Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi everyone,
about a month ago my baby mali wasn't eating and lost a bunch of weight (i posted here for advice, thanks to everyone who responded). in any case, i lowered the overall heat of the cage and figured out some stress factors to get rid of, in addition to giving him a warm bath in which he produced the biggest bm EV-ER and he started eating again. however, since he's started eating again he's been all about the dandylions. and i mean like ALL ABOUT. he won't eat a pea if given to him, but a pea covered in dandylion petals is like candy. i''ve been able to exploit this to fatten him back up, get him his daily vitamin suppliments, and to trick him into eating leafy greens. i'm not worried about him now because we can trick him into eating anything, but what will i do when dandylion season is over with and i can't coat things in those sweet sweet petals? does anyone have any tips for weening him off the dandylions or perhaps have an idea for something he'd be equally excited about that i could feed him during the winter months.
any advice is appreciated!

helga turtlehead is the PICKIEST uro on the planet and she was a rescue. you would think being starved almost to death would make her want to eat anything, but not this stubborn uro. i seriously nursed her back to health on soy beans and peas, occasionally sneaking in other things. once she was off all medicines and was a healthy weight, i kind of tough loved her. she would get a few peas on top of a salad. she would eat the peas and ignore everything else. eventually she ate some squash, loved dry food which eventually had to be monitered also. it took me 7 months to find a leafy green she would eat on a regular basis--bok choy, which i had tried before. someone told me once uros tastes change and things they ate before, they will stop eating and they will start eating things they did not before and will go back to the old ones eventually. sometimes i also only gave her things she would not eat without peas and she would break down and nibble on them. she never lost any weight from this treatment because everytime she went to the vet for check ups, she had always gained weight
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***