not eating veggies! any other tips to new beardie owner

[spurlee01]

How old is your beardie, Berdo?

 

[berdo24]

He is around one year this month

 

[spurlee01]

Between 12 and 18 months, their protein intake should begin to decrease. By 18 mos he will only get protein every other day- about 50 live feeders a week. You will need to start gradually making that switch now and he will get hungry enough to start eating his salad better. Do you offer the same thing in his salad every day? Sometimes they get bored. I know it is so much easier to just offer greens, but try to add fruit 2-3 times a week and some squash and maybe several types of greens, not just one. Here is a link to good and bad foods if you havn't seen it yet. http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html. I would give him salad first thing in the morning and hold off on the protein until laer in the afternoon. As for weaning him, maybe only give protein 2 out of 3 days or 3 out of 4 for a few months?
Sara

 

[berdo24]

for about three weeks i've been feeding him protein every other day and offering greens every day. I offer a wide variety but use mustard greens as a staple for his slads. I bought snow peas for him the other day and when he seen the pea pod he got super excited but I think he thought it was a worm of some sort. Im almost certain thats what he thought lol. But I wasn't sure about feeding him the pod and just gave him the peas.. which were quite small and i made a small mound of them and he gobbled them up, but still wouldn't eat his salad with them mixed in. Last week I bought some mint, honeydew (which the couple times ive given to him before he loved it picked it out like he did with his worms) but to no avail. And every fruit I offer before that he doesn't take to, strawberry's, grapes, peach, apples, among others he just doesn't seem to like the fruit except honeydew, not even that now. Im going to try to use different greens this weekend. Ive even tried a dehydrated mix they sell at my local reptile shop, that had meal worms mixed in. I think the smell or something incited him because when i mixed it around with feeding tongs he attacked it but noticed it really wasn't living and ignored it after that... But any kind of live feeder I give him (except for crix) he will eat instantly

edit Can i feed him the pod from the peas?

 

[CarolsCritters]

I have to laugh at this point! Here I was trying to offer assistance to someone else but I've ended up getting the most help for myself! My little guy apparently has a mind of his own and I thought he was unique but I guess I was wrong! When I just read the above post about "being a slave for a year", I certainly related, only I thought I was going to be a slave for only the first 4 months! These little guys are so smart that they have us all under their little thumbs! We give them what they want and when they want it, all in hopes of keeping them healthy and happy, and in fear of all we have read.

I have finally figured out that my 16 week old baby changes his eating habits by the day. Now he has decided to eat ONLY super meal worms and won't touch anything else, not even crickets. So now the 3 dozen crickets I sent my husband up to the bait and tackle store for are dying one by one. The veggies I take so much time preparing and chopping just sit there drying out with no interest. The Dragon food in a jar, same thing, $8 wasted. So here's to us all DRAGON SLAVES! We love them, we want them to be with us for a long time, so just accept the fact that they are picky eaters and change their minds quite often! So consider it an experiment, and a long life (for a dragon) is our reward.

 

[spurlee01]

Just keep trying with the veggies, that's all I can really tell you. Be very careful about feeding superworms to any dragon under 16". They are very difficult to digest and can cause impaction. I will feed my 14.5" dragon very small ones, but not bigger ones. A lot of people don't believe in feeding them until they are 16". The other thing, be very careful about baitshop food. It typically isn't raised as carefully as crickets meant to be feeders.
Sara

 

[berdo24]

I don't think ill be feeding supers, though he is 19". Thanks i'll just just keep offering hope fully he takes. Not looking forward to all the head bobbing like the last time I dramatically lowered his protein

edit: does any one know about feeding the pods from snow peas

 

[Neromom39]

Don' pea pods have those little "strings" or fibers?. If so, I don't think I would chance feeding them to my beardie as I'm not sure how well they can be digested.

 

[Embee]

edit: does any one know about feeding the pods from snow peas

According to the Beautiful Dragons list, SNAP peas with pods are an occasional feeder: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html. The don't mention *snow peas* but of course, the two are quite similar.

:dontknow:

Em

 

[berdo24]

edit: does any one know about feeding the pods from snow peas

According to the Beautiful Dragons list, SNAP peas with pods are an occasional feeder: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html. The don't mention *snow peas* but of course, the two are quite similar.

:dontknow:

Em

..Thanks, I must have missed that on the site. I served him the peas and trashed the pods already, next time though i might try giving him a pod see how he digests it. But i'll try and find the snap pea pods instead of the snow just to be certain. thanks

 

[tundradragons]

im sure if you cut the pods into bite size pieces it wont hurt them, shoot spike eats green beans lol he loves them.