wont eat veggies anymore

[Scoutthecorner]

So my bearded dragon is refusing to eat his veggies. he used to eat them but then i have started to notice that he hasnt been eating them. the bowl is very shallow and i can sometimes manage to get him to eat them but only from my hand and very little . can somebody instruct me on how to get him to eat veggies?

 

[omahadragon]

How old is your beardie? If he's older and your giving him a too many live feeders this could be the problem. If its younger then this sounds pretty normal. What are you offering for greens?

 

[jtran1020]

My bearide is 5 months and he barely eats his salad. When will he eat more?

 

[omahadragon]

Mine seemed to barely pick at theirs for nearly a year. It was almost like a switch turned off and they started immensely loving greens. Just keep offering greens, and it'll start loving them soon. Keep feeding bugs all the time!

 

[Scoutthecorner]

he is like fiveish months so he is pretty young but what bothers me is that he has trouble doing his business. i thought maybe it was because he wasnt eating his veggies. he has tile as a substrate however there is some sand in there to fill the gaps of the cage. could the sand be the problem? it worried me putting the sand in there in the first place. can somebody tell me why he isnt pooping? his basking spot gets like 95 ish degree temps

 

[omahadragon]

Sand could be a problem since they lick alot! Id try to get the basking spot up to 100you or even 105. Do you have an undertank heat pad? Also, let him run around in some 95 degree water and he'll surely poop in that!

 

[Scoutthecorner]

no i dont have a heat pad thing but i have heard mixed reviews about those with beardies. should i buy one?

 

[randommonks]

Boost basking temps up to 105-100F, and hopefully that'll help him digest better. What are you using to measure your temperatures? What size feeders are you using? Undertank heaters shouldn't really be used. It would be a better idea to use a higher wattage basking bulb or move around the furniture so the basking bulb is closer to the basking spot.

 

[Beardeddragon3]

What size cage is his? Does he have UVB light?
Calcium power? :study:

 

[Scoutthecorner]

he has a 55 galllon and dusted like 2 times a week and has a uvb light
and his temps are now 105 ish
i have also noticed he hasnt shed in awhile the last time i remember him shedding was like early september
i am wondering if this all ties together somehow (illness) or if i am just make some small mistakes. :?:
i forgot to mention that his poop has been somewhat dierriah like (spelling?)

 

[Nirnglaud]

I have a juvenile beardie as well about 5-6 months old, and I have never seen him eat veggies. I offer them regularly and I've tried several types of different greens. Spinach leaves, kale, bok choi, carrots, mustard greens, etc.. with no results.

However I read for young beardies that the ratio is about 20-80 with eating veggies vs. live insects

Youtube has many helpful videos. Some recommend placing larger leaves for him to nibble off of, some people take a long probe and move the greens around while he is in front of them to make them appear to be alive. Some people recommend dusting the greens with calcium powder. But I have had no luck

As far as his bowel movements I had him on a steady diet of crickets and he was pooping fine. However I switched to larger mealworms and he had a hard time pooping.

A trick I learned was to place him in warm water under his neck, and not too much where his legs are floating. Not too warm though! And every time he would let out a huge long poop. Im sure like the other users posted the higher hot spot temps will speed up digestion but this worked for me every time.

As far as boosting other vitamins from veggies make sure your insects are gut loaded meaning they are eating veggies you want to feed your dragon. I feed my crickets the standard carrot feed from petco or petsmart. I also feed my crickets Nature Zone Bites which are actually for dragons but the crickets love em.

Hope this helps