My beardies diet

Question
QUESTION: My bearded dragon fonzie, who has been asked about before, is a very picky eater. The only thing he will eat willingly is meal worms, no crickets, no veggies, i was wondering if there is any way to trick him into eating veggies or any general advice on the subject

ANSWER: Hello Cody,

Fonzie is a cool name for your dragon.  
How old is he now?  
You might try to put some worms in with his greens & veggies to try & entice him into eating them.  I would try some butterworms or phoenix worms more often than the meal worms as they are pretty high in fat.  They are ok to feed occasionally but not daily.  
You could also try getting small pieces of fruit & some squash to toss into the salad to see if he will eat the greens.
Do you have all of the proper lighting for him, including UVB lighting?

Tracie



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thank you, it fits his personality. fonzie is about 7-8 yrs old, i have a long fluorescent uvb bulb, and a small bulb which i think is uva, and then his heat lamp.. he is not very active and dont enjoy bathing and climbing as much as he used to... im pretty sure its lack of balanced diet but was seeking further advice. does their appetite decrease as they get older, or is there a way to further entice his appetite

ANSWER: Hello Cody,

What brand of UVB tube bulb are you using, is it Reptisun or Reptiglo?  The brand should be stamped on the base of the bulb.  What type of basking light are you using?  A bright white light or a colored light?
The lighting has alot to do with their appetite.  If it is not bright enough in their tank, they will not be very active or have much of an appetite.
If your UVB light is not a good one, then, he will not be properly absorbing his calcium or vitamins or synthesize D3 to keep his bones strong either.  That is why I need to know the particular brand because there are some brands that are just downright terrible & put out virtually no UVB at all.
He should be more active & have a better appetite, even at his age.  
Do you supplement calcium on a regular basis, at least 3 times per week?
Could you post a picture of your tank setup as well as your dragon?

Thanks.
Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: ok. his cage has an iguay bay uvb light which says its a 5.3 uvb ray. And the uva bulb dont have nothing on it as far as a brand name the heat lamp is a red colored heat lamp, and all this equipment came with fonzie so i figured it was the right stuff and havent had to replace yet, besides the heat lamp... am i using the right equipment?

Answer
Hello Cody,

Well, I am not familiar with a 5.3 which means, it is probably an OLD light & outdated.  
Do you have calcium supplementation as well?
So, you will need to get a new UVB light.  Don't worry, you can get a great flourescent tube bulb for a good price.  Here is a link to get what you need.  It is the Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb:

http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-rept

I am sure that once you get a new UVB light that Fonzie will start to improve.  The basking lamp needs to be a bright white light such as a household light bulb or a halogen flood lamp which is really good.  He will not be very active with a red colored heat lamp.  Plus, they do not get hot enough normally as the bright white lightbulbs do.   
What do you measure the temperatures with currently?  A stick on type of thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?  
Monitoring the temperatures is very important.  The recommended basking temps are 95-110 & the cooler end around 78-82.  If you have a stick on thermometer, it will not measure the basking spot, but just the ambient temps.  I recommend getting a digital probe or a temp gun.  You can get a digital probe at walmart, the acurite brand.  If you can't find it there, you can go to this site:

http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=392

Or if you want a temp gun you can get one here:

http://www.reptileuv.com/reptileuv-mini-temperature-gun.php

While you are on the Reptileuv page, you might want to check out the Megaray mercury vapor lamp.  Maybe you would be interested in buying one of those.  If your tank is at least a 30-40 gallon, it will support a mercury vapor bulb.  They have UVB & heat all in one bulb.

Tracie