Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We have had Rexie for 3 months now and she is still not eating "greens." After a couple of weeks of not eating any type of "salad mix" I gave her dandelions. She wolfed down the flowers, but tosses the leaves aside. I made a mash of honey and a parakeet seed blend and she scarfs that up too. When I give her seeds, I put a tad of water in the cage cuz it just looks so dry.

She is really active in the morning and the late afternoon after "sunning" all day. She sleeps from 9pm to 8am. I can hold her, and she comes to the side of the enclosure when I come to feed in the morning. She'll turn her head and climb off her basking spot and seems to be waiting for food.

My question is...are flowers enough? I have been reading your posts, and most people talk about feeding greens. How can I get her to eat greens? How much green stuff should she be eating? She is about 12 inches long.

Thanks bunches!

While flowers are healthy and a good part of their diet, greens are essential. My guy was "addicted" to dandilions for a while, but we weened him off. I would chop the lettus into small pieces, and mix it with torn up dandilions. The smaller the peices, the harder it is to only pick out the good stuff. Also, each guy has a different palate, and some greens might not be tasty to him. Try dandilion greens, or mustard greens. They are tart like the flowers. If those are too intense, try bok choy and nappa cabbage. They are more mild. Also, peas are a tasty treat that can be mixed into the salad to encourage him.

The most important thing with these guys is variety. No one food has all the nutrients they need, so you should switch it up as much as you can. Good luck with your picky eater!

I have done these things for picky eaters:
mash or crush up something they like and put it on wet greens so it sticks to it- in your case seeds.Then when they flick their tongue at it-it tastes good and if they try to eat it the green goes with it... I have done this with iguana pellets, bee pollen, and even smeared mashed peas on greens before. It usually only works if this is the only way they can get these preferred foods, at least for a while.

My Malis seem to prefer the endive and bok choy, but none of my herbivores eat as well when I don't find a few flowers. I'm with Mrslate. The seeds are good for them, so sprinkle the bee pollen, or honey if you must. I also chop up the flowers and toss them in the salad so that they have to pick through the salad to get them.

Mine also love hybiscus flowers and leaves, and they are really good for them as well.

(This is for all who replied!)

Thanks bunches for the advice. I'm going to be very creative in the kitchen this weekend! LOL!!

Danielle

i get spring mix and it has never let me down. i had a mali that would only go for seeds and hibiscus. i threw some spring mix in and he hasnt stopped eating it.
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Jeff Kearney
Orlando, FL

1.0.0 Egyptian Uromastyx (Dino)
2.7.0 Bearded Dragons (Too many to name)
1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx (Rex)
2.2.0 Ball Python (Ali, Gator, Para, Medic)
0.1.1 Leopard Gecko (Layla, Nubbs, Iggy)
0.2.0 Fat-Tailed Gecko (Penelope, Brownie)
0.0.1 Corn Snake (Not sure yet)
0.0.2 Blue Phase Dumpys Tree Frog (Sticky, Squishy)

Rexie will only eat the purplish cabbage in the spring mix I buy. Maybe I'm worrying too much. How much food should a 12 inch mali be eating a day?

Danielle

mine is about that size he weighs about 625g and i feed him a handfull of spring mix each day. every once in a while he will skip a day but nothing to worry about. i was told by my vet that sometimes reptiles like certain foods because of the color. so try finding this that she can eat that are purple or even ornage. mine would eat only carrots at one point and my vet told me to switch to squash or something of that color.
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Jeff Kearney
Orlando, FL

1.0.0 Egyptian Uromastyx (Dino)
2.7.0 Bearded Dragons (Too many to name)
1.0.0 Mali Uromastyx (Rex)
2.2.0 Ball Python (Ali, Gator, Para, Medic)
0.1.1 Leopard Gecko (Layla, Nubbs, Iggy)
0.2.0 Fat-Tailed Gecko (Penelope, Brownie)
0.0.1 Corn Snake (Not sure yet)
0.0.2 Blue Phase Dumpys Tree Frog (Sticky, Squishy)