Refuses Everything Except Superworms (Veggie help)

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Notta

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My bearded dragon is a little over a year old now and for the last 3 months has completely refused everything except super worms. Ive tried kale, collards, and mustard greens, carrots, bell peppers, pineapples, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, even bought salad dressing for him that everyone claimed made them go crazy for their salad, but not mine. He also refuses to drink water 95% of the time. It's gotten to the point that I think that hes forgotten that he CAN eat veggies / drink water. I have been trying to gutload his feeders best I can but I'm assuming thats not good enough. He doesn't appear to be any less healthy unless its been so gradual I can't tell or something. He just refuses greens. I also give him a bath at least 3 times a week but his urate is still usually moist on the outside but can be crushed / crunchy on the inside (I did not test this with my hands don't worry). I just thought when he was younger it was normal, but now that hes over a year old and should be eating mostly veggies im starting to become concerned. For the last two days I have only offered him greens, and I left them in his tank from the morning I gave them until the morning I replace them to give him a full 24 hours to try and eat them (I take them out if they start to smell or look bad) I also wash the veggies very well so I'm thinking if I can get him to eat those then his hydration problem will be mostly fixed. Thank you for any advice. I feel like I have posted something similar in the past but I didn't see anything on the my posts tab. Thanks all for reading.
 

Notta

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I did just get him to eat a blend of blueberries, strawberries, and arugula through a syringe, i know you arent supposed to syringe feed unless its a last ditch effort but our store was out of all the greens we normally feed him somehow and as its been so long i didnt want to wait another week for greens. did 6 ml and he ate most of it.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
So he was eating greens and has just stopped all together or hes never eaten greens at all? I can try and help you to get him to eat them but we are gonna go w/ starting all over again - when they are babies they need to be fed greens right away and the tips I got was from the breeder I got Blaze from who is 1 yrs old this weekend- he was around 2-3 months when I got him - start w/ a glass or ceramic bowl one that insects and worms cant get out of---- first thing in the morning feed his salad - get some BSFL has he ever had them before? You can get them from here http://www.dubiaroaches.com they are also known as nutri grubs phoenix worms and calci worms- order large do not dust - feed as many as you want - order some butter worms and use your super worms - add them to the salad bowl only use like 1 of each worm - you want him eating those greens let him eat from that bowl for an hr or so - then add your staple feeder roaches work really good - leave some salad in the bowl - you can also get some silk worms from here http://www.reptilianarts.com -- they are another great staple feeder if you order in bulk like 50 make sure you get food - you will need to feed them and clean containers out daily- use 2 of those - you can also get them from here http://www.coastilsilkworms.com
try that method - if hes of good weight you can lay off the worms and insects but for now use them to get him to the the bowl the movement will entice him to the bowl -- try that and see how it goes
Karrie
 

Notta

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He used to eat greens pretty normally but over the last 2-3 months hes been eating less and less of them and the last month has not touched them at all. The only thing he ate was a few pineapple slices and a raspberry. But again he did eat from the syringe pretty well, I just don't want to have to rely on that if necessary. thanks for the quick reply btw, you are always the first to answer any questions I have even if i solve the problem after posting and never reply...
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
That is weird he's not touching any if them now-- is he losing weight? His UVB how old is it? What are you using for a UVB?
Karrie
 

Notta

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Original Poster
I know it has been a very long time with no response... Anyway that syringe is pretty much the last thing hes eaten since then. I use a 22 inch UVB 10.0 and I have a new enclosure for him, 2x2x4 which he loves. I offer him salad daily still, I now have tried collard greens and blueberries. He does not seem to be losing weight but I do not have a scale. Even though that syringe and a bowl full of super worms are the only thing hes eaten in a month, he still acts completely normal almost. I took him out the other day and he ran around and explored like crazy, put him back in his tank and he paced it for hours because he wanted to come back out. He also had pooped 2-3 times since that last post despite the lack of food hes eating. Today I offered him one questionable but still living super worm and he ate it instantly. He turns his nose up to everything for a month but eats a superworm the second he sees it. On top of all this he has been acting healthy until today and yesterday he has gone to his sleeping corner way early. His lights go on at 8 AM and turn off at 8 PM on a timer, and today and yesterday he has been going to the spot at around 3 or 4 PM. I was reading about how food spoiled dragons can get. While a month with eating twice sound terrifyingly unhealthy, He's acting pretty normal, and he knows he has food, and is willing to eat as I learned today with the superworm, just hes only willing to eat superworms or blended food sometimes. He won't starve himself to death over not liking a particular food right? If I keep offering him something eventually he will eat it as long as he doesn't have a medical problem (which I don't think he does, as he instantly mauled a superworm the milisecond he saw it) right?
 

Notta

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Original Poster
I just know he needs a varied diet, and vegetables. I don't feel comfortable waiting longer than a month for him to eat something other than superworms. Because of covid and everything I have yet to be able to try and feed him bakchoi, turnip greens, or dandelion greens because of stock / inability to really leave my house, but have offered kale, collard, and mustard greens, and Dubia roaches like once every few days because he refuses them. I fear that no matter what I offer him, he will not touch it if it isn't a superworm. What should I do? I have started leaving salad in his tank until it dries up just to see if he touches it, and I only offer him roaches about once or twice a week because he refuses them completely (he used to love roaches). Should I put in fresh salad and offer roaches every day even though he will most likely not touch either?
 

Notta

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Original Poster
Also just ordered nutrigrubs. The salad mixed with bugs trick does not work as he either ignores bugs blocked by salad or eats around the salad. He is truly a picky eater.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Take those super worms and put them in the salad let him see you do that and see if he will go for it -- I advise to get a kitchen food scale get a weight and start tracking-- the UVB is inside the tank if it's a T 8? No clear plastic cover over the bulb and approx 6-8 inches from basking decor-- you may want to get some horn worms to add to that salad maybe some meal worms-- use a glass or ceramic bowl that insects can't get out of - he maybe tired of dubias - try some silk worms
Karrie
 

Notta

Member
Original Poster
Thanks. His UVB is on the top of his tank with a metal screen. The holes are probably big enough for an avg sized meal worm to crawl through if that helps at all. Its around that range id say around 9 inches give or take an inch. His basking spot is 98-107 depending on where he sits as his new spot is a box. Heres a picture of my new setup. I bought some black fly larva / nutrigrubs along with the superworms. How many grubs should he eat a day if he ends up liking them? if not how many superworms. I usually feed him salad between 8-12 pm and bugs a few hours before his lights go out. I would give him around 10-15 super worms a day and salad daily even though he only ate the worms. I read somewhere that you should only give them 1-2 worms per week!? is there a better feeding schedule / amount that I just don't know? I want to try and give him the best diet / feeding schedule possible until school starts. I have to get up at around 5 AM and I know he wont eat until around an hour after so I will need to give him salads in the morning and I get home at random times so his insect time would be kinda random.

https://ibb.co/pX5bMBM https://ibb.co/dJbn4Yf
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The UVB is a T 5 or a T 8? Nutri grubs he will need a lot of them -- like 100 or more I really dont know that is a guess I have only used nutri grubs as a lure to the salad bowl when Blaze was a baby - he wont eat them now - your dragon is addicted to super worms -- they are not a good staple feeder and should be fed as treats or as a lure to the salad bowl 1-3 - I would look at getting some dubia roaches or silk worms as a staple w/ the nutri grubs --- you need a glass dish or ceramic dish one that insects and worms cant get out of --- something like this and you need the large bowl https://www.amazon.com/OMEM-Worm-Dish-Reptile-Ceramics/dp/B06XYH4JVM?pf_rd_r=68BNEGWFR5T80MKDDZFD&pf_rd_p=76f54966-688a-4b94-8474-c7a8ff47e986&pd_rd_r=fce5fc38-fd3c-44f8-acd0-dfc5d7ee1bab&pd_rd_w=AVHow&pd_rd_wg=Kxxvv&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_d
I would get some smaller roaches so they dont get out - the large roaches can get out but smaller ones cant and he may eat more of them but at least hes at the bowl eating them -- like the 5/8 size or 1/2 inch --
Karrie
 

Notta

Member
Original Poster
Thanks again. The UVB is a t5 I believe. have a whole colony of discoid roaches of all sizes that I have been growing since I got him and they were supposed to be the end all be all of staples for him but then he found worms one day and refuses to even acknowledge them now. I will try the salad trick in a day or two but every time I have tried that in the past he just eats around the salad or just doesnt look at the bowl until a worm is clearly visible. I will be getting turnip greens soon so maybe he will like those. I know he loves arugula, he ate it from a syringe and just in a bowl but I heard that was a bad food for them + we ran out a while ago and I have had collards ever since. He was already hooked on one junk food I really didn't want to risk hooking him on two...
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Quit giving him the super worms --- just use the roaches --- he wont starve himself and if you haft to get him to the bowl get some horn worms and some meal worms -- dangle them in front of him and put them in the bowl -- see how that goes
Karrie
 

Notta

Member
Original Poster
Ok I will try that. How long should I only offer him roaches if he continues to refuse salad and insects?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
He will eat something - has he ever had horn worms? Or meal worms? Dragons usually love horn worms - they are a good hydrating worm but they grow really fast so dont get a ton of them -- I usually order 12 at a time -- meal worms you can get from Petsmart or Petco ---
Karrie
 
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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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