New to the board and I already need help...

[irwin'smom]

Hello,
I just wanted to say Hi and introduce myself. I am new to being a Beardie mom. I rescued my boy about 1 month ago. I have raised many lizards but he is my first Beardie. His name is Irwin after the late great Steve Irwin.
He was not taken care of or handled since he was bought by his original owner. So contrary to a typical Beardie he is a mean one. He is a little over a year and is 15 inches long. He was living in a 10 gal tank when I picked him up. He had been living in the same tank his whole life with nothing in it but sand and a food bowl. He did provide him with a heat bulb and a UVB bulb but unfortunately the UVB bulb was covered with a plastic guard. He did not get supplements and was fed pellet food ONLY.
My problem I have is he will not eat his greens and veggies. No matter what I try he will not touch them. He will hold out for days till he gets his worms and crickets.
Is there a method to getting a Beardie to enjoy greens? Can a beardie do fine on a live prey diet only?
I am open to any and all suggestions. I love this lizard and he deserves the best since he had a pretty miserable life previously (even though he hates me).
Thanks for the time.

 

[auntylolo]

Hello. First let me say, he doesn't hate you, he's probably just not used to any kind of affection or attention and doesn't know how to take it. I would be tempted to say, since he is quite undersized for his age, you can give him more live feeders than normally suggested for that age. He may even still grow a bit with the right amount of protein. Try this site for greens/veg to try http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html, you should be able to find something on there that he likes, try escarole and endive especially :wink: . But you're right that eventually he needs to be on a mainly veg diet, otherwise he could end up with fatty liver disease. Maybe try and switch him over the next 6 months or so?

 

[irwin'smom]

Thanks for the advice. He has gained a considerable amount of weight since I acquired him. You were able to see ribs and bones in his tail. He eats about 10 crickets and 15 -20 worms a day (a mixture of super and wax). I dust them with Calcium every other day and give zoo meds reptivite once a week. I have tried every green on that list and in every order and witch way and he will not touch them period. I tried putting his worms on his salad and he will pick the worms out and if he accidentally gets some salad in his mouth he will spit it out.
Someone told me to get a female the same size and put it in with him and he will want to eat it when he sees her eat it. Is that good advice or not?
I have spent so much money on fresh, organic greens, fruits and veggies to only throw 100% of it away. Not to mention he eats 12 dollars a week in worms and crickets. Should I try giving him pinkies?
I have tried holding out on the live food for 2 days to see if he would eat his salad and he would not touch it. He was irritated that I would not give him his worms and crickets.
Is there something special supplement wise that I should give him since he is not eating his greens?
He did not get any greens growing up nor did he get live prey. He only got pellets and he wont touch that now. He was scared of crickets and worms at first but quickly learned they were delicious.
Keep the advice coming because I need to borrow everyones knowledge. lol
Thanks so much for the help already.

 

[SLUphilosopher]

I dunno about the pinkies, even though your guy is a little bit older, those are sometimes bad for them (hard to digest). You might try posting in the FEEDING section to get more responses.

As far as bonding, try to bathe your beardie and then wrap them somewhat loose in a towel. Place them and the towel on your upper chest/shoulder area after the bath (right before lights out) and see if that calms him down. Over time, it might work to establish that you care for the dragon and want to help it.

 

[Jiffy]

Hi and welcome to the site.
Thanks for taking the little guy in and giving him a good home.
As far as getting a female to put in with him, I would not recommend it. Beardies shouldnt be housed together. 2 males will more than likely fight, and stress each other. A male and female is a bad combination also. The male may try to mate the female constantly, and that is bad for her health. Even if you just put one in there for him to see her eat, he could catch any type of disease that she might have.
Good luck with getting him to eat , and let us know if you have any more questions.