wont eat fruits or veggies

[pjhenr1]

i have a beardie that was given to me because the owner could no longer take care of him. he did not have any type of habitat when i got him. he slept in a shoe box and was carried all day. he now has a 55 gal. aquarium with reptisand and heat bulb and water and food dish. the issue i am having is he loves crickets and meal worms but wont eat veggies or fruit. i have tried spinach, peppers, broccoli, carrots, grapes, bananas, peaches, honeydoo, i dont know what else to try. i was told he is about 2 1/2 years old and he is about 16 inches head to tail tip. when he does eat he has about 7 crickets and 2 or 3 meal worms per feeding. i have bathed him, he seems to be defacating ok... i just dont know what to do to get him to eat more for the vitamins.

 

[Vacren]

Tank is a good size for an adult.
Remove the sand, replace with a solid substrate (paper towels, newspaper, tile, repticarpet). Loose substrates can cause impaction, infection, etc.
What type of bulb are you using? You'll need a daylight and UVB. Reptisun 10.0 is best, cheapest at petmountain.com.
Try mustard or collard greens. Stay away from spinach, broccoli, kale, and iceberg lettuce. Romaine is not a good staple, but can sometimes help trick them into eating if you mix it in with mustard greens.

 

[wickednick]

I've always had this problem with my dragon to, he hates veggies. I once tried just to feed him veggies for two weeks and he wouldn't take them, but he'll eat super worms with no trouble at all.I have a feeling he was never fed greens much while in the pet store, so never learned to eat them.
Pretty much what I do is either put some greens in with his worms or hand feed him his greens.

 

[breardiebrick]

mine wont eat them eaither all he will eat is crickets

 

[thanybeauty1]

I try to put the superworms in his with his veggies hoping he'll eat the worm and pick up some veggies with it but he doesn't. He will not touch any fruits or veggies. I have offered them every day for the last four months and he just won't touch them. I feel bad for him because I want to make sure he gets all that he needs but I use the vitamins to try to make up for what he isn't getting through veggies. I guess some dragons just want meat.

 

[breardiebrick]

just going to throw this one out there for you to give a try mu juvie wouldnt touch greens until i got him mustard greens and watercress seems he likes them alot and they are cheap give that a try

 

[lauraj1055]

I have the same problem wth my beardie.. so now I make a veggie frappe' and keep it in the fridge. I feed him 2 x a day with a syringe, and he loves it. Plus I can add vitamins to it on Tuesdays and Thursdays...

This is what I do

put collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, escarole, and some butternut squash, or yellow squash and put it in the blender with some added water. Blend until it is liquified. Then, put it in the fridge for feedings. Use a needless syringe ( you will need a bigger kind, they are only about $1.00) and put the mixture on the tip of his nose, he will lick it, and will eat it right up! Let me know if it works for you like it does for me!

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Syringes.html

you want the 1 cc size.. you can probably get it at a pharmacy... also look into the critical care, I give my dragon this 2x a week which will give him the supplements he is missing from his veggies

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Criticalcare.html