Not Eating Calcium Dusted Veggies & General Feeding Inquiry

[Xazzak]

So Smaugie has always had issues eating her veggies, however I mostly overcame these difficulties in two ways: 1. Providing only veggies until she started eating them (this was when she was a sub adult), 2. Not watching while she eats and discontinued my hand feeding of veggies. What I learned is that they'll eventually break down and eat on their own, and apparently some dragons just don't like to be watched.

However, I feed her crickets almost in a "trough" style (Tupperware) because of the bad habits I've formed in her from by hand feeding. Sadly, she's become incredibly lazy and will no longer chase her food...if I dump crickets into her enclosure, they'll just hide within her cage furniture and then I have to spend hours hunting them down.

I truly feel as if I've screwed things up with her from too much coddling, which I hope to deter other new bearded dragon owners from.

Alas, onto my current issue. I'm afraid that she isn't getting her proper nutrition, because she REFUSES to eat any of the veggies she likes, if they're dusted with calcium or the multi-vitamin. However, she will eat her gut-loaded crickets dusted with either supplement without a fuss. But naturally, I shouldn't be offering feeders every day, right?

Without a doubt, feeding has been the most frustrating thing for me as a 1st time reptile owner (ratios, dusting, staples, occasional, etc.). While we all know the whole 80% feeders/20% veggies, and then the reverse when their adults, I've found almost zero sources about what those ratios really entail. Is this a weekly calculation? Daily? How do we properly calculate this ratio at all?

With that being said, I know that I'm likely breaking the ratio "rule set" by offering feeders more often than I should, in an attempt to ensure that she's getting the proper amount calcium and vitamins. I've see some people say: Calcium five times a week, multi-vitamin twice a week.

I know my post's topic is of a specific nature, and I'm bouncing around, I would really love the opinions of the community on your personal experiences for feeding ratios, dusting, and just dealing with stubborn little dragons.

 

[CooperDragon]

The supplements are designed to address deficiencies in the bugs rather than the salad. If you provide a nice variety of veges in a salad it will have plenty of nutrients on it's own. If you want high calcium offer lots of collard greens for example. If you rotate the items you offer in a salad, the variety will be good without needing to supplement it with anything.