the deep hatred of greens

[anderous]

hi, my new dragon is about 15 inches long, ive had him about two weeks now and he hates his greens like nothing ive seen. hes very tame, ive tried feeding him greens from my hand when holding him and he refuses, i tried putting his reptiworms in his greens but he is very good at picking only the reptiworms out, even if i mix them in really really well, ive also tried limiting his insect intake to get him to eat greens, no luck there either, im a little worried, here are my tank parameters 75 gallon tank, 105-110 basking spot, 80-90 ambient, reptisun 10.0 6-10 inches from basking spot, tile substrate, reptiworms and crix as staple, his greens are usually collard, mustard, yellow squash, peas, sometimes bannana, grapes, apple, he wont eat any of these, any suggestions to get him to eat his greens. also, he eats around 30 reptiworms a day. i have two digital flukers thermometers, one probe and a temp gun

 

[jharris08]

some dragons are more picky about greens...usually has something to do with how they were fed as hatchlings.
only thing I can suggest is 1st: be persistent and maybe even dont offer reptiworms for a couple days and only offer greens to see if he gets hungry enough to eat them. 2nd: always offer greens first thing in the day before you offer any insects. their metabolisms are higher in the morning and they seem to eat better in the morning.
hope one of these helps

 

[ziggy23]

experiment with fruits and veggies until you find one he likes. when you do, take that with the greens and chop it up in a blender or something so that it's so small he can't pick and choose.

Also feed salad first thing in the morning, every morning. Hold off feeders until later. If he gets hungry enough he'll eventually settle on the salad.

 

[anderous]

Success, haha, thanks guys, the only friut i had on hand today was an apple and some raspberries, so, i cut up a small ammount of apple and a very small ammount of one raspberry. I went and presented them right in front of him where he basks, and he aet them, the first "greens" he has eaten the whole two weeks ive had him, awsome, tomorrow i will thouroully mix them in with other greens and see how it goes, so far so good, thanks very much, i was starting to get worried

 

[Desdemona]

Mine won't eat hers either. I give them first thing in the morning and all that good stuff. The only non-green I have tried so far is squash and apple. I gave her collard, bok choy, and mustard greens. Right now all I have left is the collard greens, which she still doesn't like.

 

[ziggy23]

Now that you've found something he'll eat, make sure you chop up everything so small that he can't pick and choose. That's why I recommended the blender or food processor. After he gets used to eating both, then gradually giving bigger pieces and phasing in more foods. With the raspberries, then he might be open to try other foods that look similar, like strawberries (red) or blackberries (same shape). Eventually you'll want to cut down the fruit, it's mostly a treat for them.


Some things just might be a matter of personal taste, so if it's not an important food like greens, don't press it for long if it doesn't seem to work. For example my dragons abhor apples. My dragons love their salads, but despite several attempts, they will not go near apples and would choose to go without their beloved salad rather than eat it. They also have a limited tolerance of kale. They will eat it sometimes, but sometimes they will outright refuse it.

 

[anderous]

nice, i just hand fed him little apple pieces mixed with mustard and collard greens, he still doesnt recognize them in the dish, but he aet quite a bit of mustard greens when i hand fed him just now, several mouthfulls, im very exited now, it all seems to be working out just fine, thanks everyone

 

[Kimesh121]

My 2 month old beardie won't eat his veggies but he knows its the cause he sits on it I giv him green and yelow peppers and parsley and some carots . That's the same food they had in the pet shop but they only gave him crix.

Please help me teach him

Thanks

Kimesh

 

[diamc]

My 2 month old beardie won't eat his veggies but he knows its the cause he sits on it I giv him green and yelow peppers and parsley and some carots . That's the same food they had in the pet shop but they only gave him crix.

Please help me teach him

Thanks

Kimesh

Actually, the greens/veggies you're offering aren't the best for him. This site shows the best to feed: www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html He needs to have some greens like collard, mustard, turnip, dandelion, escarole, endive, etc as those are all high in calcium and offer a good nutritional value.