Will NOT eat greens - HELP

[Sunkiss]

Hi. Sunkiss will not eat her greens! This has gone on for almost 2 months. I have just about every veggie/green that is considered 'good for beardies'.
What should I do? She is dehydrated. She will eat the crickets and roaches very happily. Should I force feed? If yes, then what should I force feed? Greens? Baby food? Thawed frozen veggies? Canned veggies?

 

[bouncer36]

Mine won't eat all his greens either he eats maybe one leaf. Been going on for a year

 

[Sunkiss]

Mine won't eat all his greens either he eats maybe one leaf. Been going on for a year

Does your beardie drink water?

 

[bouncer36]

No I give him a soak in the tub every other day for ten to fifteen min

 

[Pat B]

spike doesnt eat greenseither....how would you force feed a beardie?

 

[Chris Baez Jr.]

With a good spray bottle, mist him two or three times a day with fresh water. Make sure you mist the face, a lot of time they will try to leak their face clean and sip in some water. When bathing, gently throw some bath water on his face with your hand.

I don't know what others will say, but I'm not a fan of force feeding, unless it is a life and death situation.

Mine didn't didn't eat greens for about a month either, but I always put them in there every morning, though I had to dump them out every afternoon. Here's an idea: Offer the veggies in the morning, no prey food 'till the afternoon. Eventually he will come and try the greens.

 

[Germ]

Try Green Beans, they will sometimes spark it's interest in greens. I totally agree on the not force feeding unless it is absolutely necessary. I wouldn't suggest misting 2-3 times a day though, is stressful on the BD & may do more harm than good, every other day should suffice, if done at all with an adult, other than while shedding. 2-3 times a week warm soaks if it is not eating it's greens may be necessary, as Bouncer36 mentioned. Putting Pedialyte in the bath water will also help in hydration if it is indeed dehydrated. There are the odd BDs that just never take to their greens. Be sure that your feeders are very well hydrated, so it will receive more moisture from there.

How often do you feed live Prey?

Good Luck

 

[Noella]

Mine's shedding and isn't eating much of her greens either. They're like kids. They don't want something that's good for them. So I enticed Allie with some canned green beans first. When she didn't want to eat her greens, I decided to try something she had not had in a while. A small piece of smashed banana. Um, you should've seen the look she gave her Grammy this evening. I had her out while fixing her salad. She was hiding in my hair and looking out of it. Well, Grammy came in and I cut off a little bit of banana and gave her Grammy the rest. She stared at her Grammy for a long time with a 'sad puppy dog look.' I took a small little piece and let her look and smell. She ate the little piece and she looked happy to have something new and tasteful. I rarely feed her bananas, but I figured once in a while.

 

[bouncer36]

I try to get Jessie to eat his green I put raspberries on top of his which is his favourite by the way. And he goes down to his bowl and eats all the raspberries off the top and leave the rest

 

[Sunkiss]

Thanks everyone.
I give her warm soaks every couple days. I might try adding Pedialyte.
I use a dropper and offer water from her water bowl daily - often she will lap some - this is encouraging.
I have tried fresh green beans and she's not interested. I will try canned.
I used to feed her live prey morning and evening; however, I have quit live feeding in the mornings in hopes she will get hungry during the day and at least pick at her salad.....this has only worked a couple of times. She holds out for the goodies - live prey. Stinker!
Sometimes I add diced fruit to her salad and sometimes she will pick at it - she leaves the greens though.
I have forced her to eat some greens. I gently push pieces into the front of her mouth and the ones she doesn't spit out she angrilly chomps on.
She is a handful!

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@Sunkiss... I wouldnt recommend force feeding greens to your dragon. Besides being a choking hazard the experience of having them 'pushed' into her mouth against her will is more likely to turn her off of them longer. In my experience reptiles as well as most animals remember bad experiences and the things associated with them and will steer clear of anything related to those experiences. I have a nephew whose when he was a child would not touch green foods, as alot of children won't, and once when he was 3 or 4 years old I was present at dinner at a resturant when his dad forced him to eat green jello...the boy spit it out at the table and his dad snatched him up and drug him to the restroom and spanked him and when the boy returned he sat crying but ate the green jello..it was a horrifying experience for all present I assure you and we all voiced it...to this day my nephew who is now in his mid twenties will not touch green foods.
I know that is an extreme example but also food for thought. Syringe feeding is a viable alternative if nothing else works. It's a type of force feeding too but you are at least not associating the visual and textural parts of the foods you are feeding since the syringe food is blended which may help not permanantly turn your dragon away from his salad.
Just my thoughts...Enjoy your day

 

[Sunkiss]

Thank you. I was forcing her because the Vet told me to do so. I agree with you in that I don't want to her view this as a negative. I hope it hasn't turned her off for good now. Oh no

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

I'm surprized the vet would suggest that and not suggest proper syringe feeding. That would make me look for another vet to be honest with you..smh
As I said I would use syringe feeding ONLY as a last result...a lot of times patience with the animal pays off the best.
As Germ mentioned above I would not press the issue because there are dragons that in fact never really take to greens, especially younger ones. I would definitely try the Pedialyte in the bath water and also as suggested make sure that your feeders are well hydrated and gut loaded before feeding them. Our Mungi will turn himself on and off greens periodically and as matter of fact is currently in one of his No GREEN stuff moods.
I trick him by feeding his crickets the same veggies and fruits that I feed him so he still gets his veggies but not green..lol..I mentioned in another thread about how when I was a kid I wouldnt eat many veggies so my Mom would make "Surprize Burgers" where she would stick green beans inside the hamburger patties before cooking them...to me if it was a burger I always chomped it down...So you may want to use the same idea with your dragon..feed the greens to your crickets as well and when he chomps them he will be none the wiser and then just be patient and keep offering the veggies and he might start eating them on his own.
Another thing that I would suggest trying is the RepCal Bearded Dragon Food...That was also suggested to me by Germ and Mungi has shown interest in that when he is off of greens...it is a complete balance food too just be sure to soak it in some warm water beforehand which will moisten and soften it. It comes in both a Juvenile and Adult version but both are almost identical except one having slightly less protein. We have had good results with it. I know that PetSmart carries it.

 

[Sunkiss]

Thank you. I have been feeding the crickets and roaches veggies...I've always done that. I will try the RepCal food and see what she does with it.
I really love her and I smile when I look at her - she is so pretty. I love it when I hold her and looooks at me and cocks her little head back and forth, like she is trying to figure me out!

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

That's exactly what she is doing...trying to figure you out And yes indeed we all love these amazing creatures...they make so easy to do just that
Here is the stuff you want:
http://www.repcal.com/BDragon.htm

Also you may notice that you dragon only eats the green ones..That's all Mungi will eat and I believe Germ said his only eat the green ones too...if you find that then save the other colours and crunch them up and feed them to your crickets..they will gobble them for sure and then your dragon will still get them

 

[Germ]

I surely would not be force feeding in any way at all, unless it was absolutely necessary because there was danger of starving to death. Definitely not just so that it gets it's greens when it is eating other foods as in the live Prey. Greens really have very little nutrition & are basically more a source of hydration & this can be accomplished other ways, misting, soaks, well Hydrated feeders & other moist foods.

If you choose to try the Repcal BD Food (I have been using them for many years, my BDs actually rarely see fresh greens) & as Buddha mentioned, they may not eat the red & Brown ones, some do, some don't. There are always more green than the other 2 colors. I suggest leaving them whole rather than crushing them to feed to the feeders & placing them in a jar lid or something similar & moistening them until they swell & keep them moist as they dry out if not all eaten, so this will also provide hydration & not use up the feeders moisture stores in the digestive process as it would if fed dry, in the same way it would a BD if fed Dry, reducing their moisture content getting to the BD in the process.

I can't remember, how old is your BD?

 

[znarfuol]

Well, for starters, it's good that she still eats though. You can make sure she gets hydrated by misting her or giving her drops of water. You could add some color to her greens just like adding some slices of berries or pears.

 

[Sunkiss]

Hi.
Sunkiss is 13 months old. Today I added some canned green peas to her salad and my husband reported to me later that he saw her eating. Yippppeeee!
I have tried fresh green beans and she's not interested. I have not tried canned green beans - I'll try that too. I will stick to what I gave her today for a few days and see if she really likes it.
Either she likes it or she was just really hungry from not being fed live prey for a day and a 1/2.

 

[Germ]

Sunkiss is nearing the age that you can start feeding live prey only every other day, which will very possibly spark her interest in greens. Your last post may be confirming that.

 

[Sunkiss]

Sounds good, except I worry about her on the days that I don't feel live prey and she doesn't touch her salad either. Normal???