beardie help

[jacks-pythons]

im only new to lizards and have only had them for a few weeks but im concerned with the fact they dont seem to eat any of there vegies. i bought lizard food from a pet shop and tried that but they dont eat it ither. they love the crickets and meal worms but never touch the vegies. i cut them up small as there only 6 month old. any help is much appreciated

 

[nagini-baby]

hi there. the only thing i own that will touch beardie pellets is the water dragon.. but hes strange like that. as littleies some of them dont really get the drift that veg is edible maybe try putting mealworms in witht the veg so it all looks like food and moves.. try bok choy my week old bubs were going nuts over it

 

[fugawi]

Try some dandylions from the garden. Mine eat it out of my hand.

 

[jacks-pythons]

awesome thanx heaps ill give it a go will it matter if they get out into the enclosure and hide in th bark or anything??

 

[carbs]

if you have baby beardies you should cut the heads off the mealies and with the crickets only put enough in for them to eat straight away or the crickets can nibble at the beardies especially if there babies. but my beardies wouldnt eat pellets but i tried the orange exo terra pellets. they love them and you can mix the veges in with them another good product is the vitamin and mineral spray from reptile sciences you can spray it on the reptile and also on there food. hope that helps!!

 

[Wally]

The major component of a young dragons diet consists of mainly protein rich insects. They have a lot of growing to do in a relatively short space of time, and eating a large amount of insects allows this to happen. By all means keep offering vegies and as suggested above flowers like dandelion. Nasturtium flowers are also good to provoke a feeding response.

 

[insane-warlord]

ive got 2 beardies and have had 2 in the past, and found they never touch vegies, my first 2 had a little bit of rocket (perhaps try that) but my current ones dont touch it even though i offer them carrot and rocket, dont panic they dont usually eat vegies till there a little bit bigger just make sure you put calciuym powder on the crickets (i dont use vitamin d3 dunno if you should or not but mine seem healthy)

 

[Erebos]

You could try putting a few small drowned roaches on top. They will accidentally get some veggies that way.

 

[reptileKev81]

Yeah, its hard to get the younguns to eat their veges.
I've had much success with mixing in brightly coloured veges. Yellows and oranges are a favourite colour, so I make sure I mix their greens with either grated squash, pumpkin or carrot. As soon as she sees the bowl she tries to get at it through the glass, lol. And shes still only 7 months old.
Give it a go. I also heard that red capsicum is another good colour to mix in.
Good luck

Cheers
Kev

 

[jacks-pythons]

thanx heaps for the help guys its been a big help ill be trying all things in the morning. is there a certain time of the day i should put it in there or how long should i leave it in there

 

[LizardLady]

Salad in the morning, crickets at lunch time. This way, when hungry for "breakfast", he'll eat his salad...

Please don't give young dragons mealworms - at risk of impaction. Even as adults, they should be offered as a treat only.

Calcium rich greens, hand-fed, may stimulate a feeding response - try Bok Choy, Parsley, Nasturtium leaves (and flowers), Endive, Watercress (young Nasturtium plant)... ReptileKev81 has given you some good advice - they do like bright colours - add finely chopped red capsicum and see what happens!

If you'd like any other info, flick me a PM with your email addy and I'll forward my Care Sheet and some info to you...

Best,
Carolyn

 

[reptileKev81]

Salad in the morning, crickets at lunch time. This way, when hungry for "breakfast", he'll eat his salad...

Please don't give young dragons mealworms - at risk of impaction. Even as adults, they should be offered as a treat only.

Calcium rich greens, hand-fed, may stimulate a feeding response - try Bok Choy, Parsley, Nasturtium leaves (and flowers), Endive, Watercress (young Nasturtium plant)... ReptileKev81 has given you some good advice - they do like bright colours - add finely chopped red capsicum and see what happens!

If you'd like any other info, flick me a PM with your email addy and I'll forward my Care Sheet and some info to you...

Best,
Carolyn

Listen to LizardLady, she knows what shes talking about. Shes help alot of people when it comes to dragons and I learnt a whole BUNCH of useful things from her. Carolyn, you should change your nick to LizardGodess, haha, or LizardWiki lols

As for when to feed, I will give my BD her first salad of bok choy, shredded carrot, shredded squash about an hour after her heat turns on.
If she polishes it off in one go, I'll give her another straight away, otherwise I wait till the early afternoon (she doesnt usually eat to much of that one but I like to keep it there anyways just in case.
Then in the arvo, I'll feed her crickets, or on the rare occassion I'll give her some mini-mealworms instead as a treat only, since its like junkfood to beardies, haha. If you have trouble finding mini-mealworms (only mini, you cant give them full sized mealworms for fears of impaction) send us a PM and I'll turn you onto my supplier (a top mob with great prices, top quality, and will send them right to your door).
Cheers
Kev