Adult bearded dragon concern

[CastielTheBeardy]

So my dragon has a bad eating habit and only wants crickets and any insects in general. So it is probably day 7 or 8 for only giving him greens and veggies. How long does it normally take for dragons to get super hungry to eat greens and veggies? I give him a fresh dish everyday and he wants nothing to do with it. And its not like hes hand fed or anything, he is also 4 years old, i have collard greens and turnip greens, i give him turnip greens and yellow squash. How long should it take for him to give in, and when should i be concerned? I just want him to eat his veggies and greens like an adult bearded dragon should. My other concern is since im not giving him any insects and only greens and using supplements on insects, like calcium/multivitamins. He gets supplements on his insects and not greens. Sorry I don’t mean to confuse lol. So basically his insects get dusted with the supplements, his greens do too but he doesnt eat or care for him so id be waisting supplements on my greens. What should i do

 

[Sadie]

So my dragon has a bad eating habit and only wants crickets and any insects in general. So it is probably day 7 or 8 for only giving him greens and veggies. How long does it normally take for dragons to get super hungry to eat greens and veggies? I give him a fresh dish everyday and he wants nothing to do with it. And its not like hes hand fed or anything, he is also 4 years old, i have collard greens and turnip greens, i give him turnip greens and yellow squash. How long should it take for him to give in, and when should i be concerned? I just want him to eat his veggies and greens like an adult bearded dragon should. My other concern is since im not giving him any insects and only greens and using supplements on insects, like calcium/multivitamins. He gets supplements on his insects and not greens. Sorry I don’t mean to confuse lol. So basically his insects get dusted with the supplements, his greens do too but he doesnt eat or care for him so id be waisting supplements on my greens. What should i do

Sad to say he may not ever eat any--- most dragons that dont eat them really never do -- I have had all kinds of tricks on them done and it does not work --- most like sweet - you can try some bee pollen or some raw unpasteurized honey on the greens a drop or two - have you tried adding worms on top of the salad to lure him to the bowl --- silk worms work great because they stick to everything
website for nutrition ignore the kale thing its a great staple feeder
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
Try different kinds of greens it may take a time to figure out what they like

 

[Beardomania]

So my dragon has a bad eating habit and only wants crickets and any insects in general. So it is probably day 7 or 8 for only giving him greens and veggies. How long does it normally take for dragons to get super hungry to eat greens and veggies? I give him a fresh dish everyday and he wants nothing to do with it. And its not like hes hand fed or anything, he is also 4 years old, i have collard greens and turnip greens, i give him turnip greens and yellow squash. How long should it take for him to give in, and when should i be concerned? I just want him to eat his veggies and greens like an adult bearded dragon should. My other concern is since im not giving him any insects and only greens and using supplements on insects, like calcium/multivitamins. He gets supplements on his insects and not greens. Sorry I don’t mean to confuse lol. So basically his insects get dusted with the supplements, his greens do too but he doesnt eat or care for him so id be waisting supplements on my greens. What should i do

Same issue here. My 3 year old beardie wants nothing to do with greens so I came here and asked what if he never eats veggies. Luckily, someone here who has spent many years breeding beardies told me that from his experience, as long as you supplement with calcium and Herptivite, he has not seen any health deficiencies in purely insectivorous dragons. Perhaps the biggest thing to watch out for is obesity so make sure he has a large enclosure to exercise in and perhaps give him some supervised swim time in the bathtub as often as is convenient.

I heard someone say that Fluker's Strawberry Banana calcium can make a fussy beardie eat his veggies. I just got a jar today so we'll see about that.

 

[Knight98]

So my dragon has a bad eating habit and only wants crickets and any insects in general. So it is probably day 7 or 8 for only giving him greens and veggies. How long does it normally take for dragons to get super hungry to eat greens and veggies? I give him a fresh dish everyday and he wants nothing to do with it. And its not like hes hand fed or anything, he is also 4 years old, i have collard greens and turnip greens, i give him turnip greens and yellow squash. How long should it take for him to give in, and when should i be concerned? I just want him to eat his veggies and greens like an adult bearded dragon should. My other concern is since im not giving him any insects and only greens and using supplements on insects, like calcium/multivitamins. He gets supplements on his insects and not greens. Sorry I don’t mean to confuse lol. So basically his insects get dusted with the supplements, his greens do too but he doesnt eat or care for him so id be waisting supplements on my greens. What should i do

Try fruits he might like to try blueberries mango a few other

 

[CastielTheBeardy]

Try fruits he might like to try blueberries mango a few other

Well my main thing is since hes an adult he needs veggies and greens to on a daily basis but I don’t want to keep giving him bugs all the time because thats all he wants

 

[CastielTheBeardy]

Same issue here. My 3 year old beardie wants nothing to do with greens so I came here and asked what if he never eats veggies. Luckily, someone here who has spent many years breeding beardies told me that from his experience, as long as you supplement with calcium and Herptivite, he has not seen any health deficiencies in purely insectivorous dragons. Perhaps the biggest thing to watch out for is obesity so make sure he has a large enclosure to exercise in and perhaps give him some supervised swim time in the bathtub as often as is convenient.

I heard someone say that Fluker's Strawberry Banana calcium can make a fussy beardie eat his veggies. I just got a jar today so we'll see about that.

So still supplement his greens calium and Herptivite daily until he eats? Ive heard bee pollen powder and a type of salad dressing for dragons would work, yea mines in a 125 gallon. Lately he has been really sleepy, idk why he is super sleepy

 

[CastielTheBeardy]

Sad to say he may not ever eat any--- most dragons that dont eat them really never do -- I have had all kinds of tricks on them done and it does not work --- most like sweet - you can try some bee pollen or some raw unpasteurized honey on the greens a drop or two - have you tried adding worms on top of the salad to lure him to the bowl --- silk worms work great because they stick to everything
website for nutrition ignore the kale thing its a great staple feeder
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
Try different kinds of greens it may take a time to figure out what they like

Is it bad for him if he never gets out of the habit? When i was on day 5 i gave him a blueberry, i made it move so he could think its alive and moving and he ate it as if he was starving but yea ive tried superworms and hornworms, hornworms sometimes may stick to a turnip green. Ive heard about the bee pollen powder and even the salad dressing you can buy, i just have to wait til i get paid, ive given mine kale, collard greens and turnip greens, i snuck each piece while he was chewing a superworm or crickets. Like i said it is roughly day 8 of him not eating anything. I havent given him any insects at all within those 8 days, just fresh veggies everyday. But lets say he never eats greens or anything. So since hes an adult and he is supposed to get insects weekly (not as much as juveniles) how often do i feed? I do switch up the insects, i do crickets, giant roaches, hornworms, superworms, wax worm(every once in a while) and i was going to do calciworms too. How long should i wait to feed insects until i try everything? As you mentioned he may never want to eat greens and veggies and he just has to eat insects

 

[Sadie]

Is it bad for him if he never gets out of the habit? When i was on day 5 i gave him a blueberry, i made it move so he could think its alive and moving and he ate it as if he was starving but yea ive tried superworms and hornworms, hornworms sometimes may stick to a turnip green. Ive heard about the bee pollen powder and even the salad dressing you can buy, i just have to wait til i get paid, ive given mine kale, collard greens and turnip greens, i snuck each piece while he was chewing a superworm or crickets. Like i said it is roughly day 8 of him not eating anything. I havent given him any insects at all within those 8 days, just fresh veggies everyday. But lets say he never eats greens or anything. So since hes an adult and he is supposed to get insects weekly (not as much as juveniles) how often do i feed? I do switch up the insects, i do crickets, giant roaches, hornworms, superworms, wax worm(every once in a while) and i was going to do calciworms too. How long should i wait to feed insects until i try everything? As you mentioned he may never want to eat greens and veggies and he just has to eat insects

He's an adult he should only get insects 2-3 times / week-- so feed him those and dust them w/ vitamins alternating w/ calcium regular and No phosphorus- keep offering the salads- w/ the vitamins he's gonna get those nutrients I cannot get my 3 yr old to eat greens either -- and I have tried everything

 

[Beardomania]

So still supplement his greens calium and Herptivite daily until he eats? Ive heard bee pollen powder and a type of salad dressing for dragons would work, yea mines in a 125 gallon. Lately he has been really sleepy, idk why he is super sleepy

I can't really say since I'm not successful (still haven't tried the banana strawberry calcium yet) and I don't wanna tell you to keep throwing money down the drain; organic salad and Herptivite aren't cheap for just being thrown out.

 

[CastielTheBeardy]

He's an adult he should only get insects 2-3 times / week-- so feed him those and dust them w/ vitamins alternating w/ calcium regular and No phosphorus- keep offering the salads- w/ the vitamins he's gonna get those nutrients I cannot get my 3 yr old to eat greens either -- and I have tried everything

So i guess my dragon will likely never eat greens? He loves blueberries though. I guess I can’t feed him more than 2-3 times a week since mine doesnt eat greens or anything?

 

[CastielTheBeardy]

I can't really say since I'm not successful (still haven't tried the banana strawberry calcium yet) and I don't wanna tell you to keep throwing money down the drain; organic salad and Herptivite aren't cheap for just being thrown out.

Gotcha, i saw my dragon go over to his dish and stuck his tounge out a few times but he never actually ate anything. So i guess my dragon may never eat salads or anything? And only bugs

 

[Sadie]

idk why he is super sleepy--- It is brumation time of year for adults--- if he is trying to sleep let him sleep --- it is natural instinct for them to brumate this time of year - as long as your UVB is up to par in proper place and distance and basking temps are good he should be fine - get a weight on him now kitchen food scale weigh in grams and keep track he may lose some weight but he should not lose a lot of weight - if hes losing a lot of weight there is a issue - keep him hydrated --- you can wake him up every 10 days or so if he does not come out on his own - some may semi brumate meaning they may come out every 3-4 days bask maybe eat if they dont eat thats fine still offer food and hydrate them - I would leave his lights on turning them on at normal time but you can shut them off earlier if hes sleeping it will give him a sense of time -

 

[Broly]

And gut feeding insects with a good range of salads and fruits is good too

 

[CastielTheBeardy]

idk why he is super sleepy--- It is brumation time of year for adults--- if he is trying to sleep let him sleep --- it is natural instinct for them to brumate this time of year - as long as your UVB is up to par in proper place and distance and basking temps are good he should be fine - get a weight on him now kitchen food scale weigh in grams and keep track he may lose some weight but he should not lose a lot of weight - if hes losing a lot of weight there is a issue - keep him hydrated --- you can wake him up every 10 days or so if he does not come out on his own - some may semi brumate meaning they may come out every 3-4 days bask maybe eat if they dont eat thats fine still offer food and hydrate them - I would leave his lights on turning them on at normal time but you can shut them off earlier if hes sleeping it will give him a sense of time -

Im new on brumation and what to do, and what needs to happen with lighting and everything, im not sure what to do with that

 

[Sadie]

Im new on brumation and what to do, and what needs to happen with lighting and everything, im not sure what to do with that

If everything is up to par w/ the tank lighting let him do his thing- read this article and ask more questions if you need to- https://www.beardeddragon.org/topics/topic.php?t=1714484--

 

[Beardomania]

Quick update: The Fluker's Banana Strawberry Calcium did not work Bugaboo will not touch any green plant matter... not with his mouth anyway.

 

[Sadie]

Unfortunately it often does not work - and I am out of ideas- have you tried silk worms on the salad?

 

[Beardomania]

Unfortunately it often does not work - and I am out of ideas- have you tried silk worms on the salad?

They're too expensive a feeder. I have tried superworms on his salad and he will either eat the superworms off the top without eating salad or if they burrow under, he'll look at it for a bit like, "why's the grass moving?" then lose interest.

 

[Sadie]

They're too expensive a feeder. I have tried superworms on his salad and he will either eat the superworms off the top without eating salad or if they burrow under, he'll look at it for a bit like, "why's the grass moving?" then lose interest.

Go here and look at price on silk worms and if they are too much I understand - they just got the bulk back in - you would need to order food as the bulk don't have food w/ - the food is a powder so it won't go bad and you only make as much as you need www.reptilianarts.com

 

[Beardomania]

Go here and look at price on silk worms and if they are too much I understand - they just got the bulk back in - you would need to order food as the bulk don't have food w/ - the food is a powder so it won't go bad and you only make as much as you need www.reptilianarts.com

The food is too expensive. The worms are expensive (63 cents for a thing less than an inch is well more than what my average meals cost when a beardie can eat 10-20 in one sitting) but they could be a one-time expense as I allow them to pupate and breed them. Unfortunately, the powdered food that needs to be cooked into a jello/mush is quite expensive as well (and I've looked over several sources on the internet). I've raised silkworms in the past on mulberry leaves, often emerging from the forest with poison ivy reactions all over my body harvesting for them. And in the end, I was sad to see such a cute fat white caterpillar that I had raised from the size of half a grain of rice to the size of a finger be crushed in those merciless reptilian jaws with precious green ooze squirting everywhere. Won't do it again...