Beardie & Greens?

Question

Bearded Dragon (Puff)   QUESTION: How do I get my baby bearded dragon to eat his greens? He's not very interested in them at all, but loves his crickets. And also is there a limit to the amount of crickets I should be feeding him daily as I am worried I will overfeed him?

He appears and acts perfectly normal, and seems healthy enough, another thing I have been doing is putting some crickets in his water to get him to drink!! I hope thats ok.....

I am so in love with this little guy, I just want to make sure im doing everything I can to keep him happy and healthy

Thanks
Tammy

ANSWER: Hello Tammy,

How are things at the Land Down Under?  
Babies tend not to eat their greens & veggies when they are so young.  The best thing you can do is to get some small worms to try to mix in with the salad to try to entice him to eat his salad.
You could also try small pieces of fruit, or some dragon bites/treats, or minced squash for some color.  
I am sure that he loves his crickets though!  At that age, all he will want to eat is protein since he is growing so fast!
You can feed him several times per day, so he can have an opportunity to get protein.  Most small ones can eat over 50 appropriately sized crickets per day.  I would let him eat for at least 10 minutes or so, but he will stop when he gets full.
Do you use UVB lighting?  
Let me know how he is doing.  Puff is precious, & I am sure he is going to do well for you.

Tracie

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

QUESTION: Hi Tracie, thanks for the answer, made me feel heaps better about what I am doing with him. to answer you question about the UV, yes he has a uv lamp as well as a heat lamp, which is hooked up to a thermostat, and they are also on a timer so he gets  good 12 -14 hrs a day of uv, and heat

Answer
Hello Tammy,

I had forgotten to ask you if you had been affected by the horrible flooding over there?  I sure hope not.  
You are welcome, I think that he will eventually eat his greens.  Just keep trying with him.
The lighting schedule sounds fine.  Which type & brand of UVB are you using?  Is it a fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light?
Make sure you are using calcium powder 5 times per week, to help support his bones & other growth right now.

Talk to you soon.
Tracie