Would a dragon starve himself?

[Theresa20]

My Piggy has lost interest in his vegetables lately, but still goes wild over the crickets, so to me it seems like he hasn't lost his appetite, he just doesn't want to eat the veggies. I'm considering withholding the crickets until he starts eating the veggies again... do you think he would be stubborn enough to make himself sick? I mean, if he was hungry enough, wouldn't he eat the vegetables if there was no other choice?

 

[jortiz9758]

No living ,breathing thing would intentionally starve itself with food around. You can cut back a little on the crickets to maybe once a week and just make sure he has plenty of greens...He will go for them eventually. How old is he exactly?..really young dragons do need protein daily so maybe try skipping a day and see if he will go for it.

 

[Theresa20]

That's kind of what I thought. He's pretty old, not sure exactly but around 5 or 6 years old. He used to eat the veggies quite a lot but lately has become disinterested. I usually give crickets every other day, maybe every three days, but that was when he was still eating veggies. So lately I've gone back to crickets every other day... will he be ok if I only offer crickets once or twice a week? As long as there are still fresh veggies available of course.

 

[spurlee01]

At that age I'd only offer 50 crix a week. Does he get the same veggies pretty much all of the time? Sometimes they get bored and need a change.
Sara

 

[Theresa20]

Yeah, I also thought of the variety factor. The problem is that I live in a small town and really the only thing available that he can have is squash.

 

[spurlee01]

Do you give him fruit a couple of times a week? I assume you've seen this list:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

 

[Theresa20]

Yes, I have seen that list. That's why the only vegetable I give him is squash. I used to give him some fruit as well as his regular diet, but since he hasn't been eating his vegetables, I haven't been giving him the fruit. Should I try giving him some fruit to get his appetite going again?

 

[spurlee01]

I would, maybe mix some in with his squash a couple of times a week and see if that helps .
Sara

 

[aaronhome27]

I did the same thing with squash. My beardies got quite bored with it quickly. I have since added greens to it and carrot shreds. Not much but enough to change the color up a bit. It seemed to work well for me. My beardies are 2 snd 3 yrs old. I feed them 20 or so crickets a week the the next week I give a dubia or 2. I supplement daily with the beardie pellets also. Once they got on the pellets they really started eating them up. So what I feed now it the squash mix with pellets mixed in it. They really seem to like it.