Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have bought 2 adult bearded dragons with their full setup and all that from a lady who can no longer keep them. When i asked her about what they had been eating and their usual routine she said that she didnt give them greens because they dont eat it. I have now had them for a week and have been giving them a bowl of greens everyday but with no luck. They just look at it as if they have never seen anything like it before and dont understand what they are meant to do with it. If anyone has any advice on getting them into a routine of eating greens then it would be great. I am an experienced bearded dragon owner but am a little rusty as i kept them for about 5 years and then due to work i had to give up the hobby. I am now getting back into it again and from what i can remember i never came across this problem because i always had them at a young age and they ate anything you put in front of them. you know what babies are like. So anyway if anyone can help it would be great. I will get some new pics on for you all shortly. Thanx

Chop the greens finely, almost as finely as you would for young dragons. Place silkworms, butterworms, some superworms etc ontop and in the greens. She will get greens into her when she eats the bugs. Silkworms are great for doing this as they hang onto the greens for dear life. Thus your dragon will get some greens into her mouth.

Another way is to wiggle the greens before her to entice her to take a bite. Typically after a few tastes the dragons will eat them on their own. Dropping the greens into the bowl can also entice them to come down and sample some.

It will take several weeks of trial and error to get them to eat greens. Offering a few insects in the greens but not enough insects to fill them up will be a good plan. Give the greens in the morning and leave them in. It is also a good ideal to use a relatively shadow bowl so the amount of greens isn't so much any superworms that worked their way underneath are still partially visiable. Just make sure there are enough bits of greens that your dragon can easily push them out of the way to get the tasty morsels.
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PHLdyPayne

You can also try fruit. All my Dragons like some type of fruit. Hand feed them to see what they like and then put some on the greens. Good choices are Mango, Papaya, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, or apple. Mine also really like peeled & grated yellow or green squash.

Did the lady only feed them live food? If she fed them pellets you could put her same brand on top of the salads too.

Good greens for them would be Collard, mustard, turnip, dandelion, escarole or endive. Mine like Romaine which has a little too much Vitamin A but if they'll eat it, it's a good start.