a cricket, pop a piece of kale in , that sometimes works too.

I always gutload his bugs. But it’s not a replacement for actually eating veggies, especially now that he’s getting older.

I also try to sneak veggies and greens into his mouth whenever I feed bugs, but he doesn’t always let me, sometimes he just spits it out. It also seems to stress him out, occassionally causing him to stop eating even the bugs for the rest of the day.

He looks good, the enclosure does as well. Many people don't use fake greenery though because some dragons, like mine, try to eat it. Since your dragon doesn't like greens he probably won't have that problem. When he had coccidia, what meds. was he given and for how long ? Some beardies appetites are really affected by that and their stress level as well from being given the nasty meds. Plus it can destroy the goof bacteria in the dragon's stomach. Can you get a probiotic or some non dairy yogurt [ like soy ]

AHBD":7ljjf5ag said:

He looks good, the enclosure does as well. Many people don't use fake greenery though because some dragons, like mine, try to eat it. Since your dragon doesn't like greens he probably won't have that problem. When he had coccidia, what meds. was he given and for how long ? Some beardies appetites are really affected by that and their stress level as well from being given the nasty meds. Plus it can destroy the goof bacteria in the dragon's stomach. Can you get a probiotic or some non dairy yogurt [ like soy ]

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Yeah, if I caught him nibbling on the greenery I would remove them or move them out of reach. Haven't seen him doing it (yet )

I was given Baycox (50mg/ml) and was instructed to give him 0.07ml orally once a day for three days. That was back in the end of January, and it did seem like he was slightly thrown for a loop by the meds, he was a little lethargic and droopy, and had much less of an appetite. But it's been months since then.

I bought Reptoboost by Vetark, and gave it to him for a few days after he finished his medication, plus I've been giving it to him sporadically ever since as well (one day here and one day there, maybe once or twice a week). I'd like to try non-diary yogurt - since I'm in Norway I won't have access to UK/US brands, but we do have a few different soya based yogurts. Should I buy a plain, non-flavored one, or will something like a blueberry flavored one be okay?

Yesterday I made a mush out of some greens, veggies and a pinch of bee pollen and tried feeding it too him: the runny texture of the mush encourages him to lick it up, but he didn't seem too keen on it. I try to sneak some greens or some vegetable pieces into his mouth when he's licking (I also try this when I give him water)

Also want to add, just noticed that it looks like his beard is going to shed. I know shedding might decrease their appetite.

Getting a scale tomorrow, I'll drop by once I have weighed him. Also sent a mail to the vet (going to a new vet center with an experienced lizard vet this time)

Hmm, it doesn't seem like 3 days on Baycox would cause this much change in appetite. :? You might try both yogurts to see if he prefers one or the other. I think at some point he'll get back to eating some greens though.

AHBD":ardtcgms said:

I think at some point he'll get back to eating some greens though.

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I hope so!

Bought some raspberries today, he gladly ate both berries I offered. Just bought a new scale and weighed him: 454 grams! Assuming our old scale wasn't completely off the mark, he's actually gained 15 grams while "fasting". Weird.

Got some yogurt and vegetable puree to feed him today - how much should I feed a day? The vegetable pure I got mostly to make sure he gets enough of his calcium and vitamin supplements, and I hope the yogurt will help his appetite.

Since his weight is stable there's no real need to worry. Just give him a ;little bit at a time, maybe 2-3 ml's at most. I think he'll get his appetite back in the near future though.