Hi there! I have a three year-old female Australian water dragon (eastern subspecies). She's a good eater and is active and curious, but as first-time reptile owners my boyfriend and I want to be sure we're doing the best thing for her. We've been trying to add fruit and vegetables to her diet (primarily she eats crickets, silkworms and thawed fuzzy mice), and have had limited success. Leafy vegetables (romaine lettuce and bok choy leaves) are refused outright (she actually kicks them out of her dish). Fruits are somewhat better; she turned her nose up at chopped plums, blueberries and chopped strawberries, but she loves raspberries and will nibble on mango and chopped apple. I was wondering if anyone had other suggestions on what we could offer her, and also specifically to ask about the safety of giving her apple. Some of the care sheets I have consulted say that apple should be avoided as it is quite hard and can cause choking/impactions, while others say that so long as it is finely chopped apple is perfectly safe (and since she can easily eat fuzzy mice, bones and all, that would seem to make sense). Does anyone have any suggestions? Also, how can one tell if your dragon is over/underweight? She looks solidly built to my boyfriend and I, rounded belly and solid base to her tail, but we want to be positive. Thanks!
Avoid directly feeding citrus fruits....not good I've never seen a CWD actually eat fruit or vegetable, but it is possible. Although I hear it's harder to introduce this into their diet the older they are. From what I've read the dragons who do accept this kind of food are usually more willing to eat fruits than veggies. Have you tried indirect feeding? Gut load your crickets with whatever fruits or veggies you want your dragon to eat. Mine wont eat anything that isnt moving, so this is what I do. I have a small tank that i keep my crickets in. Most pet stores sell cricket food and cricket jelly (water substitute). While I do keep cricket food on hand. I provide my crickets with moisture through fruits and veggies. Every day i put a different fruit or vegetable in the cricket tank. The crickets will suck all the moisture from it, loading their guts with whatever nutrients found in the fruits or veggies you feed them at the same time. In short, whatever you feed your crickets you eventually feed your water dragons.
A lot of water dragons will not accept fruits and veggies at all, so its good that she is really eating any of it. Avoid citrus fruits, and as for apple it is okay, what I reccomend is actually using a cheese grater. Cut off the skin and all that and then take some of the apple and just grate it like you would cheese. Some people will actually not offer them live food some days and only offer fruits/veggies in order to get them to eat it every so many days. Also, if the body andtail appear to be pretty rounded and filled out then the weight is probably fine. Good luck!!
