So my bearded dragon will be a year old in a couple weeks. One of the things I've been expecting is for him to start eating more fruits and vegetables. Maybe 50/50 split. But he seems content on eating more crickets and Dubias over greens Which is strange because he was eating a lot of both protein and veggies up until about a month and a half ago. Now he just seems to only want insects. Is it a phase..?
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Dragon only eating protein..?
- Thread starter Jrodkw
- Start date
No he is preferring the insects over the greens -- start feeding him insects 2 times per week and feed only salads - believe me he wont starve -- he will start eating his salads if hes hungry enough -- just add variety to his salads --
Idk, he used to eat the greens after his insects every day without a problem so the fact that it's just happening now is what's strange to me. Plus he's not fully grown so without that protein at least once a day I don't think he's going to reach his full growth at less than a year old. Either way I'll cut down the protein to once a day and then every other day to start.
Beardomania
Juvenile Dragon
- Messages
- 190
I am not sure but I believe that Jrodkw is right. The lizard is still 6 months away from reaching his max size so cutting his protein to basically an adult maintenance diet is probably bad for his growth. From my first conversation on this forum, I found that beardies that eat no vegetation whatsoever don't really exhibit any health deficiencies and that total rejection of vegetable matter is not particularly rare in males. So on the one hand, I would worry that cutting his protein at 1 year old would somewhat stunt him, but on the other hand, if he slowly drops vegetables out of his diet, it might be impossible to get him to take it back up after he's 18 months old. It's a dilemma...
At least for now you should make sure that all of his feeders are gut-loaded with lots of veggies.
At least for now you should make sure that all of his feeders are gut-loaded with lots of veggies.
I figure if I can get him to eat greens at least a couple times per week that's still decent. Thanks!
Beardomania
Juvenile Dragon
- Messages
- 190
I've got a 3 year old male that eats no veggies and I'm sick of his bullshit (LOL) so I let him take all the protein he wants, then I hand feed him veggies. I lay down on the couch, put a pad on my chest, put him on the pad. Holding his head in my left hand, I crank down his lower jaw with a small amount of force with my right middle/ring finger, then slide in the veggies held with my right thumb and index finger. He doesn't hate it; once it's in his his mouth, he crunches and swallows the crunchy veggies and will suck in the soft leafy veggies.
Wow, that's some dedication lol
- Messages
- 2,283
Some bearded dragons straight up refuse to eat veggies, i can only get my girl to eat one leaf/berries/etc. then she catches on that im trying to feed her less bugs that day, and gives me a dirty look, although my beardie is only a year and half she should be eating more greens, apparently bee pollen, apples juice ,putting bugs in the salad are all good ways to get them to eat veg, none of it has worked for me, so i just heavily gut load my bugs with fresh veg.