Bearded Dragon not eating Veggies

[Kaoticfury]

Hello everyone - I am new to the forums here, as i am new to owning a bearded dragon.  I have cared for leopard geckos for a while now, and made the step up to a Bearded Dragon just the other day.  I did my research before picking him up and felt prepared.  He is 5 years old, and was not taken care of properly at all when i got there and saw him.  He hasnt been handled in a year, and is skiddish when you try and touch him softly.  He doesnt bite however, hes just all bark when he flares up. 

The point i am trying to get at and ask for help is he does not eat his veggies.  Ive had him for 3 days now, and he will not touch them.  I offer him choped up collard greens, with one day some chopped grapes for a little enticement, but no luck.  I have tried soaking them, letting them drip on his mouth,  holding them with tweezers and litely shaking one to make it look alive.  He seems interrrested, but doesnt ever take them.  he is hand fed, because he doesnt catch crickets well, and i give him about 12 a day after he has woken up.  i do try the veggies first though, so the crickets dont spoil his appetite.  Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do?  he really doesnt move after crickets when he feeds himself, he waits for them to come to him. 

[Mach10X]

Hello and welcome.

More than likely this is just relocation stress.

Our first step is to see if there are any issues with the husbandry (how he is being kept)

Please answer these questions as completely as possible (you may want to copy and paste these into your reply to make things easier).

1. How old is your dragon?  5 years old
2. How large is your enclosure (tanks size in gallons or measurement Length x Depth x Height)?
3. What exact brand of UVB source do you have, if any?  Is it a tube, coil, or Mercury Vapor?
4. How old is the UVB bulb?
5. How far is the UVB source from the basking spot?
6. How hot is the basking spot in ºF or ºC?
7. What temperature is the cool side?
8. How exactly is this temperature measured (sticker thermometer, digital thermometer with a probe, temp gun, other)?
9. If using a probe, it is placed flush against the basking spot?
10. What live feeders does your dragon get?  How many are offered?  How often are they offered per day / week?
11. What Calcium and/or Vitamin supplements do you use (brand name and product name please)?
12. How often do you dust with calcium or vitamin powder?
13. What exact greens, fruits, or veggies do you feed your dragon?  Does he eat them at all?  Already stated.
14. Hydration.  Do you mist your dragon, have a water bowl, or soak your dragon in a bath?
15. If you soak your dragon in a bath, how long do you soak for, how often, and what temperature water?
16. What type of substrate do you use (shelf liner, sand, walnut, tiles, newspaper, etc)?

[Kaoticfury]

1. How old is your dragon?  5 years old

2. How large is your enclosure (tanks size in gallons or measurement Length x Depth x Height)?  The tank he is kept in is 3 1/2 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2 feet tall.  60 gallons would be the equivelent i guess.

3. What exact brand of UVB source do you have, if any?  Is it a tube, coil, or Mercury Vapor?  i am using the exo terra 10.0 UVA/AVB linear tube currently.   previously, i dont think he was given the proper uvb source, just a linear plain tube.

4. How old is the UVB bulb?  Just bought it, completely brand new as of 2 days ago.

5. How far is the UVB source from the basking spot?  I would say about 13 inches

6. How hot is the basking spot in ºF or ºC?  The basking spot has a basking bulb attatched as well, that is a 75 watt. The temperature is kept at 95 degrees in the basking spot.

7. What temperature is the cool side?  The cool side of the tank is at 83 degrees.

8. How exactly is this temperature measured (sticker thermometer, digital thermometer with a probe, temp gun, other)?  I have 2 probe thermometer attatched to each are, they are glued to the surfaces im monitoring.

9. If using a probe, it is placed flush against the basking spot?  Yes

10. What live feeders does your dragon get?  How many are offered?  How often are they offered per day / week?  I havent gotten an exact science down on it yet, so far i have been giving him about 10 - 12 crickets a day, and he is not touching his veggies. 

11. What Calcium and/or Vitamin supplements do you use (brand name and product name please)?  I use repti cal calcium with vit D3 suppliment that has no phosforus in it.  i also have the zoo med reptile multi vitamin i give once a week.  the calcium i give 3 times a week.  i am not sure if this is the correct doasge, but from what i read its about average.

12. How often do you dust with calcium or vitamin powder?  Iam answering some of these answers ahead of time, lol.  1 a week vitamin, 2-3 times a week calcium with d3.

13. What exact greens, fruits, or veggies do you feed your dragon?  Does he eat them at all?  Already stated, collard greens, a grape for scent enticement, not eating at all.  had 1 piece last night, but didnt want more.  i hand fed it to him.

14. Hydration.  Do you mist your dragon, have a water bowl, or soak your dragon in a bath?  He has a large water bowl that he lays in on occasion.  i spray him with a mister one a day on the back.

15. If you soak your dragon in a bath, how long do you soak for, how often, and what temperature water?  I have not given him a bath yet.

16. What type of substrate do you use (shelf liner, sand, walnut, tiles, newspaper, etc)?  I am using a very find sand right now.

[perfectly_flawed]

Try raising the basking temp and lowering the UVB light. Basking temp needs to be at least 105*f for proper digestion. For proper UVB, the dragon needs to be within about 6" of the bulb while basking.
Also, you can do away with misting. It does nothing for hydration. Soaking him in baby-warm water 2 or 3 times a week, 15 minutes or so each time, will provide him with hydration and exercise. Most dragons learn to love bath time.
What kind of sand is it? Petstore sands can be very deadly and all particle substrates hold bacteria, making for a very unsanitary living situation. Most of us here on the forums use nonparticle substrates that are safe and easy to keep clean and sanitary. Textured ceramic tiles, nonadhesive shelf liner, reptile carpet, paper towels, and newspaper all make safe substrates.

[Kaoticfury]

For my Leo's i use nothing but slate, but have heard there are much lower impaction risks with beardies.  Its the repti sand non calcium kind.  dessert white for the no staining factor.  just testing out to see how he does.  He has ben on sand for his entire life, even as a baby i was told by the origional owner.  How high are the temperatures allowed to get in there?  i have a dimmer, so i can easily reach 105, but what would be the maximum, like if it was a hot day where i live?  Im going to be working on switching to slate most likely, its just nice looking and very easy to take care of.

[Mach10X]

Find a temperature your dragon likes, 105-115ºF, some like it really hot!  I would start with regular baths, though it may be stressful at first it would be bad to wait for him to de-stress from the move only to get stressed again from his first bath.  Sand is usually ok for adults, the impaction risk is fairly low, but please only hand feed live insects when in the enclosure, use a separate bin for primary feeding of live feeders.  You may want to consider tile or slate later for your dragon but it will be less stress for now to keep sand if your dragon used to live on sand before you got him.

The UVB you have isn't terrible for now, but when you can afford to do so the only consistently good bulb for dragons is the Reptisun 10.0.  Perhaps daily sunlight outside if it's still warm where you are would be good as well.  www.petmountain.com has great prices on these, be sure to order the right size!

Does he have any signs of dehydration (try pinching the loose skin on his back, it should spring back into place quickly), if so be sure to do longer baths.  If your dragon poops in the bath, drain it, dispose of the poop, clean the sink or tub and soak again (most of the moisture gained by soaking is lost again during the poop).  Soak for about 20 minutes at least after any poop, you can use a probe or tempgun to measure water temps, but the equivalent of a hot bath that's not uncomfortably hot.

Any signs of bone issues?   Does he walk funny or have oddly shaped or jutting/bent bones?  Any parts of the body caved in?


I think this may be just stress, if you have the money have a vet check him out (you can call around to vets to see who will see him and how much it will be, prices vary a lot).  If you are short on money (like me right now), some vets will agree to do lab tests without seeing the animal, my vet would do fecal tests for about $15 and even prescribe meds for parasites without a paid office visit (meds were cheap too, under $10).  A parasite screening is definitely in order and should be tested at least once every 18 months if not yearly.

Did the previous owner tell you anything about how he ate?
Frozen mango really gets my dragon eating.  Butternut and Acorn squash cut into narrow strips (or shredded on a very coarse cheese grater) are usually hits with most dragons.  If you find a food he will eat try mixing that in.  Another tactic to get your guy to eat greens is to find a safe non-live protein such as ground turkey, ground or canned chicken, boiled eggs, or super premium wet dog foods that your dragon goes crazy for and finely chop up the greens and mix them in.  Live feeders are generally healthier and more readily eaten by dragons but some go nuts for items on the list.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

[Kaoticfury]

i will check his hydration when i get home tonight, the old owner told me he ate about 12 crickets a day, but was getting bag lettuce which is not healthy.  no bone issues, he walks normal and all, no limps or signs of problems.  i just bought the bulb, so i will order the good one, then return the exo terra one when the good one arrives.  I live in a non stop cloudy area basically, lol, so there isnt too much light.  Yay bay area.....  LOL.  i like it, but not good for my little guys.  I will look into the vet, and the squash sounds like a good idea, i will try that.  ill start narrowing things down by trying them.  You guys have been very helpful.  i will keep ya posted on the things i find out.

[Kaoticfury]

OK - here is the update!  He is somewhat trying his veggies now, a little bit here and there, but beggars cant be choosers.   He stopped eating crickets entirely, so i started giving him superworms.  Loves those things to death, and i have been making sure to give him his suppliments with them to counteract the change.  1 day vitamins, and 3 days calcium with D3, does that sound like an ok mixture?  or should i still do 2 days calcium dust with D3?  I think his bath time is his new favorite activity.  he is totally relaxed in there, and likes being towel dried, its pretty funny.  Thanks for all the tips everyone, you have all been very helpful. 

[Mach10X]

Glad to hear things are going better now!

[zebrajanie]

Question ?  Why do you offer with the D3 ?  If your dragon is getting proper uvb, he'll generate that on his own..
Just wondering ..