My girl refuses to eat veggies

[LMS72]

How do I get my 10-11 month old girl to eat veggies? All she wants is crickets or worms. I've given her beautiful salads consisting of escarole, squash, dandelion greens, endive, prickly pear (all from the website recommended) and she refuses to eat it. Some one who works for a breeder told me that I I have to be stubborn, but I feel bad. I've been trying to alternate bugs and salad every other day, but she wont eat the salad at all. Any ideas to make it more appealing (it looks so good I'd eat it). Do I just keep up the fight or is there a better way to coax her?

 

[Sarai]

you could try a couple things, you could put worms in her salad, hoping she will eat the salad to get to the worms, or you could open her mouth gently and place the veggies inside, I've heard people tell me that they are shocked that my beardie lets me do this to him (mostly my mom haha) so yours might not let you do this


try several different veggies, they may like some better than others, mine likes green beans romaine and collard greens the best.

also this vid is helpful, so are some of the comments. its long and boring but informational
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owfK00jKl4w

 

[odiwan]

The best thing is to just be stubborn and not supply the proteins, no crickets, worms or anything! At that age they should be eating more veg than proteins! its tough i know but its the best thing! Only feed proteins once a week on the same day, and supply her with veggies everyday, after a couple weeks she'll eat the veggies all the time! I had to do this with my guy when he got older, he made the switch very easily once i commited to it, she'll be ok without the proteins, and don't feel bad, you are doing what's best for her! Good luck and don't worry!

P.S Your salads sound great, they love a mix of stuff, also try green beans and raspberries as a treat, Nibbler is crazy for both!

 

[LMS72]

Thank you both for your responses. I will keep on it and cut out the protein for a bit and see if she backs down. She's just so darn cute, so its tough! I chopped up a strawberry today for a treat on top with some worms, so maybe that will coax her to try it.

She was pretty particular with the proteins at first. She has a specific way to eat crickets and wont eat them any other way, so maybe she just wants me to give them to her a different way. It was tough but once I figued out how she wanted to be fed, she ate like a pig! Today I put her salad in the same bowl I usually use for the worms, so hopefully she'll eat.

 

[SpazticMagic]

Don't feel bad, my guy refuses to eat veggies too. This is especially true since winter hit here. Although he's got all-day heating now he still only wants his roaches. His salads are generally simple but they vary on what's available for reasonable budget impact at the organic market (this week is turnip greens, carrots, and some romaine). I usually put Fluker's pre-made pellets (they're red and look like little pills actually) on it like croutons and he seems to like those but even those he'll only eat two or three before he wanders back to his log. I've tried being stubborn with the regimen since...oh...April 2011. He's still fighting the good fight. Roach day though...he goes nuts. Though his threshold his five adult male Dubia before he calls it quits and just closes his eyes at me as if to say "That'll be all Jeeves." I worry that he's becoming dehydrated, because he's started drinking his bath water occasionally whereas he never used to do that. I've tried putting some live feeders in the salad and he's too slow to eat it before they crawl out and although they're harmless meal worms i'd rather not have worms crawling around his tank. To top this all off, you would think he'd find his food bowl on his own, right? Negative. He'll let it sit there and dry out all day unless i pick him up and move him to the salad bowl and then he looks at me angrily before he notices it, gets interested, one to three pellet into his mouth and then he just crawls back to his log. Obstinate...

 

[LMS72]

Sounds like your boy is alot like my girl! She is finally eating some salad, but not alot. I've been putting repti worms on top of her salad and that seems to work for her. Funny that she is picking at the salad and come cricket day, she puts awat 30 adult crickets!

How old is your boy? Maybe its an age thing and they will eventually eat more when they get older?

 

[SpazticMagic]

He'll be three years old come April. I've only had him for about a year. His previous caretakers did a great job of raising him, but the things they were giving him in his salads were not really all that good for him...i'm almost curious if he's just used to that. I can't ethically give him stuff that i know is just going to hurt him.

 

[grammy55]

My 6 mo old sounds the same. I have been putting collards, green beans, few shaved carrots, blueberries, squash,radish leaves,apple, sweet potato. Put them in her fav places, the mealworm bowl. I put them in when she gaps. She tolerates a few bites and runs away. I give them in the am and wait till early eve to do crickets.I tried only feeding insects every other day. She usually eats about 20 med crickets in 2 feedings. She poos everyday.

 

[Paradon]

Have you try mixing some cooked butternut squash into the salad...? I know a lot animals can't resist it. Or try mixing in some chicken or turkey baby food into salad. I know some people on here have use the baby food and they seem to like it.

 

[SpazticMagic]

I've not tried the baby food or anything cooked...i may do that. Toast is odd in that he's never seemed to produce a lot of waste. Ever. I've talked with his previous caregivers and they mentioned how it was odd too--he's been tested and he shows up clean. But comparatively he produces very little waste. We're doing good if he has a movement once a week. It sounds crazy i know, but, on the same token i compare it to how much he eats and since he avoids his salads he only really eats his roaches once a week or maybe twice if he seems frisky. I've been discussing it with some of the biology professors at the local university and the consensus at the moment is that it is likely he's just one with a different metabolic rate for whatever reason. This is supported by the fact that he only likes his basking spot to be around 95F, otherwise he avoids it, and he often hangs on the cooler parts of his tank without any apparent repercussions (other than even more laziness).

 

[grammy55]

Well my 6 mo old continues to be finicky but have tried several of everyones suggestions. This week she won't eat the crickets either. Just a few large mealworms. I did get some kale and blueberry in her whenever she gaped her mouth while basking. she continues to poo everyday. Don't know where its coming from she eats so little. Beats me. She's 13 inches long and looks ok. Sleepy some days but energetic others. Maybe I'll try the raspberry baby food thing. She also is picky about the crickets. I have to throw them on the hammock with her and they have to land just right and not run too fast. Geeeeeez! :shock:

 

[ladyjustice33]

I can't get my two to eat their veggies either, gonna have to try some tough love I guess. A friend of mine married a guy from Australia that had beardies over there and now has some captive bred ones over here. He couldn't bring his with him. Anyway, he laughs when I tell him I'm worried cause mine won't eat veggies. He said beardeds in the wild don't eat more veggies as they get older, they eat what is available. He said some of his beardeds ate more veggies than others and some didn't eat them at all really, and all of his were healthy. Anyway the last time I brought it up, worrying about why my beardies don't eat their veggies....he just rolled his eyes and said something like.....Don't spit the dummy....your beardeds look fine to me! Anyway, I didn't know what he was talking about, I thought I had spit on him or something. Come to find out he meant don't get upset and have a hissy fit. Weird way of saying it!!!

 

[SpazticMagic]

This morning, after making a fresh salad for him, Toast decided to try some--finally. Turnip greens, carrot, sweet potato, Fluker's pellets (little red Dr. Mario looking pill things...he seems to like those, though only a few at a time), and then some Nutri-Bites. I had to pick him up off his stick and put him down where his food bowl was but after he was done initially eyeballing me for having moved him he noticed the food and wandered over and started munching a little. Let's hope this starts to become a trend. I'm willing to try a baby food (prune) trick to see if he'll eat that too and perhaps have a BM a little more regularly.