Greens are essential part of us, and we are not alone. Even the bearded dragons need to eat their share of greens. But after spending lots of time and money for buying the grocery from the supermarket and preparing it to feed the dragon, if it avoids the greens, then all seems like a waste.
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Train a Bearded Dragon To Eat Vegetables
If you have landed on this page and are reading this piece, surely you have faced the situation too, where your little one is choosing the insects like crickets, roaches or worms over the green vegetables and fruits.
Reasons of avoiding greens:
There are various reasons behind this scenario. It can be that the dragon is too young. The small pet is not omnivorous by birth and so until they mature, they will not grow the liking for plant and vegetables. Just before their maturity age, they turn to become omnivorous and their liking in food changes. When they reach the juvenile age, they will start nibbling the pieces of greens you offer them, and after reaching the matured age, they will finish most of it.
When you feed your bearded dragon with too much calcium and vitamin supplements along with the vegetables, then they start avoiding the greens. Stop powder coating the greens heavily as this reduces the natural taste and smell of the greens. Using a minimal to moderate dose of supplement powder is advised to keep the interest of the reptiles in greens.
The heating of the enclosure also may cause the dragon to lose its appetite. As greens are not the priority food for them, they will start avoiding these first. If you are seeing the regular negligence in eating greens, check the heating of the enclosure and fix it to see some changes in the food habit of your pet. But make sure what not to feed.
When the food dish is a designer one but is too deep for the comfort and convenience of the dragon, then it stops eating from that container. Keep a dish from which the food can be easily seen but which is kept at a safe distance, so the dragon does not fall into it or topple the food.
Due to some illness the bearded dragon may stop eating the greens and other food too. Periodontal disease is quite common among bearded dragon which pains them while they try to eat anything. Also there can be digestive issue. Please see a vet and get the problem sorted.
In time of winter or even while the season is forthcoming; you can see the decrease in appetite in your bearded dragon. This can be caused by the brumation. Their metabolism slows down at this period and they started feeling lesser hungry with time. However, this is a temporary phase and you should not worry much about it.
If you are a new owner of bearded dragon, then chances are, you are feeding your pet too much and too frequently. It makes them choosy and also they do not eat greens as they do not feel hungry enough.
How much green is needed:
For the baby bearded dragon, the need of green is 20-40% and when it turns juvenile, it increases to 50%. For a mature dragon70-75% vegetables and fruit is required to be present at diet.
Tricks to feed greens:
As we all know, habits grow best at the younger age. When you are adopting a baby bearded dragon, start feeding it greens and make it a dish of chopped vegetables. It is best to be fed at the morning when they are actually hungry after the night’s starvation. If they are not taking interest in the whole portion, try give them by one or two pieces.
Giving them insects before they start liking the veggies is a bad choice. They will never like the greens later. So it is advises to first let them get accustomed with the green vegetables and fruits and later when they are getting used to with the taste, give them insects in a moderate quantity.
Giving fruits and vegetable in a mixed palate works best, as it taste better than only vegetable dishes. Giving them the dish twice a day will make them love the greens in slow but steady way. The dragons grow the sense of smell when they mature, so try giving them more fruits and less vegetable in the dish. Also top the dish with finely chopped fruits so they get curious about the smell and start eating the food.
Conclusion:
Offering small quantity of greens and that too, in finely chopped way, can make the dragons eat the greens. Use bee pollen as their salad dressing is a great way to make them interested in eating veggies.
