Refuses to eat greens

Benji literally refuses to eat his greens. He will sit there and not eat a thing and just glances down under his terrarium stand-which is where I keep his crickets and worms. I have tried absolutely everything. I’ve put worms in it so it increases his want to eat them- he won’t. I’ve put different veggies and fruit on top so it looks more appetizing to him-he won’t eat it. I’ve tried not giving him anything until he eats the greens-he won’t. The previous owner and the two pet stores I use to get his insects both say to just starve him until he has no choice but to eat them. I tried that and he didn’t eat for two days..I started to get worried so I just decided to keep doing what I feel i have to do. Which is literally forcing them into his mouth, which I know is awful. He is so picky it’s absolutely awful, I have no idea what to do with him. I don’t know what will hell this situation, any advice will help

How old is Benji? Unfortunately if they are not started out as babies on veggies this is what happens- they think their only food is insects and worms-- what kind of worms have you tried w/ him? And if they are at a good weight you can try not feeding them anything -- they will not starve themselves to death -- have you tried dandelion greens? Or bee pollen on the salads? I think some of them are a matter of trying to find something they like --- which is a guessing game and trial and error w/ them -
Karrie

Our beardie won't eat greens either. and he's managed to make it to 8 years old, even with adenovirus. Sometime we can sneak them in his mouth when he's busy chewing on a bug, or use a leaf as a spoon with a roach on it. The only time he ate greens was when he had lost a huge amount of weight because of the adenovirus, so now we know that if he eats greens with any enthusiasm, it means he's literally starving and he's mortally hungry. Fortunately, he will eat squash at least. His favorites are butternut and kabocha, but with the adenovirus we have to feed him as many bugs as he wants every day just to keep his weight stable.

We get free dandelion greens from our yard all summer, but he doesn't seem to like them any better than collards or mustard greens or any of the other staples. Someone on here suggested trying carrot greens -- lots of beardies seem to like them. But bearded dragons are omnivores and they seem to be able to get by on a variety of different diets. I've heard of a lot of them that won't eat greens and a very few that eat veggies but don't want to eat bugs, and most of them seem to get by ok, so I'd say yeah, try him on different things like Karrie says but don't stress out if you can't get him to like greens. They all seem to have different taste preferences. (I don't blame them -- I don't like greens either. :bleick: )

The bearded dragon books say that adult beardies are supposed to get 80% of their nutrition from veggies and 20% from insects, but the problem is that most beardies didn't read the bearded dragon books.

Thank you usually I can like end up slipping him in his mouth..even though he has the nerve to spit it out!!!! I try using super worms, that’s the only worms I’ve tried. He loves apples and carrots, and he’ll eat those no problem. The greens are the problem. No I haven’t gotten dandelion greens, I actually was shopping for him today and almost grabbed them. But I decided to stick with something he’s had before, but I’ll definitely try them next time and let you know. I’ve tried giving him carrot tops and he doesn’t eat those either ):

You're lucky he'll eat apples and carrots so he at least has some variety in his diet.

Luckily our beardie is a bit of a klutz and seems to have a hard time spitting greens out if we can manage to get them in his mouth in the first place, so sometimes he ends up swallowing them even though he seems to think they're yucky. :lol:

Yeah, Benji is a stubborn one haha. Glad to know mines not the only picky one )

From what I've heard about beardied dragons in general, there are a lot more picky eaters than there are ones who will eat anything. :mrgreen:

I recently adopted an almost 2-year old beardie. I don't think the previous owner tried very hard to get him to eat greens or any vegetables for that matter. Rather than buy a bunch of something he'll decide not to eat, I often share the fresh veggies I bring for lunch (he lives at the library where I work.) He loves carrots, but didn't like apples. He skips over strawberries and blueberries, but will nibble at broccoli. He refuses to look at yellow bell peppers but will gladly eat red bell peppers. He absolutely hates kale, and refused to even try squash and peas. Today I went to the store before work specifically to buy turnip greens and mustard greens. They aren't expensive, but he has yet to even try them. I'll give him a pass for now though, I completely emptied his tank and am working on changing it out. Plus, he's getting ready to shed on top of his head so he's going to be miserable for a few days with that. I'll keep trying new things until I find something he loves though, 'cause I love him.

Sounds like a typical finicky beardie. At least you've found a few things that he likes. Don't give up -- sometimes they change their mind. Never mind that he doesn't like kale -- kale and spinach aren't very good for them anyway because they interfere with calcium metabolism. Mustard greens are a good staple so it will be nice if he likes those. Sharing greens that you like with him is a good idea so they don't go to waste. We do that with collards and endive, which are also good staples for a beardie. I don't like collards myself but I can tolerate endive. Squash is good too if he'll ever eat it. Our beardie will eat butternut squash but kabocha is his favorite. I don't blame him -- I like it too. Tastes a little like sweet potatoes.

It sounds like you will probably be able to find a few more things that your beardie likes if you keep experimenting.