Super picky beardie won't eat greens

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Hey guys!

Cleo is a little over 1 year old so I'm trying to switch her diet to mostly green-based with less protein and insects.

Towards the end of November she pretty much stopped eating entirely (she would have a day where she'd eat like crazy, then a few days of eating nothing again). I took her to the vet and they said she's in perfect health and actually was on the chunkier side. She felt no eggs and I've been feeling Cleo's belly frequently since then and feel no eggs myself. Before this, she had eaten like a champ and loved her greens. I tried all different greens and fruit to get her interested in food again, to no avail.

Finally, I switched from crickets to dubia roaches (yuck, was trying to avoid them, they freak me out) and Phoenix worms. All of a sudden she loves eating again and eats her protein no problem. So I guess she had just lost interest in the crickets. Now that she's eating her protein again, I'm feeling a lot better. Her pooping schedule is still really weird (she'll go quite a long time without pooping, and when she does it's usually a very small amount) but I think that's because she hadn't eaten normally in over a month.

Anyway, long story short, now that she's eating protein again, she's completely ignoring her greens. I feed her protein every other day and offer her greens every day, and on the days when I don't give her bugs she just doesn't eat. I don't want to feed her too much protein.

Should I withhold protein from her? If so, how long is a safe amount of time to do that? I don't want to starve her. Also, her heat lamp is only getting to be around 95-100 degrees.. could that be why she isn't pooping normally? Could that be interfering with her digestion? I figured it was okay because it's so close to 100, but now I'm thinking I should buy a new bulb to get her basking spot hotter.

Thanks in advance!
 

KeyBlu422

Juvie Member
Put bugs in the salad. If that doesn't get her to eat salad, take away the bugs and leave the salad. She'll eat the salad before she "starves". Also, her bulb is just fine, I've even found that a little under 95 degrees works just fine unless giving superworms or other hard shelled creatures(they'll digest for the most part but there will be a little bit of shell in the poop). Providing bulbs too strong also pose a problem so, given that it's just shy of 105, it will make do. Plus, I think babies are the ones that need such intense heat. Adults and late juveniles really do fine with 95-100 degrees instead of 105.
 

Reptiles4ever

New member
I have had multiple beardies and one of them did this also. She would not eat greens for many weeks. Try giving your beardie a different variety of salad. You might want to add kale, bell peppers, spaghetti squash, or even some fruit, chopped blackberries, raisins, or apples. I found that switching it up a little solves the problem.
 

Reptiles4ever

New member
KeyBlu422":7xxfbcal said:
Put bugs in the salad. If that doesn't get her to eat salad, take away the bugs and leave the salad. She'll eat the salad before she "starves". Also, her bulb is just fine, I've even found that a little under 95 degrees works just fine unless giving superworms or other hard shelled creatures(they'll digest for the most part but there will be a little bit of shell in the poop). Providing bulbs too strong also pose a problem so, given that it's just shy of 105, it will make do. Plus, I think babies are the ones that need such intense heat.
Adults and late juveniles really do fine with 95-100 degrees instead of 105.
Baby Bearded Dragons should have a temperature of 100-110 during the day, adults only need about 90-100 degrees.
 

melissamott124

Member
Original Poster
Hey everyone, thanks for the replies! I'm really happy to hear her temps aren't a problem. I've been experimenting with veggies she likes (she loves carrot, but she picks all the carrots out of her salad, ugh!). I'm sure it's just going to be a lot of trial and error. I've decided to feed her bugs every two days now to tempt her to eat her veggies. Also she (finally) pooped today in the bath after about 2 weeks without going. Hopefully she starts to become more regular because I'm still pretty worried about that.

Thanks again!
 
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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

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