3yr old rescue wont eat veggies or fruits

[pigglett79]

Hello,

I have been trolling the site for a while. I have read many threads on the topic I have posted.

We rescued a 3 yr old male bearded dragon from a friend who could no longer take care of him. He was housed in crushed walnut, which we knew was not a good idea. We quickly built him a new enclosure and the floor is made of tile.

I did have to take sand out o his eyes a couple of times. We did eye washes for about a week as he had some gunk coming out. he seems fine now.

The issue is he wont eat any fruits or veggies. I have read many thread son how to get them to eat and none have worked. We tried starving him for a couple days to no avail. We tried putting squash baby food on greens, nothing. I put the baby food on his nose and he had no interest in licking it off. We have offered mustard greens, arugula, dandelion greens, cilantro, escarole, butternut squash, raspberries, blackberries, cactus pad, carrots, red bell pepper, sweet potatoes etc... nothing. he doesn't want any. I once got him to eat a raspberry and he ate a little bit of sweet potato when I put silk worms on it, but he has since learned to pick the worms off of the greens or veggies.

He will eat almost any bug: cricket, silk worm, horn worm, super worm, etc. (except roaches, he spits them out). But no fruits or veggies....none. we have been bathing him a couple times a week to make up for his lack of interest in veggies, but I just don't know what to do. If you have any recommendation we would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

 

[brittani299]

So it sounds like he never had any vegs to eat before and doesnt really know what they are. How I have gotten mine to eat vegs is putting worms under the greens. Some I put some slow worms in like butter worms or horned worms. They I put small pieces of greens in . Mine have grabbed a worm and a green at the same time. I dont know if it will work for you but I hope it does

 

[pigglett79]

Thank you. I will try that. I know on top doesnt work well as he picks them off. I have noticed that his eye is getting bad again. He is closing his left eye and it still has some gunk coming out. His antibiotic eye drops have been ordered. I think his eye problems are still from when he was housed in the crushed walnut substrate. I feel bad for him, but we are doing our best to get him well.

 

[w0554096]

Hello,
Sand can cause eye issues and infection, but there are also certain UVB and basking bulbs which can cause issues as well.
What type of UVB are you using, and what type did he have before you got him?
What type of basking bulb are you using, and what type did he have before you got him?
Is his current basking bulb coated in neodymium?

Has he had a fecal test done since you've had him?
Adults, especially ones that haven't been exposed to greens can sometimes be very difficult to get eating them, but many times there are underlying issues. I'm not sure if there are with your guy, but it won't hurt to rule that out.

If it turns out everything is great, there is a product called Reptaid that you can try. Many people use it as an appatite booster, though it does have a bunch of uses. There has been great reviews with increasing appatite, which in turn could help to get him eating his greens. If he's hungry enough, he won't starve himself when there are greens available. Of course I'm not reccomending that you starve him, lol, just that if his appatite does increase and his feeder amounts stay the same, he may be more incline to munch on some veggies.

What is your feeding schedual? Are you offering feeder insects every day, every other day, etc, and how many?
Could you also post what his length and weight are?

Also, congradulations on your new beardie. What's his name?

 

[pigglett79]

Thank you for your reply. His name is Spike. He weighs 369 grams and is about 14 inches nose to tail.

I just sent a fecal sample out to beardeddragon.co for testing last week and am pending results.

His previous lighting was a 65 watt incandescent house bulb and an 18" UVB but I don't know what brand. I converted him over to a 65 watt flood light incandescent bulb and a 48" Arcadia D3 + UVB bulb.

He was also only given calcium w D3 by his previous owner and never received a multivitamin. I have been giving him repashy calcium plus about once a week and calcium w D3 a few times a week.

I know for my chameleons I only use the calcium w D3 twice a month, multivitamin twice a month and use plain calcium, no D3 at all other feedings. From what I have seen beardies get the D3 calcium all the time.

We have been offering food daily as he wasn't fed consistently in his previous home. He has been averaging 30 crickets and about 12 worms (horn worms, silk worms and super worms) a week.

 

[w0554096]

Your set up sounds good.
How long have you had him? It can sometimes take awhile for eye issues that were caused by UVB to clear up. For now you can try gently flushing his eye with a saline solution and see if that helps.
Have you tried hand feeding him some greens?
You can also try a few dandilion flowers if you can find them. I once had a very picky dragon who loved them.
He sounds to be a pretty good weight for his 14 inches, though every dragon distruibutes their weight differently. Does he look thin at all?

That's good about the fecal, hopefully it will be all clear.
Unfortunately it sounds like you've tried most of the tricks for getting them to eat their veggies. Just keep at it. You can try different sizes too. Some dragons like their greens nice and small, while others aren't interested unless they're big leafy pieces.
Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

[pigglett79]

We have had him since March 2nd. I have been flushing his eye and cleaning the gunk out as it comes. I did order terramycin and will go ahead and treat the eye.

We have tried hand feeding the greens and he did eat a raspberry twice this way, but never a green. We have tried different sizes.

We will just keep at it. I got a couple different types of baby food to try as dressing and more fruits and veggies to try. I will look for dandelion flowers and try that as well. I have a ton of smaller horn worms right now because I breed them so I will put therm under the salad and see if he is interested.

Thank you for the replies, I really appreciate it.

 

[pigglett79]

Well his fecal result came back with pinworms and low level coccidia. I will treat him and see how he is after.

 

[w0554096]

Yikes. What are you treating him with?
Hopefully once the parasites are gone he will start eating better for you.

 

[pigglett79]

We will do 3 treatments w panacur a week apart to deal with the pinworms. They said the coccidia was low enough that it doesn't need to be treated. Hopefully after that he will eat his salad. The only symptom he has is loose stool. Other than that he seems pretty active.

 

[w0554096]

That's good. I'd also reccomend adding a probiotic to his diet. Hopefully he will start eating soon.

 

[pigglett79]

Thanks I will order that as well. Can't wait to get this guy healthy.