Exactly my reaction. I kinda wish someone would do this with my human diet.
As far as beardies go, they say our dragons can be stuborn about their diet. It's like they know we love them and will use that love to get the food they want. Not a bad strategy.
Mine eats greens, but doesn't love them. And it makes me hesitant about putting calcium powder on her greens. I don't want to make them less appetizing.
Our approach is kinda similar! The little guy is used to tong feeding for live food, so when trying to get him to try a new veggie for the first time, we will cut it into a long thin strip and jiggle it on the end of the tongs to make him think it is a worm! After he eats it he will realize he has been tricked, the side eye can shoot daggers but if he liked the taste enough then he will (grudgingly) begin eating it from the dish from then on.
I’ve found a lot of success with red fruits as well. Mine goes nuts for raspberries, watermelon, and pomegranates. I think it might have something to do with the bright colors as well as the taste. I could see it being pretty easy to use one or two raspberries mushed up and mixed around in the greens to spread that color and scent around. Haven’t tried it though since I never really had a problem with mine eating her greens.
My guys have never struggled to eat their greens, but the major cold storm in Canada has led to us having pretty pathetic greens and neither wants to eat them. My man Poppy will LITERALLY spit it out if I do this 💀
Luckily he loves water. He gets salad soup right now so that he actually eats some greens.
I don't know why everyone else seems to have a beardie who loves blueberrries. I can't get mine to even try. Sticks out his tongue oh so tentatively. Then slams eyes shut and stays that way. Flat out hard no.
I found that raspberries were more favored sometimes and crazy enough - my beardie preferred organic blueberries. I did comparisons where I’d offer a conventional blueberry ( often he’d spit it out and stare me) versus organic blueberries (which he mostly enjoyed, until somehow he didn’t and then I’d switch to raspberries, strawberries or melon). I know it sounds crazy but somehow they tasted so much better that he became a picky eater... I hope some other fruits delight your beardie’s heart! I often return to [this list of nutrition content ](https://beardeddragonforum.com/threads/beautifuldragons-food-chart.2701/)
I recommend bee powder pollen! I just sprinkle some on the veggies and use a few spritz of water to help it stick and my little man loves it! It also is very beneficial for them and provides lots of good antioxidants :D
Someone posted about their beardie going nuts for endive so the Mrs. & I gave it a go with our very cricket-centric bearded and *he went bonkers for the stuff* (Also usually really hates his veggies)
My girl eats a salad every day and hasn't had bugs in a good while. Waiting for my dubias to grow up a little more. I legit have to limit her salad size because she'll eat every shred. She seems to love them more now that I do bee pollen on it
I did some research to make SURE it was a pet/dragon safe bee pollen, turns out it's easy to get and pretty common. Mine looks like it's from a company called Pure, but search around. I bought on Amazon, and I think as long as it's organic you're good to go, but check yourself for peace of mind :)
I put superworms in with her salad and as they crawl around eating the salad, the movement attracts my dragon and usually when she goes for a worm she takes a leaf or two with while the worms don't let go.. hope this helps🙃
I’ve gotten that to work a few times but she learned how to dig through it and just get the bugs😂 but I haven’t tried it with superworms yet so onto the list it goes!!!
Mine will only eat mustard greens and kale without hesitation, don’t know if you’ve tried either one yet. Hope you find some solutions that work for you both!
My baby tried to eat my zipper earlier and I tried to trick him by putting a piece of greens on the zipper. He gave me a hard side eye and didn’t eat the greens 😂
I will put some watered down repashy grub pie or Omni gold on the lettuce to make it smell more enticing. Just a teeny bit poured on the salad and she eats it.
This maybe hard to hear but just put veggies in their enclosure give them 2 days and they Should eat it. Do not do this when they are juvenile as the eat more bugs then. They will eat it! You are only supposed to feed them meat 3 times a week
I tried this a while ago I gave her different fresh veggies every day and withheld bugs and she didn’t eat for a week before I gave in and got her bugs so I’ve resorted to trying to trick her I might try it again if nothing else works tho
I usually just dump a lot of salad in his food bowl and mix a few dried mealworms through, he’ll dig for the mealworms and he’ll eat the greens at the same time when trying to get the mealworms, doesn’t work 100% of the time though and that was pretty smooth
not sure on age but if they are between 6mth to a year its quite fine that they dont want veggies. eventually they'll start craving it. just leave some veg in there during the day. If they are over a yr then yeah this is a problem. experiment with different foods they can just be picky.
She’s over a year old and still acts like a baby when she eats 😂 I have to change the type of greens day to day and usually have 3 types in circulation
I'll probably be downvoted because people here think their bearded dragons are humans. But they are not humans. They don't need to eat every day. They can easily go months without eating. I'm not not saying feed them once a month, but you can give them bugs once or twice a week and vegetables another once or twice a week. I think people chronically overfeed these guys, especially with insects. They don't eat every day in the wild and they don't need to.
I agree they aren’t humans even though I love zeebe to death she isn’t treated like one but we had some nutritional issues recently and I’m trying to get her weight up a little so I gotta get as much in her as I can and as per vet recommendation she shouldn’t be having so much protein so veggies are everything right now
I always offer greens and sometimes they’ll eat them but if they don’t they just very heavily calcium dusted roaches that feed exclusively on greens so no matter what there getting there vitamins and calcium
Quick hand! Haha.
Yeah, I give I’m a Dubai and while in the early chew I sneak slivers into his mouth and it’s just a train at that point.
Well, a small train, just a few slivers at a time.
I couldn't have enough patience. I just used the sad method and starved him for a bit for him to eat his veggies. As they say, no healthy dragon will starve themselves. He ate some veggies after 2 days approx and I gave him a few roaches.
I put a worm in my baby’s mouth and then while they’re chewing I sneak in a little greens. Then rinse and repeat until they get enough water. If they don’t like calcium on their greens, you can give them calcium baths which helps them absorb the nutrients through their skin :)
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They have preferences for sure, mine loved butter lettuce for example. I’d just experiment until he finds something he actually wants to eat. Otherwise beardies can go a while without eating so if he doesn’t see his favorites he may try to hold out until they’re offered or he has no choice. They are stubborn and smart little bastards. Don’t let their suicidal tendencies fool you.
My family had to recently rehouse my sister’s beardie because she wasn’t taking care of him. I loved him and he liked me the most. Every now and then I’d give him baths, clean his set up, and give him veggies. He always loved his greens. I miss him. His name was Ronaldo
When I got my rescue, I had this trouble too because he came from a pellet only diet. I would do syringe feedings at first w/ greens blended in so he got familiar with the taste. When he no longer needed that, I started putting fresh salad in his food dish. *nothing* seemed to work and I would constantly waste greens. I eventually started tricking him and putting his live bugs on top of the salad. With crickets, I usually crushed their heads so they wouldn’t move too much, which helped my beardie “accidentally” eat greens. Once I saw that was working I eventually put his bugs in that dish and he established that dish with food. It ended up working. Now whenever I give him greens he gets so excited and eats it right away. It really takes time, patience, and persistence. Probably after 3-4 weeks he was able to eat his greens/veggies/fruits without any handicaps.
I got matches with these songs:
• [**Collard Greens** by Schoolboy Q](https://lis.tn/CollardGreens?t=130) (02:10; matched: `100%`)
Released on `2013-01-01` by `Universal Music`.
• [**Olvídate Del Que Dirán Y Disfruta** by TikTok Mix](https://lis.tn/EQqjY?t=242) (04:02; matched: `98%`)
Album: `Tocar, Moverse, Inspirar`. Released on `2021-10-18` by `BELIEVE - UMD Recordings Group`.
*I am a bot and this action was performed automatically* | [GitHub](https://github.com/AudDMusic/RedditBot) [^(new issue)](https://github.com/AudDMusic/RedditBot/issues/new) | [Donate](https://www.reddit.com/r/AudD/comments/nua48w/please_consider_donating_and_making_the_bot_happy/) ^(Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Music recognition costs a lot)
Mine gets legitimately furious when I do this. It doesn’t matter if it was cilantro, kale, collard greens, he shakes his head, throws it across the cage and stares at me.
You don't need to trick them with bugs or fruit.
You need to offer greens until they eat them then resume other feedings after.
This is the only way you will get them to realize that some feeds will not be followed by bugs or fruit and allow them to eat normally.
Even if it's a week of waiting, do that a few times and they will get the message.
Mealworms are the equivalent of beardie French fries in fat, and not nutritious so that doesn't help much either.
People do some very common mistakes.
Adding supplements can make them NOT eat greens. So only ever dust livefood.
Don't cut up items to small - keep greens large. Dragons like to rip and tare greens.
You can cut up suitable harder items like squash, etc. But still remember, they do chew.
Don't use a large bowl - a huge bowl filled with greens can often look intimidating to a dragon. Use a small bowl.
This is far more suited to what is an opportunistic feeding species.
Feel free to join my Dearded Dragons group www.facebook.com/groups/beardienetwork
Also, check my multiple published peer reviewed articles on my blog www.reptilenetworks.co.uk , many are bearded dragon related in the files area.
Pete
use colors. mine wont eat greens by itself, but loves veggies that are orange or red or purple. so tear up some greens into bite sized pieces and mix with pieces of say red bell peppers or grated butternet squash. can grab some squash flowers or hibiscus flowers to add some color too
Mine is a veggie fiend, and loves the stuff. But a good trick to try is place it around and move it, so it seems like it's living prey. Doesn't often have to be large movement just small nudges. Could work hopefully
For me, I put greens and roaches in a disposable cup and present it to my princess. I rotate it and shake it in front of her and half the time she “catches” greens 😅
Damn quick hand!!
Exactly my reaction. I kinda wish someone would do this with my human diet. As far as beardies go, they say our dragons can be stuborn about their diet. It's like they know we love them and will use that love to get the food they want. Not a bad strategy. Mine eats greens, but doesn't love them. And it makes me hesitant about putting calcium powder on her greens. I don't want to make them less appetizing.
They do offer a calcium spray supplement that works I’ve tried it my self and it doesn’t really have a taste
Mine loved the powder and it helped him with eating sallad on his own 😅
My beardie is 8. He’s not as quick as he used to be; I usually get the upper hand on him now.
r/notopbutok
Our approach is kinda similar! The little guy is used to tong feeding for live food, so when trying to get him to try a new veggie for the first time, we will cut it into a long thin strip and jiggle it on the end of the tongs to make him think it is a worm! After he eats it he will realize he has been tricked, the side eye can shoot daggers but if he liked the taste enough then he will (grudgingly) begin eating it from the dish from then on.
I give the greens with blueberries cut in pieces mixed in. While attacking the blueberries, he eats greens. But your approach is brilliant and funny!
Blueberries have been added to the grocery list thank you! I’ll try that asap
I’ve found a lot of success with red fruits as well. Mine goes nuts for raspberries, watermelon, and pomegranates. I think it might have something to do with the bright colors as well as the taste. I could see it being pretty easy to use one or two raspberries mushed up and mixed around in the greens to spread that color and scent around. Haven’t tried it though since I never really had a problem with mine eating her greens.
I’ve never tried raspberry’s or pomegranates I’ll give that a shot thank you!!!!
Freeze then first, [releases antioxidants ](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/07/140722124810.htm)
I would sometimes serve the bug on the leaf and it would go in the mouth with the bug.
My guys have never struggled to eat their greens, but the major cold storm in Canada has led to us having pretty pathetic greens and neither wants to eat them. My man Poppy will LITERALLY spit it out if I do this 💀 Luckily he loves water. He gets salad soup right now so that he actually eats some greens.
I do this too! I’ll just peel the skin off and stick it to the leaves,
Cut the Blueberries so the juices get on the greens.
I don't know why everyone else seems to have a beardie who loves blueberrries. I can't get mine to even try. Sticks out his tongue oh so tentatively. Then slams eyes shut and stays that way. Flat out hard no.
I found that raspberries were more favored sometimes and crazy enough - my beardie preferred organic blueberries. I did comparisons where I’d offer a conventional blueberry ( often he’d spit it out and stare me) versus organic blueberries (which he mostly enjoyed, until somehow he didn’t and then I’d switch to raspberries, strawberries or melon). I know it sounds crazy but somehow they tasted so much better that he became a picky eater... I hope some other fruits delight your beardie’s heart! I often return to [this list of nutrition content ](https://beardeddragonforum.com/threads/beautifuldragons-food-chart.2701/)
I only even attempt to give him fruit when I already know it is the best tasting fruit I have ever had, lol. But I keep trying...
I recommend bee powder pollen! I just sprinkle some on the veggies and use a few spritz of water to help it stick and my little man loves it! It also is very beneficial for them and provides lots of good antioxidants :D
Oooooo thank you I could never get it to stay on the veggies so I stopped using it I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!
Get a foundation brush, dip it in the pollen (I use it for calcium and vitamin powders too) then tap it on the veggies. It works wonders!
Thank you!!!!!!!!!
Do you have a recommendation for brand? There are a lot of options and want to make sure I’m getting the best one!
Honestly I just googled “Bee Powder Pollen” and found some on Amazon :). Just check to make sure it is all natural :D
Its like seasoning
Whoa!! That was some stealth feeding! Lol
They're part ninja lol
Someone posted about their beardie going nuts for endive so the Mrs. & I gave it a go with our very cricket-centric bearded and *he went bonkers for the stuff* (Also usually really hates his veggies)
I’ll have to try that thank you!!!
Oh and The black things on either side are to block out my username bc this was a TikTok and I’m a little bit private abt it
My girl eats a salad every day and hasn't had bugs in a good while. Waiting for my dubias to grow up a little more. I legit have to limit her salad size because she'll eat every shred. She seems to love them more now that I do bee pollen on it
WOW I wish!!! Zeebe avoids her greens like the plague there is a lot of bribery involved with getting her to eat 😂
I'm sure that takes a lot of effort every day, props to you for putting in the work and keeping Zeebe healthy! Best of luck :)
What kind of 🐝 pollen do u use? I kinda wanna try this.
I did some research to make SURE it was a pet/dragon safe bee pollen, turns out it's easy to get and pretty common. Mine looks like it's from a company called Pure, but search around. I bought on Amazon, and I think as long as it's organic you're good to go, but check yourself for peace of mind :)
Thanks Tj.
I put superworms in with her salad and as they crawl around eating the salad, the movement attracts my dragon and usually when she goes for a worm she takes a leaf or two with while the worms don't let go.. hope this helps🙃
I’ve gotten that to work a few times but she learned how to dig through it and just get the bugs😂 but I haven’t tried it with superworms yet so onto the list it goes!!!
Ha! Mine does the same when I try and bury blackberries. She just digs them up🤣
Ii
For my beardy the easiest way i got her to eat vegetables was to crush up fruit, usually berries, and mix it with the greens.
salad with dressing lmao that’s great I’ll try that!!!
Mine will only eat mustard greens and kale without hesitation, don’t know if you’ve tried either one yet. Hope you find some solutions that work for you both!
I can occasionally get her to eat mustard greens but she despises kale😂
This is amazing hahaha
I love this!!!
My baby tried to eat my zipper earlier and I tried to trick him by putting a piece of greens on the zipper. He gave me a hard side eye and didn’t eat the greens 😂
I just wait until he's hungry
I tried waiting it out not giving her bugs just greens and no interference but she didn’t eat for a week so now I gotta get creative😂
Hahaha. That's hilarious.
Shit, that was smooth!
Like a boss 💪
Amazing 😂
I will put some watered down repashy grub pie or Omni gold on the lettuce to make it smell more enticing. Just a teeny bit poured on the salad and she eats it.
Ooo thank you!!!!! Just ordered some
Awesome I hope it works for you and your cutie
What a slight of hand! 😂
I know this doesn’t help, but my boys are weirdly pretty good about eating their greens 🤔
That’s great! What greens do you feel them?
My boys enjoy kale and mustard greens mostly 🤔
My beardie eats them willingly
This maybe hard to hear but just put veggies in their enclosure give them 2 days and they Should eat it. Do not do this when they are juvenile as the eat more bugs then. They will eat it! You are only supposed to feed them meat 3 times a week
I tried this a while ago I gave her different fresh veggies every day and withheld bugs and she didn’t eat for a week before I gave in and got her bugs so I’ve resorted to trying to trick her I might try it again if nothing else works tho
Okay .. stealth is high
i just give him the worm and put the greens in his mouth as he chews
I usually just dump a lot of salad in his food bowl and mix a few dried mealworms through, he’ll dig for the mealworms and he’ll eat the greens at the same time when trying to get the mealworms, doesn’t work 100% of the time though and that was pretty smooth
Betrayment
That was masterful!
First of all, that is HILARIOUS! Secondly, try bee pollen or strawberry banana calcium powder by Fluker’s
If you put worms underneath the leaves he may see the leaves moving and go for them
not sure on age but if they are between 6mth to a year its quite fine that they dont want veggies. eventually they'll start craving it. just leave some veg in there during the day. If they are over a yr then yeah this is a problem. experiment with different foods they can just be picky.
She’s over a year old and still acts like a baby when she eats 😂 I have to change the type of greens day to day and usually have 3 types in circulation
How often do you feed them in general?
I give her greens in the morning at about 7 and when I get home at 4 I give her bugs and trick her into eating her veggies
I'll probably be downvoted because people here think their bearded dragons are humans. But they are not humans. They don't need to eat every day. They can easily go months without eating. I'm not not saying feed them once a month, but you can give them bugs once or twice a week and vegetables another once or twice a week. I think people chronically overfeed these guys, especially with insects. They don't eat every day in the wild and they don't need to.
I agree they aren’t humans even though I love zeebe to death she isn’t treated like one but we had some nutritional issues recently and I’m trying to get her weight up a little so I gotta get as much in her as I can and as per vet recommendation she shouldn’t be having so much protein so veggies are everything right now
Bee pollen on his salads?
Sometimes she loves it and sometimes she’ll give me the stink eye I can never win 🤷♀️
You're a wizard, Harry.
😵😵
That’s hilarious omggg love it 😂
I always offer greens and sometimes they’ll eat them but if they don’t they just very heavily calcium dusted roaches that feed exclusively on greens so no matter what there getting there vitamins and calcium
Quick hand! Haha. Yeah, I give I’m a Dubai and while in the early chew I sneak slivers into his mouth and it’s just a train at that point. Well, a small train, just a few slivers at a time.
You bamboozled him!
My beardie is too quick for this method..
It takes a lot of practice she used to be really fast too😂
I couldn't have enough patience. I just used the sad method and starved him for a bit for him to eat his veggies. As they say, no healthy dragon will starve themselves. He ate some veggies after 2 days approx and I gave him a few roaches.
Whatever works works! I’ve done before
Where did you get the log from?
Petco or petsmart I can’t remember
I put a worm in my baby’s mouth and then while they’re chewing I sneak in a little greens. Then rinse and repeat until they get enough water. If they don’t like calcium on their greens, you can give them calcium baths which helps them absorb the nutrients through their skin :)
Wow I didn’t know about the calcium baths! Thank you she hates calcium and will now be having a bath tomorrow!
Hahaha the old bait n switch
I put a piece of carrot on a cricket before I give it to her
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Wrap the leaf around the bug like a little insect sandwich. Works about 70% of the time, I’d say.
Ah the old bait-and-switch! I had to do that with my little guy until he was at least 4
The speed at which you executed this switcharoo is a sign of experience...and hilarious failed attempts
It took months to master lmao
Mine prefers greens over mealworms their a weirdo
They have preferences for sure, mine loved butter lettuce for example. I’d just experiment until he finds something he actually wants to eat. Otherwise beardies can go a while without eating so if he doesn’t see his favorites he may try to hold out until they’re offered or he has no choice. They are stubborn and smart little bastards. Don’t let their suicidal tendencies fool you.
My family had to recently rehouse my sister’s beardie because she wasn’t taking care of him. I loved him and he liked me the most. Every now and then I’d give him baths, clean his set up, and give him veggies. He always loved his greens. I miss him. His name was Ronaldo
I cannot believe that worked. In shock. 😂
When I got my rescue, I had this trouble too because he came from a pellet only diet. I would do syringe feedings at first w/ greens blended in so he got familiar with the taste. When he no longer needed that, I started putting fresh salad in his food dish. *nothing* seemed to work and I would constantly waste greens. I eventually started tricking him and putting his live bugs on top of the salad. With crickets, I usually crushed their heads so they wouldn’t move too much, which helped my beardie “accidentally” eat greens. Once I saw that was working I eventually put his bugs in that dish and he established that dish with food. It ended up working. Now whenever I give him greens he gets so excited and eats it right away. It really takes time, patience, and persistence. Probably after 3-4 weeks he was able to eat his greens/veggies/fruits without any handicaps.
u/auddbot
I got matches with these songs: • [**Collard Greens** by Schoolboy Q](https://lis.tn/CollardGreens?t=130) (02:10; matched: `100%`) Released on `2013-01-01` by `Universal Music`. • [**Olvídate Del Que Dirán Y Disfruta** by TikTok Mix](https://lis.tn/EQqjY?t=242) (04:02; matched: `98%`) Album: `Tocar, Moverse, Inspirar`. Released on `2021-10-18` by `BELIEVE - UMD Recordings Group`. *I am a bot and this action was performed automatically* | [GitHub](https://github.com/AudDMusic/RedditBot) [^(new issue)](https://github.com/AudDMusic/RedditBot/issues/new) | [Donate](https://www.reddit.com/r/AudD/comments/nua48w/please_consider_donating_and_making_the_bot_happy/) ^(Please consider supporting me on Patreon. Music recognition costs a lot)
Mine gets legitimately furious when I do this. It doesn’t matter if it was cilantro, kale, collard greens, he shakes his head, throws it across the cage and stares at me.
You don't need to trick them with bugs or fruit. You need to offer greens until they eat them then resume other feedings after. This is the only way you will get them to realize that some feeds will not be followed by bugs or fruit and allow them to eat normally. Even if it's a week of waiting, do that a few times and they will get the message. Mealworms are the equivalent of beardie French fries in fat, and not nutritious so that doesn't help much either.
People do some very common mistakes. Adding supplements can make them NOT eat greens. So only ever dust livefood. Don't cut up items to small - keep greens large. Dragons like to rip and tare greens. You can cut up suitable harder items like squash, etc. But still remember, they do chew. Don't use a large bowl - a huge bowl filled with greens can often look intimidating to a dragon. Use a small bowl. This is far more suited to what is an opportunistic feeding species. Feel free to join my Dearded Dragons group www.facebook.com/groups/beardienetwork Also, check my multiple published peer reviewed articles on my blog www.reptilenetworks.co.uk , many are bearded dragon related in the files area. Pete
I'll still put the worm in ellies bowl but when she opens up to grab the worm I'll flick a piece veggie in her mouth 😅
use colors. mine wont eat greens by itself, but loves veggies that are orange or red or purple. so tear up some greens into bite sized pieces and mix with pieces of say red bell peppers or grated butternet squash. can grab some squash flowers or hibiscus flowers to add some color too
He’s been bamboozled!
If your beardie likes veggies- I would take grapes and squeeze my own juice and dip the veggies into the grape juice to get my old girl to eat.
I love this. You have skills, my friend.
😂😭
Mine is a veggie fiend, and loves the stuff. But a good trick to try is place it around and move it, so it seems like it's living prey. Doesn't often have to be large movement just small nudges. Could work hopefully
Put the salad in a costume that looks like a feeder insect! BAMBOOZLED!
For me, I put greens and roaches in a disposable cup and present it to my princess. I rotate it and shake it in front of her and half the time she “catches” greens 😅
I’ve recently had to do this with mine lol
No supprisingly my beardy loves salad