Some of you may remember from a few weeks back that I took in a Young Ig that had been dumped at a local Petco. He hasn't been eatting well and we couldn't figure out why. The other day we found out. I was feeding My beardie Her Crickets and looking over at Him. He was staring Intently at the crickets. He came running up as close as He could and starred at them. That must be what His former owners fed him..... How do I get Him to recognise greens as food?????? He has started to lose weight too.... Help! We haven't been able to find a favorite fruit or green or anything to entice Him to try a good diet either... 
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2 Iguanas, 2 Beardies, 1 Leo, 1 African Fat Tail, 1 Columbian Rainbow Boa, 1 Fla Garter Snake, 1 Banded California King Snake, 1 Corn Snake, 3 Fire Belly Toads, 1 Eastern Painted Turtle, 1 African Sideneck, 2 Horses, 4 cats, 1 dog, and I'm still not done.....
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He doesn't recognise Greens as food..... HELP!!
Replies (2)
Hi,
I read your previous posts and can't see anywhere you stated that you'd taken him to a vet. If you haven't that would be a good start. Also in a previous post you'd indicated he was eating and getting stronger .
“ Since he is now under proper lights and getting proper food he seems to be getting stronger and nastier”
What were you feeding him then? Has he gone off his food? If so it seems highly unlikely that he’s imprinted on one food. More likely, he has some other problem. Have your vet do a fecal to see if any intestinal parasites are present. Other than that, review your husbandry to see if any improvements could be made there. Are his temps ideal, does he have the proper UV lighting etc.
Best of luck
David
I agree that there is probably an underlieing problem that's causing him to not want to eat... but if he is simply imprinted on one food item, here's something you can try.
Get a piece of what he will eat, and have a few scraps of good collard-greens or whatever else he should be eating handy. Feed him a piece of what he wants, and when he's just about done chomping on that, slip the tip of a piece of collards into his mouth. He should start chewing that and will eat it, and when he's just about finished swallowing that, do it again. Keep the process going and you should be able to get quite a bit of good food into him with just the one bad thing you fed him first.
This works for my friend's ig, who just simply refuses to eat unless we force him. Still trying to figure out why... I can't seem to talk my friend into taking him into a vet ... If things keep going downhill for him, I will probably try to adopt him from my friend and get him to a vet. I already have my ig and two veiled chameleons (one of which is gravid), so there's NO room for another ig... but I just feel too sorry for him.
-Howie
