My Beardie won't eat veggies!!!

[Geckogal]

Hi! I have a bearded dragon who will no longer eat veggies for some reason!!! He did up until recently, however. Other than this he is completely healthy. Thank you for all of your advice!!!
P.S. I posted here before anyone else did! Woohoo!

[portal_reptiles]

how old, my breeder male did the same thing, would only eat fruit...so i tricked him by squeezing oranges on top of the greens and upping his pinkys too

[Geckogal]

Almost two years, but he won't even eat fruit. Actually, he will eat baby bok choy , but that's not really a balanced diet...

[portal_reptiles]

is he eating anything, bugs........pinkys.....my male luved pinkys

[beantownreptiles]

Must be a guy thing!  My beardie doesn't like his veggies either, so he gets his salad before anything else and most of the time he will hold out for something live.  My girls feast on their salad and then have bugs for dessert.  Lately though, no one is eating as much.  Definite slow down for the season. 

[Geckogal]

I think it really is a guy thing... except for my little male RELISHES veggies like nothing else!!! But this guy eats everything else; mealworms, horned worms, phoenix worms, superworms, crickets, grasshoppers... well, you get the point.

[portal_reptiles]

might try putting mealworms in the greens....might go for the movement of them in the greens???

i sometime would trick him that the greens where moving...lol, it worked sometimes

[krazymuttzpuck]

Personally i don't feed meal worms or pinky's, i don't feel they are any good for Beardies,( what i feed is silkworms, super worms, and crickets on occasion,and phoenix worms sometimes. i would do other worms, but they are so damn expensive) anyway back to veggies, mine do not eat a lot either, but i will say my females do it more than my males. I try not to worry to much about it, put veggies in there everyday, and if they get hungry enough or feel they are lacking something, they will eat them. Everyone is different, on how they care for BD's. That is just my way, and so far seem to be doing good. Thats my advice 

[Geckogal]

I wonder what it is about males that they don't like their veggies...

[monster]

you could try switching to organic veggies & fruits (if you're not already)

[Geckogal]

Oh of course I do! We have a whole foods kind of store right near us.

[smith710]

We had a pair of beardies a while back, our male loved his vegies, so it's not a male thing.  How do you keep your beardies? Do you have a UVB bulb for them that is still good? (Because after about a year on the bulbs, the uvb is no good any more, and like 3 months for the strip UVB bulbs).  Substrate?  There has to be a reason, and they may just be eating the bugs because they see them move, but not eating the greens because there is something wrong with them.

[Liz]

we sometiems had to trick him into eating them by dragging the greens on the ground with some tweezers.

[Geckogal]

Yeah he has a UVB bulb that's still good. He has sand substrate, but I've never seen him eat the sand along with it, and I observ almost all of his feedings.

[smith710]

Well bearded dragons like to lick everything they they see, whether it's moving or not, so he's probably getting sand in his mouth all the time.  I don't think  that's the problem though.  What kind of greens are you feeding it? Do you vary the greens at all or just use the same stuff every time?

[Geckogal]

his staple is lettuce, dandelion, nasturtium and a small bit of kale but I try to offer bok choy, alfalfa, different kinds of kale and lettuce, escarole, and peppers whenever I can. Also, I feed a beardie diet as a small treat.

[Liz]

what kind of lettuce? really no kind of lettuce is good. iceberg is the worst. 

[Geckogal]

romaine, and sometimes redleaf. I mostly feed it because it has so much water.

[smith710]

But tthat's just it, it's basically water and no nutritional value pretty much at all.  It's just a filler.

[Geckogal]

okay but aside from the whole lettuce thing, could his reluctance to eat veggies stem from his diet? Is what I'm feeding actually bad for him? 

[smith710]

It's not necessarily bad for them, just not good for them.  Try to mix it up a bit, go get some collard greens and endive, see what he thinks of those, plus they are very good for him.

[Geckogal]

Really? Someone tld me not to feed endive. Oh well.

[scrletbegonias88]

try to use a 10.0 uvb bulb if you can it helped with my girl if not try the bug on greens thing. also try to use brightly colored veggies like carrots and strawberries.

[Geckogal]

Yeah I use a 10.0 zoo med fluorescent strip. I tried carrots and strawberries but my beardies were disgusted. But sometimes I sneak carrot pealsin.

[smith710]

How long have you had the strip light?

[Geckogal]

eight months.

[smith710]

The UVB strip lights only last 3 months believe it or not.  You are better off going with the bulbs, the bulbs last either 10 or 12 months, but I know the strips don't last much longer than 3 months. After that time, it's just like any other light.

[Geckogal]

OMG! Thank you!!! The manufacturer told me it would last a year! I'll replace it today.

[smith710]

I would definately recommend going with the more normal looking bulb over the strip though, as I said thy ast alot longer,plus they are quite a bit cheaper.

[krazymuttzpuck]

My input on bulbs is, use a repti sun 10 long flourecent  bulb, it will last about 6 months. Use any coil type, you get about 1-2 months of sufficient UVB. Only way to get a full year is to use a mercury vapor bulb..quite pricey...about $48 bucks for the cheapest, i believe. But the MVB also will give off heat, so you only need the one bulb. Sometimes its better to get a bunch of different opinions, and go from there. Personally, i have 4 Beardie's and i use Repti-Sun 10, for all and replace every 6 months. All so far seem healthy and i took Sparrow (she is 1 1/2 years old) to the vet about 2 months ago, got fecal, and x-rays done of her legs, and bones look great, so i assume i am doing something right.( also if you are wondering why i got x-rays done...well i am a paranoid parent, and it seemed her front legs were swelling bad. Turns out, thankfully it was a really bad shed. She is doing well now.) Good Luck

[Geckogal]

I used Reptisun 10.0 too. But I went to the store today and now I'm using Exo'terra's 10.0 desert bulb.

[Geckogal]

Oh, and FYI, he started eating veggies today again!!!!   !
Thanks so much everyone!

[krazymuttzpuck]

Exo-terra has an 10 bulb..i thought they only went to 8 anyways..awesome he is eating his veggies!

[Geckogal]

I think that they're new.

[smith710]

Well that's awesome.  Good for him.

[bowlcuthero]

We had a pair of beardies a while back, our male loved his vegies, so it's not a male thing.  How do you keep your beardies? Do you have a UVB bulb for them that is still good? (Because after about a year on the bulbs, the uvb is no good any more, and like 3 months for the strip UVB bulbs).  Substrate?  There has to be a reason, and they may just be eating the bugs because they see them move, but not eating the greens because there is something wrong with them.

Oh and I want to add for future reference that to my knowledge you should replace all bulbs after 6 months. Not 1 year. I mean, to keep their effectiveness.