refusal to bask and eat vegetables

Question
QUESTION: Hello Tracie,

i bought a bearded dragon (fonzie) for my boyfriend about 3 months ago. He will not eat any vegetables and we have tried every kind that they are allowed to have. do you have any advice on how to make him eat them? also for the past couple of weeks he hasnt been interested in basking under the heat lamp at all, he just hides under his log. we checked the tempuratures to see if they were off but they have been kept at 90-95 under the lamp and 80-85 on the cool side of the tank. he is shedding so we just attributed this behavoir to that but its been a couple weeks and im getting nervous. he also isnt interested in crickets, he only wants mealworms. is that a problem? will it cause health issues? the previous owner told us that fonzie is about 5 years old so would that have anything to do with him being lazy lately?
thank you very much for your time.
Sam

ANSWER: Hello Sam,

I would not feed mealies on a regular basis as they are too fatty & have poor protein.  Crickets are better, or phoenix worms, silkworms, & butterworms are much better feeders.
What type of UVB light do you have, is it a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light?  What type of basking light are you using, a bright white light or a colored light?
What are yo using to measure the temps with?  The basking should be just a tad higher say, 98-100.  Adults don't usually like it much above 100 or so.  
You can put a variety of worms in with the greens & or veggies to see if that will entice him into eating them.  They can really be picky with the salad.  Also try getting a variety of bell peppers as they are colorful & may draw attention, or maybe mix a piece of fruit in as well.  They like colors.  
Yes, feeding too many mealies can contribute to fatty liver disease & or impaction.

Tracie

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

QUESTION: We are using a flourescent tube bulb and the basking light is red. to measure the tempuratures we have a little round thermomater thing that sits in the sand. is any of that wrong? thank you very much for the tips and we will start trying them immediately. you have been a lot of help.

Answer
Hello Sam,

What brand of flourescent tube?  The brand should be stamped on the bulb.  I need to know the brand.  The round thermometer is a stick on right, but you have it sitting on the sand.  Those types are not good at measuring the basking temps but just the ambient air temps.  You will need to get a digital probe or a temp gun to properly measure the temps.  
The Reptisun 10 tube bulb is the best bulb so I hope that is what you have.

Tracie