salad?

[nini02]

How important is it for beardies to eat greens? Boswer (a juvie, about 13-14 in. long) wont eat anything green i put in his tank. ive tried bok choy, collard, mustard, escrole, kale, and dandelion greens. he also wont eat any veggies (ive tried all kinds of squash and fresh green beans) or fruit (tried mango, strawberries). we give him pheonix worms daily and offer fresh greens. Hell wolf down the worms, but wont touch the greens. he also wont eat the worms if they are on his greens. should i be worried that he is not eating the greens? should i try a "tough love" approach and hold out on the worms? Are greens that important? thanks everyone!

 

[Levia]

I'm also interested in this, I gut load my crickets with a TON of different greens, fruits, fish food, oats, flax seed...... so he's getting enough vita's atm but he won't touch any greens I put in this tank. Mine's roughly 10-12 inches thou and I got him back in Sept so mine's still young.

 

[bltkpo]

I don't think at this point it is absolutely vital they eat their greens. They need the protein from gutloaded crickets and such.

Do you greens go dry and crispy in the beardies tank? I know that is how my little Bindy will ONLY eat his greens lately.

On the other hand, I know once they come to a certain age (and weight, don't want them getting sickly) .. people will use the tough love approach to get them to eat their greens. That is, withold crickets, and offer only greens. Though, this doesn't seem necessary at the age of your beardie, they really need that protein to grow!

 

[Carnivorouszoo]

I agree, your beardie is nowhere near the size/age to drop protien, unless its a rescued adult stunted from poor diet before they came to you. Continue to offer the greens but don't worry about if they are eating enough of them. Mojo was a sweety and has eaten very well from day one, so I got lucky. She just emands variety or she gets bored and stops eating lol.

 

[jewl495]

Well here is what I'm doing.... My little guy was eating his greens but now has decided that he doesn't want any what so ever. So I decided that i'm not with-holding protein but I've been blending his salads up and giving him 3-6 cc's of salad slurry a day. I'm going start giving the slurries every other day and just keep offering salads every day just in case. We shall see how this goes.

 

[nini02]

hes not a rescue (as far as i know, dont think i got him a very reputable source tho). his greens do get dry while in the tank, but he wont eat them that way either. he got a bite of one yesterday when he happened to grab a worm off it and shook his head for about 2 min after he ate it. then he glared at me. i dont think he was very happy. but hes eating worms which are supposed to be really good for them, so im not too concerned as far as vitamins. but i guess protein is the most important thing right now, and god knows the little monster gets enough of that. ( i go through approx. 500 pheonix worms a week). Thanks everyone!!