Not eating veg

[Emily1414]

My bearded dragon is just over a year old now. So she should be eating less bugs and more veg. She is eating less bugs now but will not touch veg. I’ve tried different types of food and nothing. The only way I can get her to eat is to simply slide some in the side of her mouth.
Is this ok to do? How can I get her to eat veg?

 

[KarrieRee]

My bearded dragon is just over a year old now. So she should be eating less bugs and more veg. She is eating less bugs now but will not touch veg. I’ve tried different types of food and nothing. The only way I can get her to eat is to simply slide some in the side of her mouth.
Is this ok to do? How can I get her to eat veg?

Get her some BSFL order large do not dust them add them to the tops of her salads in front of her first thing when you feed her - hand feed her a couple of them also get her some silk worms and some horn worms Reptilian Arts the silk worms are a good staple feeder as the BSFL the horn worms are a good hydrating worm and w/ her not eating salads shes not getting much water / hydration - the horn worms will grow very quickly so order small amounts of them and feed 1-2 until gone but put those on top of your salads too -- this is going to draw her attention - the silks come in a cup w/ food if you were to order bulk like 50 you need to get the food for them - they STICK TO EVERYTHING--- use those as lures to the salad bowl - the BSFL are small you want a ceramic / glass bowl for them try that technic see that will help -

 

[blue11]

My bearded dragon is just over a year old now. So she should be eating less bugs and more veg. She is eating less bugs now but will not touch veg. I’ve tried different types of food and nothing. The only way I can get her to eat is to simply slide some in the side of her mouth.
Is this ok to do? How can I get her to eat veg?

Oh man … I can relate! I had the toughest time getting my girl to eat any greens or any veggies - she probably was about 2 years old when she truly even began to actively / willingly taking them from my hand or from a bowl to be honest. It’s not always the easiest road to travel down … I tried the bugs in the salad - which is a wonderful method to try - but she would actually systematically pick out the insects from all around the veggies. It was super frustrating!

With your dragon having *just* turned 1 … she will prob have some length of time left where she’s still strictly interested in feeders vs greens. Hang in there, I can’t promise when - but it will happen.

Horms are also amazing for moisture and water that she would be getting from freshly rinsed greens … but obviously greens offer WAY more than just that, so you just have to be consistent like you are doing.

I wish I had a magic solution, but I feel like dragons have a total mind of their own when it comes to greens. My girl just flat out refused, which was crazy b/c I would see videos of pics of people juvies and even sometime babies just devouring greens! I was like … whyyyyyyy.

Hopefully she will come around - definitely give the mixing of BSFL (and / or other proteins she likes) and see if you have any luck that way. I hope you do!!

Otherwise, right now she’s still in kinda a sub-adult period of her life, so hang tight and know that it will change … you will see her eating greens as more time passes. Sub adult goes up to about 18 or 19 months old, so she’s got some adjustment time.

The timelines for beardie with this can vary so much from dragon to dragon. I remember just gently putting a piece of collard or mustard green at her mouth as it was opening and closing when she was eating one of her bugs just to at least get a few pieces in her system at first. A little bit of trickery, but hey, it worked now and then - and I knew she was getting a little bit of some green action going. Full disclosure - I sometimes still do that if she’s having a lull in her greens consumption.

Let us know how things go!