Bearded Dragon utterly refuses water and vegetation

[winkydinks]

Hello,

New member here. I'm somewhat concerned about my young adult bearded dragon who I purchased a week ago. He readily eats bugs, but won't touch fruits or vegetables. I've tried all the tricks. If I put bugs in the vegetables, he waits for them to crawl out enough so he can eat exclusively them. Literally won't take a speck of vegetation in. Paper towels haven't worked. Providing mostly fruit doesn't work (he turns his head away from diced strawberry). The guy who I bought my beardie from told me that bearded dragons are private about eating vegetables and to leave some in the cage. I have, and he literally hasn't touched them.

He won't drink water either. He turns his head away from the dropper and pays no attention to his water dish. When I've tried misting, he turns his head away.

I'm worried about my new friend and don't want to feed him solely insects. Anything I haven't tried yet. Should I refuse to feed him until he's willing to try the greens? I'm literally lost at this point. Help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[CooperDragon]

Welcome to the forum! It can be tough to get them onto a routine of eating veges if they aren't used to it. If he is a healthy weight then he is likely just being stubborn and holding out for bugs. It's OK (if his weight is healthy) to hold off on bugs and keep offering a rotation of veges to find what he likes. He will dig in when he gets hungry. I like to reference this list for ideas http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html. I just rotate what I offer based on what looks fresh at the store each week.

If you can provide details about your setup I'd be happy to review to make sure everything is just right for him. What kind of lights are you using? What are the temps around his tank? If you can post photos that would be helpful. You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button.

 

[winkydinks]

Thanks for the response. I went to the store today and bought turnip greens, collard greens, blueberries, tomatoes, carrots, bananas, and blueberries. Gonna try again to get him to eat a bit tomorrow.

Thanks for the offer to review his setup. I'll upload a picture soon.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Gut load the insects with the desired veg , he'll get the greens via them .

or

Hand feed the veg.