Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi guys~

Have you ever heard of igs that don't like what they SHOULD be eating? I just can't seem to get Forest to eat Collards or any other tough green..ie..dandelion, mustard, or turnips...he won't even eat endive!

We got him when he was 7 yrs old and before that I know his owners gave him food from their doggie bags....lobster, shrimp, chicken along with quote...salad & fruit. Needless to say his taste buds were set long before we got him. The poor boy sat in my kitchen one day for 1 1/2 hours because I was cooking chicken. It took me that long to figure out that he was waiting for his snack. Doh! Broke my heart.

It took a while but I've got him on a good salad of escarole (the only good for him green that he loves), shredded sweet potato, green beans, shredded squash & mango or papaya on top.

The only green I haven't tried is watercress. That's next.

I ordered some Alfalfa on-line which I thought was cool cause they said it was picked at night fresh & packed immediately so it'd be moist & fresh. Ha! (What was I thinking)...big bag of dried green ick. I pulled out dried stems, ran it through the food processor & moistened it with water. I figured I could slip some in Forest's salad. He ate one plate full & has turned his nose at the rest of it. (I now have this 1 pound bag of dried grass looking stuff...anyone want it?)

If he sees anything in his salad that he's turned down before he'll flat REFUSE to eat anything. I even figured once that I'd win this battle by refusing to give in but after about 3 days of not eating, I finally went out & got his darn escarole, squash, green beans, sweet potato & mango!

Ever heard of an ig this picky? I WISH Forest ate like some of your guys' igs. At least the salad I have him on is full of good stuff & he's not getting any more meat products....should I be happy with what he WILL eat?

He does get a calcium supplement 2-3 days a week on his salad too.

Should I relax? Any ideas? He seems fat & happy. Just not into the variety like ALL the web sites say are key...the boy's gonna give me gray hair! LOL

Any suggestions will be appreciated & tried if I haven't already.....thanks!

Terri

the diet you have for him sounds pretty good to me, as long as he has a calcium sub. but he does so thats great. at least he eats a good amount of stuff thats good for him. have you tried chicory? my youngist ig is pretty picky and he loves it. good luck and keep tryin new things.
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brandy

http://www.greenigsociety.org/foodchart.htm

This is the list I take with me to the grocery store. I printed it out & it goes with me when I shop. The produce clerks have even looked at it & were amazed to find things on there that other ig owners buy thinking they're good for their fellas but actually aren't...(passing the message) hehe...

Chicory greens are Escarole. It's a staple green when mixed with other greens....yeah right.

I guess Forest likes that the best because it's most like the lettuces that his previous owners used to give him. Most like lettuce??? Anyway, thanks!

If I hadn't already tried it, I would have!

Terri

Boy that sounds like my Uromastyx. He was fed a diet of crickets, tomatos and lettuce. Needless to say when I got him at a reptile show and brought him home I saw how sick he was - skin and bones, a flat pancake. I started to feed him all the good greens that I give my son ig (they eat the same greens) and he ate 2 - 5 small leaves and THATS IT! I read they can eat beans so I gave it to him and now that is all he wants. Long story short... I puree his greens and beans and he hads no choice to eat that if he wants the beans that are there. Maybe puree the greens and mix it with some fruit. Good luck and keep us posted.
Sorry for being long winded.
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The addiction can be dangerous

Hey, you read my mind! That's exactly what I was about to recommend. Grass is just the opposite of Forest in this respect -- she'll eat all her leafy greens, but won't touch squash, green beans, etc unless I puree them in the food processor. You could even disguise the taste with a little of his favorite fruit or something.

Good luck & Forest, you eat those greens, you hear?

Yup my ozzy was pretty picky at first. When i got him, he was being fed the bags of mixed lettuces that dole has. The spring mix or field greens and a bit of apple. Yup thats what i was told to feed him. Well after finding this place i discoverd that was a horrible diet. Ran out and got some mustard greens, collards, squash, green beans, and cantalope for starters. Well ozzy was not impressed with this. Would pick off the cantalope and not touch the other stuff. So i mixed half of my iggy sald with half of the dole mix. Then slowly started cutting that back, and increaseing the amount of good greens. But at first everytime i introduce something new, he would turn his nose up at it. So i went to chopping and shreadding everything up real small and mixing it all together so he cant pick stuff out so easy. Now he loves his iggy salad. Still always goes for the fruit first, but has come to like his greens and veggies too, i think anyway lol. Sorry to ramble on, but i do understand your frustrations, ozzy drove me crazy at first with his eating issues. Just hang in there and keep trying. HOpefully he will learn to like his greens better than the bad stuff he used to get. Tami