Eating their veggies

[Daniel Mertz]

So both my BD only eat insects mostly crickets but I'm trying to switch completely to DR. Anyways I out peppers, apples, couple different greens and they just look at me and laugh. Is their a certain way to entice them to eat their veggies. Also I do let the bugs crawl around like they prefer but I also put some in little glass bowls and the same thing. It's like it isn't good enough for them. Any help would be amaze balls.

 

[PatsyB]

Letting the bugs run lose is good to helps give them stimulation to hunt and get exercise. You also don't want to leave bugs crawling around in the tank all day so you want to remove them after 10 min or so. I like to throw one bug in at a time, when it gets eaten, I throw another one in. Some people put the bugs in the salad and the movement gets them to eat their salad. Most of the time though, they just pick around the salad to get the bugs.

Young ones don't always take to salad right away. You just have to find the right mix. Bee pollen dusted on the salad sometimes helps get them to eat it. A few of mine are enticed by the color of the food. When Dexter was small she would go one week only eating green things, the next red things. One time I bought green dandelion leaves and she ate them, the next week I bought dandelion greens with red veins in it and she refused to eat it. But then gave her a fully green one and she ate it!

 

[Double d]

So both my BD only eat insects mostly crickets but I'm trying to switch completely to DR. Anyways I out peppers, apples, couple different greens and they just look at me and laugh. Is their a certain way to entice them to eat their veggies. Also I do let the bugs crawl around like they prefer but I also put some in little glass bowls and the same thing. It's like it isn't good enough for them. Any help would be amaze balls.

Lmao! Don’t feel bad I have 2 dragons and they literally just stare at me when I offer veggies

 

[Daniel Mertz]

Lmao! Don’t feel bad I have 2 dragons and they literally just stare at me when I offer veggies

Okay cool haha. I tried mustard greens this weekend. It's almost like I tell them you either eat these or you don't eat and go to your room with nothing....

 

[Hdrydr31]

With my new one I give him his salad first thing in the am and he is typically nice and hungry so once he eats a bit of it then I offer his bugs.. So far I've been lucky as he likes his greens too.

 

[SoCalSk8r]

Ours will not eat veggies either. We offer all sorts of them and have tried many ‘tricks’. stitch will just pick he bugs out of the salad and leave the rest....


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[Hdrydr31]

Ours will not eat veggies either. We offer all sorts of them and have tried many ‘tricks’. stitch will just pick he bugs out of the salad and leave the rest....


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Sometimes you just have to just keep trying and be patient lol they really can be brats when it comes to their greens

 

[Krog]

My Sweet Little Missy loves eating the clover growing in the yard. Other than the occasional kale, she get crickets, super worms, maybe a passing bee, and almost daily/nightly turkey baby food. We have tried various chopped fruits and squash, but not much success.

 

[Hdrydr31]

My Sweet Little Missy loves eating the clover growing in the yard. Other than the occasional kale, she get crickets, super worms, maybe a passing bee, and almost daily/nightly turkey baby food. We have tried various chopped fruits and squash, but not much success.

Have you ever tried blending some greens up in a magic bullet type to liquefy it more add in pure coconut water instead of baby food?? way more nutritious for them

 

[dugost]

We're running into the same problem. The previous owner told us to feed Cricket (our BD) superworms, crickets, etc. every day, and blueberries, some other fruits, veggies, and leafy greens should be given too but we've only ever had success with her eating blueberries and the occasional small piece of strawberry.

She gives me the stink eye when I put mixed veggies and leafy greens in front of her, even when I put worms under the pile. I've been reading so much conflicting info about how to care for BDs. Bugs/worms daily plus veggies daily. Another says animal protein only twice per week with plant protein daily. I'm worried the steady diet of superworms we have her on, with the occasional feed of crickets or a hornworm treat, isn't healthy enough for her.

She's nowhere near as active as some BDs I've watched on YouTube so maybe she's just always full of protein and tired as she digests? Maybe she's just lazy!?

I'm unsure of how to change her diet to keep her healthy or if I even need to at all. Does anyone have any advice on a good feeding regimen and schedule? Or tips on how to get our stubborn BD to actually eat something that isn't alive?

 

[dugost]

Ours will not eat veggies either. We offer all sorts of them and have tried many ‘tricks’. stitch will just pick he bugs out of the salad and leave the rest....

What are some of the tricks you tried? Even if they haven't worked for Stitch they may work for other stubborn eaters.

 

[Hdrydr31]

live food is always best, it helps with their prey driven instinct. Some dragons just don't like their greens lol 1 of my 3 love their greens and finish them each day the other 2 don't touch them. So it's very important to gutload the bugs you feed them the same greens so in a round about way they get some of the nutrients.. You can also blend them up into slurries if that works.. Bee pollen is also a good supplement as it's also a appetite stimulant that sometimes works for those stubborn ones.
Beardies can be pretty lazy lol as they become adults feeding them live items can be 2-3 times a week depending on their activity level sometimes more. My female will eat live 1-2 times a week.
I feed dubia roaches that are gut loaded, they are super good for them and hold nutrients for 72 hours in their gi systems, 1 = like 6ish crickets. Superworms, BSFL, treats include butterworms, and waxworms and when I can hornworms. With again a salad everyday in tank all day. I've found that if I offer salad first when they are hungry seems to work for me then once they eat some I give their bugs.

 

[dugost]

live food is always best, it helps with their prey driven instinct. Some dragons just don't like their greens lol 1 of my 3 love their greens and finish them each day the other 2 don't touch them. So it's very important to gut the bugs you feed them the same greens so in a round about way they get some of the nutrients.. You can also blend them up into slurries if that works.. Bee pollen is also a good supplement as it's also a appetite stimulant that sometimes works for those stubborn ones.
Beardies can be pretty lazy lol as they become adults feeding them live items can be 2-3 times a week depending on their activity level sometimes more. My female will eat live 1-2 times a week.
I feed dubia roaches that are gut loaded, they are super good for them and hold nutrients for 72 hours in their gi systems, 1 = like 6ish crickets. Superworms, BSFL, treats include butterworms, and waxworms and when I can hornworms. With again a salad everyday in tank all day. I've found that if I offer salad first when they are hungry seems to work for me then once they eat some I give their bugs.

Thanks for those details. I'll start putting more veg in with the superworms to gut load them so Cricket gets more nutrients and will leave a salad in there every day for her.

It's tough to do that at the moment, though. The issue is that it's a busy household, plus my gf's son has sorta lost interest in Cricket as a pet (well, that taking care of it part anyway haha). I don't live there and I often end up doing most of the feeding in the evenings. In a couple of weeks I'll be moving in which will allow me to change the routine for her a bit.

I've read BDs should have 2 hours under their light to allow them to digest properly and she mostly gets that in the evenings but I'm thinking feeding in the morning might be better. Perhaps the salad in there all day will get her to eat more and then we could feed her animal protein 2-3 times a week in the evenings.

Ours will not eat veggies either. We offer all sorts of them and have tried many ‘tricks’. stitch will just pick he bugs out of the salad and leave the rest....

Apologies, I made a mistake in an earlier post that stripped out my reply to your post. What sort of tricks did you use? They may not have worked with your Stitch but might work with others.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Yes they need a min of 2 hours under their lights UVB should overlap with the basking light so that they can properly digest and the nutrients are broken down and absorbed and proper synthesis of calcium is done.

 

[BrookeE]

First thing in the morning, I put a nice bright veggie mix in there for her sprinkled with probiotics. I dont offer bugs until 5-6 oclock in the afternoon. That way veggies are in there all day long and shes got plenty of time to eat them while shes hungry. It works like a charm for me. Mine eats a ton of veggies every day. I even occasionally have to refill her bowl with more veggies during the day. The fresher they are, the more she wants to eat.

 

[SoCalSk8r]

Well we have tried putting worms in the salad, trying every various green that is acceptable, putting some juice or something sweet on the salad, tricking her and sliding a green leaf in her mouth when she's not paying attention..... I have not tried bee pollen yet.

We are in a lull at the moment because Stitch isn't eating.... she had pin worms and just finished up the antibiotic regiment today. We'll see if she starts eating again normally but at the moment we have been feeding her with 'Carnivore care' using a syringe.

 

[dugost]

First thing in the morning, I put a nice bright veggie mix in there for her sprinkled with probiotics. I dont offer bugs until 5-6 oclock in the afternoon. That way veggies are in there all day long and shes got plenty of time to eat them while shes hungry. It works like a charm for me. Mine eats a ton of veggies every day. I even occasionally have to refill her bowl with more veggies during the day. The fresher they are, the more she wants to eat.

I hope I can get Cricket to be such an avid salad eater as yours! Going to experiment with different fruits and vegetables to see if anything will entice her to dive into the bowl of plant matter.

Well we have tried putting worms in the salad, trying every various green that is acceptable, putting some juice or something sweet on the salad, tricking her and sliding a green leaf in her mouth when she's not paying attention..... I have not tried bee pollen yet.

We are in a lull at the moment because Stitch isn't eating.... she had pin worms and just finished up the antibiotic regiment today. We'll see if she starts eating again normally but at the moment we have been feeding her with 'Carnivore care' using a syringe.

I may try the bee pollen route too. I hope Stitch is feeling better and eating normally again soon.

 

[PatsyB]

Don't stress if yours doesn't eat salad. I gave up with that with my 5 year old. She used to be an avid salad eater and then we had an incident and she stopped. The only way she eats it is if she is eating a crunch bug and I stuff salad in with it while she's chewing. I do give her supers her greens and so they are good and gut loaded. I also inject her soft worms with vitamins and also make sure they are dusted properly. She had a full blood workup in September and the vet said all her levels were good and her calcium was actually a tad high, which is expected with a female that is of egg laying age. With that said though, I still offer her a salad every morning and I make them pretty and I dust them with bee pollen and anything else, with hopes that one day she will start eating them again on her own!

I would try adding dubia to Crickets diet. They sound scary but they really aren't. I was terrified of them until I saw them at an expo and actually watched how they move and stuff. They are harmless. Also, silkworms are very nutritious. They can be somewhat hard to get. I order them from Coastal Silkworms. I get the small 50 count pods and let them grow to size. Supers are okay but they are a little fatty so you want to be careful how many you feed because she can get fat FAST!

 

[dugost]

Great info. I'll keep trying the salad route, mixing it up to see if anything entices her, and gut-loading her supers. I think at the moment I'm running into so much trouble because she doesn't seem interested in eating much of anything. I may try to sneak some veg in with her worm bites. Haha.