I'm back! I've noticed my lil man go on strike w/ his greens

Hello, I just recently made a post about my over-weight bearded dragon and I've been weening him off the super-worms from his typical 5 a day to 2. He's been eating his crickets and worms fine no prob... But when it comes to his kale I've noticed he only eats maybe 1 little bite; maybe 2 & whenever I try to hand feed him some he looks at it; licks it and is un-interested and won't eat it as of before he would just eat it out of my hand. I tear it up into pieces for him to eat it better; removing the stems. I sometimes add cut up strawberries in there and I noticed he might only eat 1 or 2 of those as well. Refuses to touch the blueberries so I stopped feeding that to him in general. He used to eat his whole dish of kale just fine like AS SOON as I put the dish down he would eat it. It's ever since I started dusting his crickets he won't touch it. Am I supposed to dust his kale too? I'm new to all of this. I will post a picture of the 2 products I bought; They said to buy them together and use 1/2 teaspoon of each. I mix it up in a small bowl (Til I order a proper dusting container) and feed it to him. I bought them from my local Petsupermarket.

I usually wash his kale to and leave it out to dry for 5 minutes before tearing it up.
& Also; He won't go to the bathroom as much as he did before.. And if he does; it's very small compared to the sizes he used to have. He used to leave a palm full of poop. Now it's just a pinky or 2 fingers wide. Idk if it's because he's getting older or if I'm changing up his diet? Should I try switching to collard greens? He's always ate kale & I always buy it from my local vegetable stand where everything is grown fresh from farms.
Any advice is greatly appreciated! He loves his new UVB light though I just ordered a 10.0 t5 off of Amazon. Should be here 11th-16th.

Pics of the dusting products:
[ximg]105035 6428322196[/ximg]
If these aren't the right dusting products can someone tell me where to get the proper ones? Even if I have to order them online I will.

Hi,

Those two products are fine, but I think you're using a bit too much of them.

The mutli only really needs to be used once a week. I don't hardly use it for my adults because I give them a varied salad as the bulk of their diet.
For the calcium powder, an adult really only needs it i'd say 3-5 times a week, unless pregnant.

I wouldn't dust the salad, only the feeders.
So for example, if you are going to dust the crickets, what I would do is put the crickets into a baggy. Get a small pinch of the powder, and shake them up. You just need a light coating on the feeders. Idk if I even go through a teaspoon of it a month lol. It really doesn't take much. I also wouldn't mix them together. Either use 1 or the other in a feeding.

Kale is an ok item, but there are much better greens and vegies to use also. Remember, a varied diet is the key to health! I don't remember if you've been given this link already, but it doesn't hurt to post it again lol. Lots of good info in regards to food items here:
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

-Brandon

Hi Brandon! Yes I looked at that link Karrie posted and maybe I will switch up the greens..

I was just reading the directions on the back and it said 1/2 teaspoon of each and mix together.
I hope I didn't upset his stomach
I will start doing it that way.. Thank you! I thought they were both daily.

Well, it would make sense for them to tell you that. Means you buy more hah! :mrgreen:

Those instructions might work for other reptiles, i'm not sure. But what I mentioned is suitable for dragons. :mrgreen: And what most people do here. (give or take 1 or 2 times a week either way)

-Brandon

Awesome okay this would be the 3rd day i've given it to him so I won't dust them anymore til next week. And do 1 not mix also a lesser amount.

Very informative thank you very much!!! hopefully he will eat his kale like he did before.
And I will also try collard greens.

Q : how old is your dragon ?

Q : how much does the dragon weigh ?

If it's on strike with the greens it's either
>> not liking the taste of the greens on offer , try another type of green leafy veg .
>> it's just not a veg fan , some aren't , try handfeeding shreds of the greens inbetween the insects it likes
>> gut load the crickets with the greens you want the dragon to , it'll get them without knowing it's getting them as they'll be disguised and prechewed inside the insects' guts (the easiest solution).

Keep offering daily and fresh . The dragon will very likely come around of it's own accord eventually.

Supplimentation :
I find if you use little take away sauce tubs , these are great for using to dust the insects and very easy to get the dusted insects out off.

What I do is 5 days per week I use calcium powder only , I'll simply use a metal spatula like this
https://au.hach.com/spatula-stainless-steel-3-blade/product?id=14533680980&source=googleshopping&locale=en-AU&_bt=188905383572&_bk=&_bm=&_bn=g&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI64re_9eg4wIVhx0rCh0U5w0nEAQYASABEgJKWfD_BwE

1/4 inch of powder on the end is plenty , this goes into the little tub. Add bugs , shake , all dusty and ready to fish out and feed to the dragon.

You don't need the insects caked with Ca or vitamin powder , just a light dusting is more than sufficient. if the bug leaves a light dust print of itself when it lands on something smooth , it's well dusted.

On weekends I do 1:1 mix of calcium & vitamin powder , same deal.

The dust stays in the tub until it's all gone onto the insects or if not, I simply mix the remnant after on Friday or Sunday with the bran the superworms and mealworms are eating and living in. None goes to waste.

I suggest bumping up the amount of GUT LOADED crickets and cutting back on the supers ( very fattening ) , keep the supers for an occasional (weekly) treat.

Hello! My beardie turns one in October. I bought him when he was roughly 2-3 months old; if that. He was about the size of my 2 fingers together.
When I took him to the vet about 2 months ago in May he weighed 0.6 something like that; not even a whole pound. She said he was healthy other than a sample of his poop she found a parasite and gave me meds.
I over-dusted for sure because it would even leave a white residue on his eco carpet but I was just following the instructions on the back. 1/2 teaspoon of each and mix. But now I know not to do that. Just a pinch . I also thought it was a daily thing and this is the 3rd day i've given both multi and cal.... Now i learned its not so i will not dust them til next week.
I have gotten other opinions that he is a little chunky but not severely overweight because he is just a baby and is growing. I just found out supers are high in fat and i had been giving him about 5 a day, i am weening him off to 2 a day then i will completely take it out of his diet unless for a treat once a week or switch it up to beetles. I'm just scared i'm building him up because he has not gone to the bathroom in a couple of days and it concerns me he usually loves his kale and empties his whole dish. Now since the 3 days of me dusting he refuses to even look at it but eats feeders just fine.

Pic of him when i got him to now:

No need to dust the greens.

I've found and been told by many other reptile keepers that if I put vitamin powder on the veg and greens my pet lizards will refuse to eat the "contaminated" food. They don't mind it on the crickets though … go figure … picky spoilt skinks and dragons.

I no longer bother dusting the veg and greens at all. Just pick greens rich in calcium and you'll be fine.
Or give crickets who are gut loaded with the greens you want the dragon to eat.

270 ish grams is fine for a yearling. Is actually on the low end of the body mass distribution for p.vitteceps at 1 year old.

I am about to head out to my local veggie market and mix up the greens for him tomorrow and see if that helps.
Like I said this whole "strike going against kale" just so happened when I started dusting his feeders; which I am new to this all..

You don't think me over-dusting or giving multi for 3 days by accident is causing him to not go to the bathroom or eat kale? That's my only big concern really. :?
Now that I know the info I do; I'm super glad I joined this amazing forum

I think it's coincidence. They can get picky sometimes so picking up some different options may be helpful. Just keep offering a variety and see what goes over well.