Bearded Dragon Veggie Pellets

[Sierrarose5]

I recently adopted a 3.5 year old bearded dragon and I’m having the hardest time getting her to eat her fresh veggies. I’ve tried literally every vegetable they’re allowed to eat. She’ll have like one piece of collard greens or one piece of a bell pepper and then nothing, but if I put just dry veggie pellets she’ll eat a good amount of that. I don’t know much about the pellets but I kind of think of them as the equivalent to dog kibble so I’m assuming they aren’t giving her all her proper vitamins. She loves super worms and gobbles them up so I know she has an appetite. I took the pellets out of her home to try and motivate her to eat the fresh veggies but she just goes on a hunger strike. I’m really just looking for any suggestions on how to get her interested in fresh veggies or if there’s any pellet brands that are okay as a substitution for fresh veggies and will give her all her vitamins. I just want to give her the healthiest/happiest life possible so I’m very thankful to any suggestions

 

[Claudiusx]

You can try topping the fresh salads with the pellets, and just over time add less and less pellets until it is just salad.

Or if she is holding out on salads because she prefers the superworms, stop feeding her bugs completely and just offer her salads.

Let her do her little hunger strike. She's smart. She's probably learned that if she holds out she will get the worms she wants. But she's also smart enough to not let herself starve to death. Sometimes in these situations, stubborn adults will go on a hunger strike for weeks before finally caving in. Once they do and salad eating is regular, reintroduce the bugs in limited quantities.

For adults, I like to do only 3-5 superworms 2-3 times a week. Everything else is salads.

-Brandon

 

[ChileanTaco]

The biggest problem with the pellets is they aren't moist - so she won't get enough water if she only eats pellets and bugs. Are you offering water in other ways that she accepts, e.g. dropping some water on the snout?
Could you try in the beginning making the pellets a bit wet, and gradually mixing with shredded veggies? And then, on the long run, of course no pellets anymore.

With a very healthy dragon of a reasonable size one could also try just offering nothing else than veggies. Finally almost all dragons would eat them.
I would however, to not stress out the dragon even more after the changed situation due to the adoption, rather do what I described first.

 

[ChileanTaco]

@Claudiusx
I see you posted at the same time than I did. Agree! Also regarding the amount of bugs that should be given, and that a (healthy) dragon just won't starve (or try eating inedible things instead). She'll go for the salad.

 

[Sierrarose5]

You can try topping the fresh salads with the pellets, and just over time add less and less pellets until it is just salad.

Or if she is holding out on salads because she prefers the superworms, stop feeding her bugs completely and just offer her salads.

Let her do her little hunger strike. She's smart. She's probably learned that if she holds out she will get the worms she wants. But she's also smart enough to not let herself starve to death. Sometimes in these situations, stubborn adults will go on a hunger strike for weeks before finally caving in. Once they do and salad eating is regular, reintroduce the bugs in limited quantities.

For adults, I like to do only 3-5 superworms 2-3 times a week. Everything else is salads.

-Brandon

I really appreciate the advice! Hearing someone say she’s not going to starve herself to death makes me feel a lot better. I’ll try the pellets on top and then less and less and also take away the super worms for a little

 

[Sierrarose5]

The biggest problem with the pellets is they aren't moist - so she won't get enough water if she only eats pellets and bugs. Are you offering water in other ways that she accepts, e.g. dropping some water on the snout?
Could you try in the beginning making the pellets a bit wet, and gradually mixing with shredded veggies? And then, on the long run, of course no pellets anymore.

With a very healthy dragon of a reasonable size one could also try just offering nothing else than veggies. Finally almost all dragons would eat them.
I would however, to not stress out the dragon even more after the changed situation due to the adoption, rather do what I described first.

Yeah that’s what I was thinking about the pellets. They’re so dry. I give her a bath 2-3 times a week and she drinks water then. That’s also the only time she’ll poop, in water. Is that normal? She hasn’t gone in her enclosure once. I also have a large water bowl in her tank that I switch out daily(I’m upgrading it to a bigger one so she can fit her whole body in it, it’s shallow) I think I’ll try the wetted pellets mixed with fresh veggies and eventually get rid of pellets all together. Thank you so much! I really appreciate it