I'm done with greens

[FortheLoveofLizzie]

I have made the most beautiful salads and wasted Tom's of uneaten greens because Lizzie


Lizzie....just does not eat greens. I have even put leaves directly into her mouth and then she spits them out. She gives me the stink eye when I lay out greens.

She is a primary donna.

Lol.

I'm done.

So what am I looking at for health issues of the protein laden beard ie?

Dies anyone have this problem?

Any suggestions besides just keep trying?

Thanks!

 

[DaisyDragon123]

How old is she? An adult dragon's diet is around 80% vegetarian and 20% live feeder protein. If she gets hungry enough she'll eat. If she is a juvie her distaste for salad is common but when they are young their diet is majority live feeder protein.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Be sneaky and disguise the greens and veg and salad by gutloading the bugs with them. She'll get her salad and greens that way in the bugs' stomachs.

You can handfeed greens and some veg to the beardie very easily too, pick greens and veg that she will enjoy the taste of (is sweet or mustardy tasting), Rex is like your beardie, if I don't hand feed the greens and salad veg to her , she'll refuse to eat it.

Buk choi greens
carrot straws
green grapes cut into strips
strawberries
blueberries
blackberries
apple strips
the occasional raw green pea
these are her favourates.

 

[GoneForLunch]

If she's young don't be discourage. Just keep offering salads but maybe make it simpler for you. Just cut up some greens, not too much, and put it in there. Try crushing fruits in the salad here and there. Blackberries and blueberries worked well for my Beardie.

But a lot of younger beardies don't touch salad often. I hand fed some fruit and showed him I put it in his salad. Then I picked up the salad and dropped it, so it moved and he was interested, and that worked for me. Just keep offering small salads. If all else fails, drop some greens for the crickets to eat up and he'll get the veggies via gut loaded crickets.

How old is your beardie?

 

[Taterbug]

Excessive fat and protein can be taxing on the organs (kidney and liver if I recall). Obesity could also be a concern of the calorie intake exceeds her activity levels, insects typically having more calories than plants.

Pepper snubbed his salads off and on for quite a while. Recently I've been skipping the greens and making chopped salads of veggies+supplements, including lots of bright colors (reds yellows and oranges) and strong smells/flavors. That seems to have worked well for us. He's gone from eating a leaf or two to 1-2 1"cubes a day. I'd say keep trying, different items, sizes, presentations etc.

Gut loading insects should be a habit anyway, and isn't really an alternative to a balanced diet. It's just making the insects more nutritionally adequate.

 

[SoraMiller]

Don't know if this will work or not but you could dust her greens instead of her bugs.
Hehehe I'm so lucky if I let my baby just eat greens she would eat those only and forget the bugs.

 

[FortheLoveofLizzie]

Thank you everyone!

She is an adult and so she really NEEDS to be eating more greens and less animal protein.
I will try out some of these suggestions...Feel free to post more if you come across this post. I get email updates.

 

[Draycebaby2014]

i had a question about the grapes do they have to be pealed ???

 

[GoneForLunch]

I never read anywhere that they need to be peeled. As far as I'm aware, just seedless grapes cut up into small bits is fine.

 

[Draycebaby2014]

Awesome thanks