Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got Nellie a couple of months ago; the nearest I can figure is that she's around 3 yrs. old. The problem is, the guy I got her from NEVER fed her greens--only pinkie mice & crix. He had a pretty accurate care sheet, so I don't know why he never fed her greens. Anyway, I offer them everyday, but she doesn't touch them. I've fed them to her with forceps, but I don't like to do that because I don't want to hurt her or stress her out. I also don't want her to associate unpleasantness with me. She appears healthy, otherwise. She's calm but somewhat "shy," however, she will go to sleep on my pillow next to me on the couch. The one time my hubby offered her a pinkie, she refused it; crix are all she eats. Has anyone gotten an older dragon to eat greens? Can she get enough liquid from crix & misting alone? I'm concerned that she may become dehydrated. TIA for all responses!

I would not worry to much about it. Just keep fresh greens in her cage and she will probably eat them eventually. I would also stay away from feeding her pinkies, crickets are much more healthy. You should soak and or spray her since she is not getting the moisture she needs from her greens. Good luck.

Peter

Thank you so much. It's hard not to worry about them, isn't it?

My bearded dragon is not a big fan of the greens usually. When he goes several days with out eating them, i hold him under the sink faucet. You let the water drip slowly on their nose and he drinks that way. At first he is really squirmy, but then he calms down when he remembers that we are just getting a drink. Be careful as to how you hold them though, they do have a tendency to poop while drinking this way!

I had a problem with one of my beardies a while back where she decided to stop eating greens. I think she got sick from something and associated feeling sick with the greens. Anyway, she refused all greens for a month or more. Actually, she refused all vegetable matter. She wouldn't eat any fruit or vegetable I offered her, and I tried them all, even her favorites. She would only eat crickets and mealies. I even tried offering only veggies to her for a couple of days (no bugs), hoping she would eventually start eating the greens, but she just lost weight and was very unhappy.

What finally did the trick was buying a very leafy head of butter lettuce, with the roots attached. I've seen them sold in several grocery stores. It comes in a plastic clamshell box, and it's with all the other vegetables. So I took it home, washed it, left it in the box, put it on the ground and introduced my beardie to it. She immediately charged the lettuce and started ripping into it (This was 2 minutes after offering her greens again and her refusing). I think that she wanted to see the entire plant that she was eating, not just ripped up greens and pieces of fruit. I still don't understand why she was being so finicky. I think maybe she thought I was trying to poison her or something. But immediately after that, she started eating all the greens and fruit I offered her.

So I would suggest something like that. It might work, it might not. Get a whole leafy plant (doesn't have to be butter lettuce, just something edible), and introduce your beardie to it. See if it awakes some grazing instinct in him.