My uromastyx refuses to eat any sort of greens. I believe he has a sweet tooth, as he will only accept carrots, pumpkin seeds (don't ask), and any sort of bean. Why is he not eating the greens? Is something wrong with him? I'd really appreciate if someone could answer this, as I am a bit afraid. He's fat, but that might be from consuming the wrong food. But what else am I supposed to do?! I can't go and waste any more money on greens, if he's not going to eat them. Kimberly
RE: My uromastyx won Tough love is sometimes what you have to do. Good greens are Bok Choy, Dandelion, Mustard and Turnip...I would start offering these and nothing else. He may go on a food strike, but you really have to get his diet more varied.
RE: My uromastyx won Oh boy.... my mom would freak out if I did that. Hm. I wonder how long a hunger strike would last.
I agree with Riddick, Tough Love. See what a few days of greens only do. As stated in my other thread, Nines is addicted to Lentils, BUT, I know I can only give so many, or else he will ignore the greens. There are many to choose from. Nines has sampled quite a few greens, but seems partial to Bok Choy, Endive, and Dandelion.
I have no idea where in the world to get Endive. Stirwin hates Bok Choy, I know that for sure. I think he kind of likes collard greens, though.
Variety is the spice of life? What else have you tried? What are you using for supplementation? My 3 standard questions. How old is your Uro Cage size Can you post pictures
Do not feed Collard Greens, mustard greens, spinach, etc. They bind calcium and can lead to MBD. On the req of Doug at Deer Fern, I feed my Egypts 50% Earthbound Organic Spring Mix (spinach free), and the other 50% a mixture of dandelion greens, curly endive, escarole, and bok choy. I feed slightly soaked Mazuri pellets 3-4 times a week (but any uro under 15 inches should have the mazuri pellets ground, like with a pepper mill), and an occasional treat of warm mixed veggies (corn, peas, carrot cubes, green beans), clean pesticide free dandelions, hibiscus flowers, or lentils soaked overnight. I would be very very careful about feeding pumpkin seeds, or any seeds other than a plain millet with no sunflower seeds. I have heard sunflower chips can lead to impaction, so I can only imagine what a pumpkin seed would do. But, other than that, yes, tough love will be needed.
There is an advertiser on this site, Procricketfood or something, I forget the exact name. Anyways, they have a thing called the salad topper. It's a powedered mix that you put on top of the greens for Uro's. Has tons of stuff that they eat all powedered including bee pollen. My Uro stopped eating ENTIRELY for about 3 days. I began to offer only Bok Choy and he would nibble here and there. I got really worried about dehydration to the point that I even considered misting him. I ordered the stuff from that place as a last ditch effort figuring it would be a gimmick. I can happily report that Fin will now devour an entire Zoo-Med Small bowl of greens per sitting. And he will even sit at the bowl afterwards waiting for more to eat. I've had to feed him three times in a day before. Maybe his appetite broke his stubborness, or maybe the product actually works, I will leave it up to you to decide for yourself. However, I can tell you that I saw a massive change in his eating habits when I started to use that stuff. When it runs out, some bee pollen from the vitamin store will spark his appetite until I can get more, but he seems to know when the topper mix is on the greens because he licks it off before eating the actual leaf itself. Just a thought.
I'm so sorry that I haven't written back in---- a LONG time. I totally forgot I was on this website. Stirwin is perfectly fine now, and 'goes' about every other day. He eats everything he needs. And you guys were right. I just gave him a bit of tough love, and he came around. Thanks so much! Kim
im having this issue with alvin, well he just wont eat. hopefully its just him settling in but i am worried as he is so young
Where did you get your data on this?? Collard greens are some of the best greens you can feed to a reptile of this type. It has a 14.5:1 Calcium to Phos ratio. In fact Collard Greens should be a staple food for any Uro or Beardie or other species with similar needs. Mustard isn't something you should feed daily but it is safe for a weekly food source. The best greens to combine are Collard / Dandelion, Collard / Endive. Endive and Escarole are so similar in nutrition they are often listed together. Stay away from all lettuce and limit the foods with high vitamin A and vitamin C to once or twice a week as they can cause intestinal issues (the runs). Above all else DO YOUR RESEARCH. Learn what nutritional requirements your animal has and learn how to fulfill them. Learn how to balance calcium and phosphorus and what vitamins are required.
Welcome to the forum Eric This is an older topic from 2008 so I can only hope the people involved have figure out what to feed their Uro by now Also, it's Vitamin K that binds calcium to other minerals which in reptiles does not allow them to digest calcium properly and it just passed through their system. Kale and spinach are very high in Vitamin K with all other greens having varying levels, the greens that have higher levels of vitamin K should not be used as the "base" of the salad, but are not dangerous to use, they just shouldn't be the staple
