I've tried many ways to get my beardie baby to eat his veggies, any new suggestions?

Question

He eats plenty of crickets, about 20 per day, and he has licked at some of the squash baby food we gave him, but he won't have any thing to do with the greens we've been trying to feed him. We've tried mustard, callored, and dandilion greens. He took to bites of the dandilions and hasn't toched anything else since. We tried tiny pieces of grapes and lots of baby food varieties, but crickets are the only thing he will eat. We tried not feeding him for 1 whole day, and still nothing. We had to give him crickets after that, so he wouldn't go hungry. I tried wiggling it in front of him, putting it on a tupperware lid, and leaving bits of greens arond his cage, but he is very stubborn. What should we do?

Answer 1

It sounds like I wrote this. lol. I had this VERY same problem except it was with my russian tortoise. The only thing she'd eat was peas. I went to several forums on tortoises, and finally I got an answer, which I'll share with you. Only put your bearded dragon the greens you want him to eat. Everyday, just keep putting him mustard or collared or whatever you want. I know, it's hard to not give your beardie the food he likes and to see him not eat day after day. But eventually he will get hungry enough to just eat the greens you give him. It definitely worked for me. Now my tortoise eats her greens like she's supposed to. Once your beardie eats his greens daily, you can give a couple crickets now and then as a treat. Patience always wins out. Your beardie will definitely benefit from this in the long run. Go to this page to see the forum discussion I was in. Good Luck and Best Wishes.

http://tortoiseforum.org/showthread.php?tid=316

Answer 2

Bearded dragons NEED veggies. Do not listen to anyone who tells you otherwise! Just because the crickets eat veggies and are gutloaded the beardy does not get ALL of the same nutrients the crickets got. Same for people eating meat- we just don't our portion of grains from eating chicken. All it does is provide your beardy with healthy crickets.

Since it is a baby, do provide it with crickets, removing the uneaten ones.

Leave the fresh produce in the enclosure daily, letting him get used to seeing the fresh stuff. Provide fresh daily. The more it's used to seeing it, the more it'll get used to the thought of eating it.

Baby food isn't the best idea, as it really doesn't have much nutrients as compared to fresh produce. It can be a treat, but nothing more. Definately not a good staple.

Here is a bearded dragon diet list:
http://hubpages.com/_2eak79825f5lz/hub/Bearded_Dragon_Diet

Try brightly colored fruits and veggies such as carrots and strawberries.

Remember since it is a baby, it does need more protein than veggies and such. STILL provide the fresh produce, but the proteins will help with growth. Dust the crickets, and make sure they are gutloaded.

Answer 3

It's possible that he's getting sufficient nutrients and simply doesn't have any need for the veggies. After all, crickets eat vegetation, and so he's going to get some of the same nutrients that he would get from the veggies from the crickets. As long as he's continuing to eat well (the crickets), and doesn't seem to be in ill health otherwise, I wouldn't worry much.

Answer 4

Yup, babies will eat at least 80% protein and 20% vegie matter, and this will nearly reverse as they become adults. Many beardie babies won't touch their salads until at least 6-7 months old. Don't worry about it--just offer a nice fresh salad every day and he'll try it eventually. You can also dump his crickets on the salad to entice him to try it.
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/home.html

Answer 5

hi there
depending on how old ur baby is ... babies eat mostly crickets for their first 6 months and then slowly more more greens, veggies and fruits...
try to establish him on some greens but his stable diet should be crickets first and not to worry if he doesn't eat all his greens right away... hope this helps