Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
I'm new here and need some advice. My husband gave me Gizmo as a Christmas present, which I absolutely loved, and I am trying to be a good "mommy". Gizmo will not eat vegetables. We have tried several different types and he ignores them. (Not sure if it really a he, just assuming at this time)
Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome. Gizmo is about eight inches long so if anyone has an idea of his age that would be great too. As soon as I get his pics downloaded I'll post them. He is too cute.
Thanks so much. I have learned a lot just reading through the board already.

I'm new to this forum, and I don't consider myself an expert on dragons by any stretch, but I might be able to help with your question a little.

There are a couple of things that may be going on with you little one. If he is 8 inches he is still pretty young, and it is not uncommon for dragons to develop more of an appetite for veggies as they mature into adults.

The other possibility I can think of, which may be more likely, is that he is still adjusting to his new environment. While crickets may be "yummy" enough for him to chase around a new enclosure, it may take him a little longer to be interested in his veggies. If possible find out what kind of veggies his previous owner fed him, and make sure to offer your dragon many different choices if you can't figure out what he was eating before.

As an example, one of my girls did not eat her veggies when I first brought her home. I contacted the breeder and found that she feed her dragons dark leafy greens like kale and collards without many veggies. The mix I was feeding mine were spring greens with yellow squash, zucchini, peas, and peppers. Because the veggies looked so different to my newly added dragon, she wouldn't eat them. The next day I bought a bag of collards, chopped them in the food processor and served--she ate them right up.

I try to add a little bit of kale or collard in with my mix now, but once my new dragon was more comfortable in her environment she started eating the same veggie mix as everyone else.

I hope this helps a little, and best of luck with your little one!

well as i know

all of my 7 beared dragons eat veggies .. when there small the tend to be more interested in crickets.. for the most part .. but i would still put greens in his tank /.. in a far corner .. he might start picking at it ..
are kids love mustard greens and collard ... and some others too

hes fine .. crickets are like there favorite when young

Thank you both so much. That makes me feel better. I have been leaving the greens in the tank, and throwing them away every night cause they get all dried up, but he won't go near them. It's good to know that it's ok for him not to. I will have to buy some collard and mustard greens though. Sounds like that's where it is.

At 8 inches I'd say from personal experience that he is 6 or 7 weeks old if he was raised under ideal conditions. This was the case with 2 of mine I bought from a breeder. (Dachiu) I've mentioned before that I also have one that was a friends and it took 20 weeks to get to that long.

I'm not a believer in Kale or Spring Mix (which I assume is just mixed lettuce). There is a great food guide at Beautiful Dragons .com (link below)

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

It tells all you'd ever want to know about Dragon food.

Spring mix is a mix of endive, mustard, romaine and other greens that many dragons find tasty, and it is recommended in Dr. Douglas Mader's text book Reptile Medicine and Surgery as a green mix for bearded dragons.

Thank you so much. I have gone and printed up this list so that I can take it with me to the produce store. One question though...can I use frozen greens? Only because I am having a hard time finding fresh greens around here. I have read about a lot of people using spring mix and I may try it to see if he will eat it. Right now trying anything. Just like a child not eating veggies ya know? LOL We bought him a branch today so he can climb closer to his heat source. He is sooo much happier now. We also got rid of the sand that we were told to use and put in the carpet. This is a whole new experience for me even though we researched and everything. He is great though. I got some pics today of him on top of the branch just gaping, I think that's what it is called, and looking very pleased. I will post some soon. He is in the midst of shedding and you can not really see his red coloring right now.

Freezing vegitables destroys Thiamin. It is important that you add the Thiamin back if the bulk of his food is frozen. I don't know how well green leafy vegitables would hold up frozen anyway.

Above someone says spring mix is suitable. I have seen in the grocery store bags of fresh greens that include collards, mustard and turnip greens. Someone on here mentioned that Walmart sells this in their area too.

I too love and live by the list on Beautiful Dragons and feel lucky that in this area there is so much fresh available all year. (i.e. Dandylion, Collards, Mustard, Turnip, Escarole, Endive etc. all green on her list)