Getting an adult bearded dragon to eat veggies/greens

So i have my BD and he is rought 3-4 years old, i have given him different kinds of greens/veggies etc and he does not want anything to do with them. I was told the best way to retrain him is to only give him fresh greens/veggies everyday until he gives in. Is that true? They can go without eating for a month correct? This is also day 3 or 4 with fresh turnip greens and yellow squash for my BD. He was given more protein and no greens when he was a baby and hes an adult now so i want him to be healthy for an adult but is there any other way or is that it?

I'm NOT A FAN OF THIS KIND treatment.

I find my dragons will take greens if start them off on a fav live but and while they are munching I slip a shred of the greenstuff in-between the lips by hand .

They soon get used to the greens , though can be fussy and will spit out the veg they don't like.

Patience is the key.

That is an acceptable method to use. I've had to do it many times of the years with dragons i've had, and have helped many people over the years here too doing it that way.

As long as your dragon is otherwise healthy, it won't starve itself. It knows salad is food, it just knows if it doesn't eat it, you'll give in. Once it gets hungry enough it will eat the salad. You're not starving him because a suitable food item is always available (salad items).

They are smart creatures. Smart enough to know how to get their way with humans, and smart enough to not let themselves die from stubborness.

I do this same method to young dragons too, every single dragon i've ever owned has ate salads even as a baby because of it. I wrote a brief article on it that discusses my thoughts on the subject here:
Babies SHOULD eat their salads

Salad items are essential for providing micro nutrients to your dragon. It's a lot more dangerous IMO for a dragon to not be getting those nutrients for years, than for it to go a little hungry for awhile until it decides to eat.

-Brandon

Claudiusx":3dnjs0vw said:

That is an acceptable method to use. I've had to do it many times of the years with dragons i've had, and have helped many people over the years here too doing it that way.

As long as your dragon is otherwise healthy, it won't starve itself. It knows salad is food, it just knows if it doesn't eat it, you'll give in. Once it gets hungry enough it will eat the salad. You're not starving him because a suitable food item is always available (salad items).

They are smart creatures. Smart enough to know how to get their way with humans, and smart enough to not let themselves die from stubborness.

I do this same method to young dragons too, every single dragon i've ever owned has ate salads even as a baby because of it. I wrote a brief article on it that discusses my thoughts on the subject here:
Babies SHOULD eat their salads

Salad items are essential for providing micro nutrients to your dragon. It's a lot more dangerous IMO for a dragon to not be getting those nutrients for years, than for it to go a little hungry for awhile until it decides to eat.

-Brandon

Click to expand...

So how long should it take for my dragon to give in? Its been almost 5 days now, when i did get him originally he had no color and no healthy fat stomach either. Poor thing only got crickets once a month and superworms once a year (what i was told. At the time of getting him i knew adults ate more greens and less protein like crickets and superworms. But not monthly or yearly. I was thinking more like 2-3 days a week at max. But there is no water dish because he doesnt drink out of it and it just raises my humidity above 40 almost to 50-55% . I spray him once in a while, i give him baths once in a while because he is shedding his tail at the moment and i help him with that. But how long would a process like “fasting” for greens/veggies take? To retrain his bad eating habits, so he can actually get greens and veggies? Like i said its been about 5 days at least and i give fresh turnip greens and shredded yellow squash every morning, once in a while ill shake a leaf lf the turnip greens to get his attention but he will not eat, his temps are fine my uvb bulb burnt out and it hasn’t even been a month yet. His basking is a MVB so im not so worried, ya know? Should i give him any crickets at all or anything or just greens until he is hungr Enough to eat that???

They actually can go quite a while without food. I would go ahead and replace your UVB tube though, that is an important part of their health despite having an MVB.

A lot of times, they will pick at it over the day and you might not notice. Just make sure food is available to him in the form of fresh salads, and he will eat once he's hungry like I said as long as all else is well with him.

The key is, you've already gotten this far, he's going to be at least slightly hungry. He's gonna be getting closer and closer to giving in and eating the food that is available to him.

-Brandon

Claudiusx":3lcyk00p said:

They actually can go quite a while without food. I would go ahead and replace your UVB tube though, that is an important part of their health despite having an MVB.

A lot of times, they will pick at it over the day and you might not notice. Just make sure food is available to him in the form of fresh salads, and he will eat once he's hungry like I said as long as all else is well with him.

The key is, you've already gotten this far, he's going to be at least slightly hungry. He's gonna be getting closer and closer to giving in and eating the food that is available to him.

-Brandon

Click to expand...

Gotcha and yea i had already ordered the bulb i just dont know why it burnt out so quickly, but yea hes had the taste of greens and blueberries which blueberries are his favorite actually. I would sneak in some greens when hes chewing but I don’t want to have to do that everytime i give him superworms, so its not like he doesnt know what it is. So i have a question but I didn’t want to make another thread but he sleeps a good bit idk if he lazy and he gets good sleep and lights come on at 9 am and go off at 9 pm but if i am off of work for a day and im in my room doing whatever he wants out, so i let him out. He will explore my room and then find shade and then sleeplike its not even 30-40 mins in and he sleeps lol, is it signs or brumation? I dont have too much knowledge on brumation, or if i have to do anything to help him, but it is December and it is cold out so idk. He doesn’t have a cave which i would like one and he is a big beardy i just can’t find anything with a big hole for him to fit in and have enough room to hide or get away from the uvb if need be. Idk if i mentioned but he is in a 125 gallon and the right side is kinda bare and he only hides underneath his big driftwood which i feel bad he is about 12-14 inches long at least, the width of a 125 gallon is 18inches which ill send a picture of his tank here in a sec

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Claudiusx":30hqz8iy said:

They actually can go quite a while without food. I would go ahead and replace your UVB tube though, that is an important part of their health despite having an MVB.

A lot of times, they will pick at it over the day and you might not notice. Just make sure food is available to him in the form of fresh salads, and he will eat once he's hungry like I said as long as all else is well with him.

The key is, you've already gotten this far, he's going to be at least slightly hungry. He's gonna be getting closer and closer to giving in and eating the food that is available to him.

-Brandon

Click to expand...

I would please get rid of the sand -- it harbors bacteria and can cause impaction --- the UVB is a T 5 or a T 8? If its a T 8 it should go inside the tank w/ a piece of decor directly under it 6-8 inches-- from where its sitting now hes not getting much UVB - the screen will block 30% of the rays and if there is a clear plastic cover over the bulb take it off -- another obstruction ---
as far as substrate you can use some textured NON adhesive shelf liner cut to the size of the tank its easy to clean w/ some vinegar/ water 50/50---
this could be a good reason for him not eating -- w/ little to no UVB they wont eat - they need the UVB to be able to absorb the calcium amongst other health issues
Karrie

KarrieRee":3l23a81g said:

I would please get rid of the sand -- it harbors bacteria and can cause impaction --- the UVB is a T 5 or a T 8? If its a T 8 it should go inside the tank w/ a piece of decor directly under it 6-8 inches-- from where its sitting now hes not getting much UVB - the screen will block 30% of the rays and if there is a clear plastic cover over the bulb take it off -- another obstruction ---
as far as substrate you can use some textured NON adhesive shelf liner cut to the size of the tank its easy to clean w/ some vinegar/ water 50/50---
this could be a good reason for him not eating -- w/ little to no UVB they wont eat - they need the UVB to be able to absorb the calcium amongst other health issues
Karrie

Click to expand...

I just recently got this substrate and before then he has always been picky about greens before when i had the uvb and it is a T5, i am going to mount it in the inside

Ok distance inside is 12-15 inches basking decor directly underneath-
Karrie