Sputin Dislikes Salad

[HerdOfTortoi]

I have a wonderful beardie (as shown in my avatar pic) who is about a year and a half old, and weighs around 550g. Sputin has never been a big salad guy, although in his early youth he would sometimes chow down on his greens. For the last 6 months, however, he only occasionally nibbles at his salad.

His salad rotates through a combination of many greens - collards, kale, mustard, endive, escarole, and spring mix. It usually has some sort of topper as well - zucchini, yellow squash, strawberries, cactus pear, apples, pear, fresh hibiscus flowers. All food is dusted with calcium or vitamins, never at the same time.

He has been checked for parasites (has none) and was given 2 treatments of panacure as a prophylactic, one a month ago and one two weeks ago. He gets two soaks a week to keep him hydrated.

For the last few weeks (since a few weeks before the panacure), Sputin seems tired, and will bask sometimes, but others spend the day in his hide. I keep the lights on 14 hours to try to prevent brumation, in case that is what the problem is. I replaced his bulbs with new ones and his temps are 95-105 on one side, and 80-85 on the other.

How can I get this guy to eat greens? Nothing I do seems to work, and I feel in my gut this lack of greens has something to do with his lethargy. He is not losing weight, seems generally healthy, but only eats crickets, superworms, and silkworms with gusto. He laughed at me for a week with no insects and barely a salad nibble before I gave in. Can my beardie survive on a mostly insect diet? Everything I read says it is not healthy, and I want Sputin to be around as long as possible!

 

[Vincent]

If he is not losing weight he should be fine,just give him a week or so.If you are worried about it.i would take him to the vet.but i think hes fine.

 

[Em Lynch]

My BD is incredibly fussy when it comes to vegetables, a recent lack of interest in Vegetables could mean he is about to shed. My BD goes off her collards when a shed is immanent it could also be due to relocation stress if any changes like that have been made recently? My beardie has been offered different varieties of veg in the past and she has declined everything except collards so thats the only thing i feed her! have you tried vegetable based baby food? i heard somewhere that its good to use as a last resort if a BD is having trouble eating (in general)

Thats the only advice i can think of i hope it helps, i'll let the experts give their opinions on the lethargy and an all insect diet.

P.s do you gut load your insects?? because if you do, Sputin will absorb the nutrients that way

 

[HerdOfTortoi]

Sometimes we sppon-feed him some baby food with Critical Care in it, to keep him hydrated and full of nutrients during an especially rebellious fast by Sputin. I gut load all crickets with collard greens in hopes he gets a little that way as well.

Lately he has shed in a strange way - one week his head, another his chin and one sleeve of one arm, then both back legs . . . never all at one now. Is that normal? Perhaps it has something to do with his eating.

 

[Germ]

Lately he has shed in a strange way - one week his head, another his chin and one sleeve of one arm, then both back legs . . . never all at one now. Is that normal? Perhaps it has something to do with his eating.

This is quite a normal occurrence, they will shed the parts of their anatomy that have grown out of the old skin, all body parts don't always grow at the same rate. This generally becomes more prevalent as they get older.

 

[Em Lynch]

I can confirm that, my BD is shedding in odd puzzle pieces recently, first her front legs and top back, then her beard and tail at once and now everything else that got missed!

 

[Aleena]

They can be incredibly fussy eaters when they're shedding! Also, he's getting old enough that if he's eating tons of protein he might not eat his veggies as well. How much protein are you feeding him?

 

[HerdOfTortoi]

It varies. For a while he was getting a few crickets or a few superworms or a few silkworms every other day. Then I gave them once a week for a while to force him to eat more salad . . . didn't really do much to motivate him. Now it is about every 3 days, getting anywhere from a dozen large crickets (he never finishes them all) to 4 or 5 superworms in his salad (which he promptly picks out, almost always eats just 3 or 4).

I appreciate the replies!

 

[Aleena]

usually works to take away the protein for a bit to get em to eat their greens. Cruddy! Some dragons never eat their veggies good, silly little children.

 

[HerdOfTortoi]

I am gonna be strong and put him on a salad only two week experience, and watch his weight to make sure he doesn't lose too much. The shed theory might be right though, I saw quite a few eye bulges today!

 

[HerdOfTortoi]

UPDATE!!

After greatly restricting insects for a while, Sputin now eats veggies . . . sort of. Mostly he munches mango, plum, strawberries, and apple. Only once in a while, but more than before, he eats greens.

I have read that too much fruit gives some reptiles parasite blooms. Is it ok that Sputin eats a great deal of fruit?