Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Last Saturday I took in a 2 year old beardie from a family that was no longer interested in having him. They had him in calci-sand *cringe* and the only greens that were ever fed was romaine lettuce. I'm feeding him the same salad my iguana gets which can include any of the following: chollard greens, dandelion, escarole, carrot, parsnip, prickly pear, green beans, mango, strawberries etc. Any thoughts on getting him interested? He just sniffs it and walks away. He absolutely loves live prey of any kind however. I know that cricketfood.com offers a salad topper but they no longer deliver outside the US.
As well, I have yet to see him go to the bathroom. He is pretty chubby and I'm worried he could be impacted from the substrate that was used. He is not lethargic though and runs around the house exploring like crazy. I do need to make a trip to the pet store to get him a new UV light as the one that was used is nearly a year old. As well, they had no thermometers so at the present time I do not know the temp. I replaced the heat bulb though because he enclosure was way too cold.
I've been giving him warm baths and he's had a little bit of vegetable oil. Anything else I can try before a trip to the vet?
Thanks!

i would give him a few more days to see if he poops. Adults are more able to hold it in longer than babies. ALso, if he hasn't been eating alot, that could explain why he hasn't needed to go to the bathroom.

To get him more interested in the greens you are offering, try dropping or burying superworms, silkworms, butterworms or hornworms in with the greens. It is also a good trick to finely chop up the greens, so there is a higher chance he gets some when going for the insects. Too coarsely chopped greens are easier to spit out or pick around for the morsals he likes the most.

To help with possible constipation, you can try pureed carrots or squash and see if you can get him to eat that.

It is a very good ideal to get a digital thermometer with probe (easily found at Canadian Tire, Zellers, Home Depot etc for about $8-$35 CDN, depending on the style/brand). These are more accurate than most petstore dial/stickup type thermometers and the extrernal probe allows you to put it directly ontop of the basking spot to measure the basking temp and the other end can be put outside the cool end (no point putting it inside the cage as the bearded dragon will most likely knock it over, maybe even pull out the probe wire etc. As long as the cool end does get lower, you shouldn't have any problems. Hides and shaded areas also ensure cooler areas for your dragon to go.

My baby beardie LOVES baby food sweet potatoes & apple, mango, kiwi mixture from Gerber. It has NO problems in the poop dept!! Maybe try a tiny bit of cooked prune or a chopped up cooked raisin. Let us know what works! Good luck!