beardie hates greens/fruit/anything not live

[finnie]

Hi all. The day we got our 4mth old beardie he ate greens out of our hands. Then stopped totally a day later. I figured it was due to the change of local. But we've had him a month now, and he still won't touch any greens/fruit/anything not live. He loves his crickets. So every morning I make him a new fresh batch of beautiful looking salad and change it up all the time - but nothing. Seems like such a waste of time - but I'm determined! I've tried dandelion, collard, kale, carrots, broccoli, squash, raspberries, strawberries, cantelope, mango... nothing. He looks at it - that's it. He will eat juvi bearded dragon pellets (loves the brown ones best).
Any suggestions? Thanks!!

 

[Gail]

Try one or two items at a time instead of such a variety. I'd start with milder greens like endive, escarole or romain. Now I know romain isn't a good staple but its fine mixed with other greens and fed occasionally. For some reason picky dragons seem to like romain and I found it's almost like a gateway green.
Cut the pieces small and try different dishes. My guy eats better if fed off a small paper plate, for some reason he doesn't like greens out of a regular dish.

 

[finnie]

Thanks Gail. I'll try the romaine for sure. He accidentally ate some dandelion today - he missed the pellets that he was aiming for. He actually seemed frustrated with himself!

 

[gfoggin]

Hi Finne

My two were exactly the same at that age. They are both 1yr old now. I had success with cress and romaine lettuce. Then moved onto Kale. It wasnt untill they were around 8months before they would eat their greens when all the crickets were gone.

 

[tempusfugit]

Mine was a little picky at first too.

Are you guys feeding them crickets at the same time or before the greens? About an hour after lights come on I put his salad in, and don't feed him crickets for another hour or two.

 

[finnie]

Thanks all, it's nice to know I'm not the only one with a fussy eater. I usually add his greens about an hour after lights come on in the morning. I add pellets to his greens, and he eats quite a few of these, with a couple accidental bits of the greens. The greens dish is left all day - just in case. We then give him his main feeding of crickets around 3-4pm. We tried doing the crickets 2 times daily, but that caused him to totally ignore the pellets/greens - and I'm determined to get him to have at least a few bites a day.
Thanks for all your suggestions. I'll keep trying.

 

[thanybeauty1]

I do the same as Tempus, after the lights have been on for an hr, I put their salads in and when the salads are gone I wait a few hrs then give them their worms or crickets. Also, my first dragon was about 9 months old when he started eating veggies. I offered them everyday but he never ate them and like you I felt it was such a waste but one day he decided to eat them and I was sooo happy lol. Keep trying, don't give up!