No greens in >6months! HELP!

[Mustashio]

Okay, so I know there are a billion posts about beardies not eating their greens. Now there's a billion and one!

My adult, 1.5 year old beardie, Mustashio is 18 inches long, 500g and seems pretty healthy but has refused ALL greens/vegi's/fruits for well over 6months. He eats crickets (but prefers worms), horn worms, superworms, butters but NO vegis. I have tried everything from vibrating dish to hand feed, to syringe feeding baby food, you name it! No luck. Tried fragrant greens and spices like mint, basil...nothing. Tried colorful things...nothing. Tried fruits...nothing. I offer every day and leave his dish in there, but no vegis. The irony is that when he was a baby, he ate nearly 2 bowls full of greens a day, with grated butternut squash, collards and red cabbage being his favorites. After a semi brumation over the winter, he has not turned back to vegis at all.

I'm not too worried healthwise, because he does eat live feeders, but I want a better variety for him (and I was hoping to slow down the mass exodus of cash from my wallet as he got older!) He recently had a good shed, and his poops and everything else have been fine, but I just want him to eat his vegis!!

Any suggestions?? Here are a few pics of my handsome guy!







...and one when he was little and used to EAT his vegi's!

 

[JohnnyCakes]

Give him nothing but greens for a few days, he'll get the idea.

 

[Mustashio]

Unfortunately we tried that too...didn't work. Very stubborn!

 

[Gail]

How long did you try it for? Sometime you have to wait for them to get really hungry and it can take more just a few days. A healthy dragon won't starve itself and since he is a adult, he can go quite awhile without eating if he chooses to.
I'd stop all insects and only offer greens/veggies for at least a week. Check his weight, if he isn't loosing too much, keep withholding.

 

[DragonBeauty]

I agree with Gail.
I must say that he's a nice looking Dragon......looks healthy and alert with a nice color too! He wont suffer from not having any insects until he eats his vegetables. Show him who's boss. :lol:

 

[joea]

You got a good looking beardy there. In the meanwhile a slurry of alfalfa powder, bee-pollen, Bene Bac+ Probiotic Powder, etc, in a syringe for liquid-nutrition. Pro & prebiotics have great results on elevating the gut flora count that resides in the digestive system. Good luck!

http://www.beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=293

http://www.beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=product/category&path=61

This article is from down-under. :mrgreen:

http://aww.ninemsn.com/dietandhealth/qanda/8215454/the-truth-about-pro-and-prebiotics

 

[Mustashio]

Thanks everyone!

We didn't try the starving thing for too long so I will try again. He is 500g so I'm not afraid of losing any weight for awhile.

Thanks again! Did I mention I LOVE this site!? So many helpful people here!

~Jill