Super crazy ridiculously picky eater

[Claudiusx]

Or should I not even offer baby food while I'm trying to get him to eat greens?

I go either way on that one. I'm leaning more towards just not offering the baby food.
But then again, if he ends up liking the baby food it might turn into something you can drip on his salad to entice him.
It's really your decision.
Still, leaning towards no baby food just because you have a 4 year old dragon, we know they get even more stubborn with age lol, and we are trying to correct a behavior here.

What are you planning or have available to offer salad-wise?

-Brandon

 

[kwonsmommy]

I do not want to force feed my dragon. But what about sticking baby food on his nose so he basically has to lick it off. I've seen videos of this and it doesn't seem stressful for the animal. Here is an example at 2:45, the girl just dabs some baby food on his nose and after a few licks he seems to start enjoying it - https://youtu.be/Q8_cie1nNxM?t=163

Isn't this a decent way to diversify his diet as long as the baby food is organic and doesn't have any additives?

I don't think any tricks that involve mixing veggies with bugs will work. It's not like he goes right after the bugs, I put them in his bowl and he takes his sweet time getting to them. Or not. Today I offered a silk worm and he didn't eat it all day. Already bored with them after one worm :?

Any mixing of bugs and greens will be un-mixed by the time he gets to it. Or if the bugs take cover under the greens he won't see them.

I have a very picky 6 year old beardie. He doesn't eat live bugs or worms anymore he stopped them himself. He loves his Reptaboost mixed with organic baby food And randomly I'll give him grub pie but both are in a syringe not force feeding him but by putting it on his mouth and him licking it off. He eats daily.
The organic baby food now has lots of options to choose from that are good quality.

 

[kingofnobbys]

I do not want to force feed my dragon. But what about sticking baby food on his nose so he basically has to lick it off. I've seen videos of this and it doesn't seem stressful for the animal. Here is an example at 2:45, the girl just dabs some baby food on his nose and after a few licks he seems to start enjoying it - https://youtu.be/Q8_cie1nNxM?t=163

Isn't this a decent way to diversify his diet as long as the baby food is organic and doesn't have any additives?

I don't think any tricks that involve mixing veggies with bugs will work. It's not like he goes right after the bugs, I put them in his bowl and he takes his sweet time getting to them. Or not. Today I offered a silk worm and he didn't eat it all day. Already bored with them after one worm :?

>>> Some don't like the taste of the chow or the mulberry leaves (in the worm's gut) . My water skink eagerly ate her first silkworm and wouldn't touch them afterwards , but loves crickets , mealworms, superworms (chopped up - she licks the meat out and leaves the exoskeletons), and only eats BSFL if I squeeze out the meat inside and deposit it on her snout (refuses to eat hole BSFL).
They know what they like and will refuse to eat what they don't like (the taste off).

Any mixing of bugs and greens will be un-mixed by the time he gets to it. Or if the bugs take cover under the greens he won't see them.

I have a very picky 6 year old beardie. He doesn't eat live bugs or worms anymore he stopped them himself. He loves his Reptaboost mixed with organic baby food And randomly I'll give him grub pie but both are in a syringe not force feeding him but by putting it on his mouth and him licking it off. He eats daily.
The organic baby food now has lots of options to choose from that are good quality.

 

[uscpsycho]

What are you planning or have available to offer salad-wise?

-Brandon

I've offered all kinds of greens and fruits and he just hasn't been interested in any of it.

Today I tried baby food for the first time. I think my bearded dragon is an *****. I put baby food on his snout and he just let it drip off. I put more and more on and he just sat there looking at me while we made a mess on the table.

Then I started trying to get it to dribble into the crack in his mouth so he could at least taste it. When he realized this mush was something he could eat, he started to lap it up and I kept dropping it on his tongue. He didn't eat as much as I would have liked but at least he ate some plant matter today, so mission accomplished.

I'll try again tomorrow and hope that he takes to it a little bit faster. I'll keep at it for a few days and try to find a flavor he really enjoys then I'll try mixing it into his greens to see if I can get him to eat it on his own. Only problem is he loves to plod through his salad and it goes everywhere. If I've got baby food mixed in, he's going to make a big old mess in his cage.

 

[Claudiusx]

It does take them a bit to figure out the while dripping on the nose thing. Good that's yours figured it out so quick. Hopefully this helps!

Thanks for the update

-Brandon

 

[uscpsycho]

So we had baby food today and it was totally different.

It didn't take him nearly as long to start eating it today, which is good. But he was a lot less tolerant of having it on his face. He would take a few licks then violently fling his head to flick the rest off. He did this a few times then tried to get away from me, so I could tell he wan't liking the situation.

I wonder if the baby food being cold had anything to do with it? Yesterday it was room temperature but I kept it in the fridge overnight so today it was quite cold when I served it. Is that something that would bother him?

 

[Claudiusx]

It's possible. They generally dont like anything on their face. Moro bit a worm yesterday and it curled up and grabbed onto her eye. She freaked out for a few seconds until she was able to use her back leg to scratch it off.

You can try portioning out a small amount of the baby food and popping it in the microwave for 5 seconds to make it warmer. Just be careful not to get it too hot.

You wouldn't want to be cooling and reheating the same baby food over and over so toss what you warmed if he doesnt eat it.

-Brandon

 

[kwonsmommy]

So we had baby food today and it was totally different.

It didn't take him nearly as long to start eating it today, which is good. But he was a lot less tolerant of having it on his face. He would take a few licks then violently fling his head to flick the rest off. He did this a few times then tried to get away from me, so I could tell he wan't liking the situation.

I wonder if the baby food being cold had anything to do with it? Yesterday it was room temperature but I kept it in the fridge overnight so today it was quite cold when I served it. Is that something that would bother him?

I usually sit on the floor with Jarvis when I'm feeding him and have gotten him used to wiping his face with a paper towel ?

 

[vrenee1018]

Maybe I missed it, but have you tried bee pollen? I purchased from Tracie's website, and Tampico seemed to gobble up her greens after a while of it being on. I think it's a good little treat for them to. It has bit of a sweet nutty smell.