How do get adults to eat their greens?

[beardielove10]

I have two adult beardies and neither of them are interested in their greens or veggies anymore. I try and give them different greens each week with some kind of topping of fruit or veggies.
Since I started my roach colony, they get roaches for their protein. They will wait days and not eat any of their greens until I feed them protein again. I have tried putting worms on top of the greens and they just pick them right out.

Any ideas on how to get my Beardies to eat and enjoy greens? Any good mixes you guys have to share? It worries me when they won't eat anything for days because they just wait for the bugs. I don't want to starve them into eating their greens!

 

[Kameo37]

I am seeing SO many threads on this, mine included! My beardie is doing the same. We offer, he shows no interest. Maybe this is sort of common? I mean I scroll through the feeding section of this forum and literally every other one is about this same topic. I have tried a LOT of things. The other day I saw something called "salad dressing" for bearded dragons at petco. I normally wouldn't even consider it because it's obviously some processed by product type thing, but I am thinking that maybe I can get him to at least try the veggies again if I have a little of this stuff on the top. Maybe? I don't know.

 

[Gail]

This is a very common problem because so many people thinks its not important to feed baby dragons greens, instead they focus on the protein and the dragons get hooked on bugs. Its so, so very important for breeders and owners to feed babies greens from day one so they learn that they are food.

Give a animal or person the choice between healthy food and junks food, most will pick junk food. Dragons are like small children, hotdogs or candy will always be picked over broccoli.

Really the only way to combat this is to starve them into eating their greens. A healthy dragon won't starve themselves to death but a adult can go quite a long time without eating and they can be stubborn. It not uncommon for them to go 2 weeks without eating before they give in and eat greens. Only healthy adults should have food withheld for that long but even younger dragons (4+ months) can have insects withheld for a few days with no troubles.

Very small babies should never have food withheld but always offer greens first then a light meal on insects later. If they aren't stuffed on bugs they will nibble on greens.

 

[Kameo37]

My beardie DID eat greens before. Just recently has he gone off of the greens. I don't think I could let him go two weeks without eating. He's a healthy guy, 635g at last weigh in, but I would feel really anxious about him going 2 weeks without food.
Anyone else have opinions about this?

 

[icelore]

My beardie DID eat greens before. Just recently has he gone off of the greens. I don't think I could let him go two weeks without eating. He's a healthy guy, 635g at last weigh in, but I would feel really anxious about him going 2 weeks without food.
Anyone else have opinions about this?

I agree with Gail. If you think about how dragons live and eat in the wild, withholding insects for 2 weeks isn't too big of a deal. You are not giving him NO food, you are offering greens, so it's their choice not to eat it. It's tough love, but as owners, it's our responsibility to do what's right for our dragons - getting them to eat a healthy diet. I know it's hard, but if we let our own guilt as humans get in the way of providing the best care for our animals, then we're not doing a very good job.

 

[Kameo37]

I'm going to try waiting him out. I weighed him yesterday and he's gained 2 grams, so I decided I would just monitor his weight and see how it goes. He's on day 2 and didn't eat a bite. I decided against that weird salad dressing stuff because a) it contains some very unnatural things, more so than I was thinking and b) it was $10. I may go get some baby food and try that as a salad dressing. I have some canned pumpkin that I have tried and he has snubbed.
Although I will say this, I don't think any of us are trying to recreate the exact conditions that are in the wild. Yeah, they might go 2 weeks without eating, but I would guess their survival rate/life span in the wild is much lower than our captive born and raised babies. We are trying to give them the better than average lifespans. It's not really feasible to compare wild animals and captive born. Their environment, diet, stimulants, etc are all completely different.

 

[icelore]

Clearly I don't think we are trying to recreate wild conditions, but it is a useful way to see what is "normal" for them, and what is acceptable for them that we may not consider.

Good call on the dressing.