Beardie not eating salad, period

[Axsca]

So my (almost) 3 month old beardie (9.5 inches) refuses to eat his greens period. I've tried everything. Different greens (escarole, turnip, collard etc.) with different squashes (acorn, butternut, yellow). Even different fruits as enticing treats. I've tried hand-feeding it to him. I've tried spritzing it in front of him. I've tried moving it around and even tying it to a string and taping it to the top of his enclosure to dangle appetizingly. Just today I bought different types of organic babyfood to help with the taste, I even ordered tiny hornworms to put in the salad and he just won't eat any of it. It might as well be another piece of gnat-attracting deco in his cage. I gut-load his roaches with all of his leftovers, but is there anything else I can do? Do beardies eventually learn to love salad with age even if they won't eat it at all at a young age?

 

[RandyMarsh]

1. Put baby food into plastic eye dropper
2. Use to put baby food into baby
3. ???
4. Profit!!

But seriously. Eye droppers work wonders when dragons are being turds about their diet, and they do need their vitamins even if they THINK they don't. I use the eyedropper though for water and babyfood as needed. You can really pry the old jaw open with it. Just use plastic not glass :mrgreen:

 

[diamc]

[Moved here from General Discussion forum]

It's not unusual for babies to not show an interest in greens/veggies until they are several months old. Some don't really start eating them until they are 7 to 9 mos old. I wouldn't worry about it, just keep offering fresh ones daily and perhaps he will start nibbling on a little sometime soon. When they are only 3 mo old, their bodies are calling for LOTS of protein from feeders since they are growing at a fast rate so make sure you continue to give all the feeders he wants 2 to 3 times a day and all he can eat in about a 10 to 15 min timeframe each time.

 

[Axsca]

I feed him 3 times a day. Once at 1:00 (two hours after his lights turn on) once at 5:30 and once at 10:00 (about 1 hr. 45mins before his lights turn off). I've been putting about 15-25 dubias in per feeding and he usually eats about that many or less a day. I know beardies his age usually eat more, but he'll eat a few from the dish then just hop out. Then I'll try hand-feeding and he'll eat about 5 more then just ignore them. He's a weird little dude. I've tried feeding him in a separate bin but he just ignores the roaches completely and tries to wiggle his way out.

 

[diamc]

How long have you had him? If you only got him 2 wks ago or less, he could be going through relocation stress which is normal and their appetites pick up gradually after that timeframe has passed. Are you dusting his feeders 5 days a wk with calcium, but only 1 feeding a day and 2 days a wk with vitamins, but only 1 feeding a day?

 

[Axsca]

I've had him since the 16th of Nov. So around 3 weeks now. He was eating a lot less before, but still not eating as much as I'd like. I dust with calcium almost everyday, and since he only eats about 1 serving (25ish) only that one feeding is dusted. If he eats anymore after that I don't dust them. I also dust with multivitamin around 1-2x a week. Idk if it's my method of feeding. I'll put them all in a plastic dish high enough so they can't crawl out, but shallow enough so he can get in/out easily enough. Sometimes he'll jump in the dish and gobble up 5-6 ravenously. Then he'll just sit there and let them crawl on him and out into his enclosure. I've also tried just putting them all in his enclosure for him to hunt, but I think that just overwhelms him as he doesn't really chase them if they go more than 2 inches away from him. (lazybutt) I also don't really like letting them loose in his enclosure. It'll be a pita to get them all out when I clean his cage. And like I said before I also tried the bin, but only once. He really didn't like it at all. I've also tried hand-picking out roaches and setting them very close to him (if I place them too far away it's like he doesn't see them or is too lazy to chase that far). He will gobble them up happily if they are right in his face, and has associated my fingers with the giving of roaches... but he still won't do anything but lightly lick at whatever is in my hand if I try to get him to straight hand-feed. I also leave all the roaches that might skitter away and hide in his enclosure because I know dubias don't really gnaw on beardies, but they might annoy him and put him off eating. But there is no way for me to clean out the runners everytime as his enclosure is a 4x2x18 critter condo with a decent amount of deco that I'd have to completely remove everytime I feed him which just isn't plausible. I'd prefer bin-feeding so I might keep trying that, but I don't really want to starve him if he doesn't eat in the bin either. x_x

 

[Lurhstaap]

Some beardies take a while to get over relocation stress. If the appetite has slowly but steadily increased I would chalk it up to that and nothing more, presuming it continues to improve.