Beardie doesn't eat ANY greens

Hello all! My Beardie, Iggy, is a VERY good Dragon for filling up approximately 50% of his diet or more with vegetables despite being only between 5-6 months old. He loves diced carrot, corn, peas, squash (sunburst I think), small amounts banana to taste, banana mango to taste, and I think strawberry to taste as well. That's what I've found thus far. Noticed something though? They're basically aren't any greens in that list. He hates his greens! Should I be concerned about this? And is it a phase he will grow out of? I know when I was younger, greens tasted EXTREMELY bitter to me. They still do somewhat, which I why I still avoid them >_>

I can't believe my freakin' pet eats healthier than me

You could always starve him for a week and only offer greens every day like collard greens, turnip greens and mustard greens. However being that young greens shouldnt matter too much.

VenusAndSaturn":1b2x1psf said:

You could always starve him for a week and only offer greens every day like collard greens, turnip greens and mustard greens. However being that young greens shouldnt matter too much.

Click to expand...

I don't agree with starving him for a week, especially at the age he is. He's already doing good eating the other veggies and I don't want to 'punish' him when he's such a good boy for that most particularly. I have yet to try mustard greens, and I'm not even sure if they are commonly sold in Australia on the East Coast. Do they have a strong smell, actually? I know that might incentivize him. But thanks for your reply ^ ^

Greens are better than fruit and starving him wouldnt exactly starve him since reptiles can go a long while without food which is why i only suggest a week. They somewhat have a strong smell but not too noticeable i suppose. All my beardies seem to enjoy them a lot even my 7-8 month old beardie. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html this site might help finding more greens and stuff to try.

At his age - 6 months old , if he eats greens and veg it's a bonus.

He is still only a hatchling and needs live insect protein and fats MUCH MORE THAN veg.

Please don't starve Iggy to force him to eat greens, feed the greens to his insects and he'll get them without knowing he's getting them.

VenusAndSaturn":5rti7h6n said:

You could always starve him for a week and only offer greens every day like collard greens, turnip greens and mustard greens. However being that young greens shouldnt matter too much.

Click to expand...

That's very bad advice wrt to a hatchling or juvenile beardie.

Also Collard greens , turnip greens and mustard greens are impossible to find in the supermarkets here in Australia.

I was just going off my experience, but yeah probably shouldn't have suggested to starve him. And i didnt exactly mean starve him as in he needs food really badly but enough to where hes hungry. I also know next to nothing about Australia markets.

He doesn't need any greens or veggies at his age, as Knobbys said if he eats them it's simply a bonus! And fruit should only be an occasional treat, a couple times a week at most, too much sugar for him.

Beardies typically don't eat many, if any greens/veggies until they are at least over a year old, and there's a reason for this: Bearded Dragons grow and develop from hatching to 2 years of age, BUT THEY DO 90% OF THEIR GROWING DURING THEIR FIRST YEAR! SO THEY NEED TONS AND TONS OF LIVE, GUT-LOADED INSECTS EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THEIR FIRST YEAR OR MORE OF LIFE! And although you should offer him a salad of healthy greens and veggies every day, you should not give them to him until AFTER HE EATS HIS LIVE INSECTS!!! At his age greens/veggies are simply a bonus and not a real part of his daily diet! He will not grow to his full potential or develop properly, and can develop Nutritional Deficiencies if he isn't getting at least 90% of his diet in live insect protein up until he's a year old...

So you need to stop focusing on getting him to eat greens and veggies, and start focusing on making sure he gets at least 2 live insect feeding sessions every single day up until he's at least a year old. Each live insect feeding session should last for 10-15 minutes, and he needs to be allowed to eat AS MANY LIVE INSECTS AS HE WANTS TO in that 10-15 minutes! So be sure his UVB and basking lights have been on for at least 1-2 hours in the morning, then give him his morning live insect feeding session, feeding him as many live insects as he wants in the 10-15 minutes, and do the same in the late afternoon or early evening, being sure to allow him to be under his lights for at least 1-2 hours AFTER his last feeding session of the day. It's best if you order your live insects in bulk online if you don't already, you'll save a fortune, and he'll start eating a ton of them if he's not being filled up with greens, veggies, and fruit. Only offer him a small salad of healthy greens and veggies AFTER he eats his first live feeding session of each day, you cannot let him fill up on greens and fruit (again, fruit should only be once or twice a week in a couple small pieces, too much sugar and no Nutritional value to him) before he eats a large feeding session of live insects.

You're doing him a much better service to simply gut-load his live insects right before he eats them with the healthy greens and veggies that you've been trying to get him to eat. A bearded dragon's diet must be 90% live insect protein and 10% greens/veggies until they reach a year to a year and a half old, this is the point when most of their growth and development is done. Then their diet usually naturally switches to eventually 80% greens and veggies and 20% live insect protein at 2 years of age and thereafter. But what you're doing now will only result in stunted growth, nutritional deficiencies, and developmental issues.

Thank you for the responses everyone and I've changed his diet accordingly as of today It's just difficult getting so many different viewpoints from everyone and not being sure which is the 'correct' way of doing things. But yes, it seems giving Beardies as a juvenile and hatchling almost all protein for their diet and only a little veggies (after they've had a load of protein and feel full from that) seems to be the right thing to do. I was just so impressed with Iggy, eating so many veggies at his age of six months when he should be disliking them

I've installed new lights into his vivarium too, a 120 W Exo-Terra "Solar-Glo" mercury vapour bulb and a Zoo Med light that's UVB 10.0 in strength

phobosdthorga":2c0949rg said:

Thank you for the responses everyone and I've changed his diet accordingly as of today It's just difficult getting so many different viewpoints from everyone and not being sure which is the 'correct' way of doing things. But yes, it seems giving Beardies as a juvenile and hatchling almost all protein for their diet and only a little veggies (after they've had a load of protein and feel full from that) seems to be the right thing to do. I was just so impressed with Iggy, eating so many veggies at his age of six months when he should be disliking them

I've installed new lights into his vivarium too, a 120 W Exo-Terra "Solar-Glo" mercury vapour bulb and a Zoo Med light that's UVB 10.0 in strength

<<< Compact 26W ?
<<< T8 tube ?
<<< or T5HO tube ?

<<< how far from the basking spot ?
<<< unobstructed ?
<<< in a reflector dome or hood ?

Click to expand...

I recommend getting rid of the shredded paper you are using for her substrate/bedding.
While it's better than sand , gravel, or woodchips, it's still an impaction hazard when ingested and it will hold moisture in the viv and provide too many places for her live insects to hide.
She's better off with paper towels or loose laid floor tiles.

kingofnobbys":1ijq8tsk said:

I recommend getting rid of the shredded paper you are using for her substrate/bedding.
While it's better than sand , gravel, or woodchips, it's still an impaction hazard when ingested and it will hold moisture in the viv and provide too many places for her live insects to hide.
She's better off with paper towels or loose laid floor tiles.

Click to expand...

I hate having to mention things so many times x_x But as I said in another thread, I'm waiting on a shipment of ceramic tiles that will come in a few business days

phobosdthorga":2gb0csgp said:

kingofnobbys":2gb0csgp said:

I recommend getting rid of the shredded paper you are using for her substrate/bedding.
While it's better than sand , gravel, or woodchips, it's still an impaction hazard when ingested and it will hold moisture in the viv and provide too many places for her live insects to hide.
She's better off with paper towels or loose laid floor tiles.

Click to expand...

I hate having to mention things so many times x_x But as I said in another thread, I'm waiting on a shipment of ceramic tiles that will come in a few business days

Click to expand...

Missed that post .... very good.

When you put them in the viv, no need of glue or grout , simply lay them loosely butting against each other and they'll be fine.