Tips to fatten up a dragon

I have only had him a little over a week, but unfortunatly I don't think his previous owner cared for him to well and he looks skinny. He has very boney protrusions sticking out at the base of his tail. He doesn't eat his veggies very well, only if you hold it and he eats from your hand. I have read you should only feed insects a couple times per week. So any tips to get him a little plumper would be great! Thanks

Hi there, how old is your beardie? Also, how long is he and do you happen to know his weight? Sorry to hear that his previous owner didn't do well by him. What are you offering for greens and how many and type of insect? What brand & type of UVB does he have now? Any other info about his current setup would be helpful.

Body, not incuding tail he is around 5-6inches. I am not sure how much he weighs, I can't find my kitchen scale. His tank is a work in progress... He has sand for subtrate on one side, tile/rock on the other, a very shallow "pool" on one end with some fake plants and drift wood. a very large basking rock with a 150w zoo med basking bulb, and a uva\uvb long bulb across entire tank. He seems to love to sprawl out next to his tub of water on the sand. Since I got him in his tank with us, his color has changed drastically, much more yellow, especially around the eyes. I have only offered insects twice, wax worms from the local bait shop, the breed their own. I give him a kale and mustard green mixture daily. I also gave him some summer squash leftover from dinner the other night, but I don't think he touched it. P.S. I don't know how old he is.

Well, it sounds like he is younger than an adult. Do you happen to know the length from nose to tip of tail? I'm trying to help you figure this out so that I can advise you on how many live feeders he should be getting. If he is under a yr old, he should be getting a lot more feeders than only a couple times a wk, he should be offered all the live feeders he can eat in about a 10 to 15 min timeframe 2 to 3 times a day. What other live food are you feeding besides wax worms, crickets? How often are you using calcium and vitamin supplements on his food?

What is the brand of the fluorescent UVB? What size tank is he in? Is the 150 watt basking bulb a colored or white bulb? What type of thermometer are you using and what are the tank temps? Have you given him a nice warm bath yet? Is it playsand or calci/vitasand? Is he active at all? Would you be able to post a picture of him & the setup?

He could still be going through some relocation stress but since he is quite skinny, it would be a good idea to supplement with some baby food, like chicken & squash. Use a smaller amt of the chicken with a larger amt of the squash, thin it a little with some water. You can even add a pinch of calcium to it, then heat the mixture enough to take the chill off. Use a plastic syringe or needleless syringe & put some on his nose for him to hopefully lick off. It may take a few minutes for him to get the idea, but once he gets a taste he should really like it. Please keep us updated on how he is doing.

long bulb is zoo med too. I say his tail makes him about eighteen inches, he is very active during the day. his basking bulb is white, not colored. I have given him a warm bath, but have only offered waxworms, I thought I read you shouldnt feed crickets due to their crunchy exterior, but I do have them for our scorpion. I use the same calcium on his food as I do on my tortise food. Did I get all the questions answered?>?> if not I will come back. LOL I can post a pic tomorrow sometime,lying in bed right now. lol oh I have a digital themometer in there and the kind that stick on the side.

His tank is a 75g long tank, and the temp is around 100 usually. vitasand

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to cover the important things, but I guess I have more questions. It sounds like you're using a Repti-Sun fluorescent bulb then, do you know if it is the 10.0, 8.0 or 5.0? What is the distance from the UVB to his basking area?

Good to hear that he is active during the day and that the basking bulb is a white one. What size tank is he in?

Yes, you can feed crickets and since he is about 18" long, he should be able to handle the large ones with no problem. Since he is so thin, I would start feeding him some crickets and you could continue feeding a few wax worms but sometimes once they start eating those, they don't show must interest in other feeders again. I'm still not sure if he is under a yr or older, but you could give him as many crickets as 50 or even more a wk, 50 is the amt recommended for adults but since you're trying to help him gain more wt and you think he has been lacking food from his prior care, you should start with about 40 a wk and go up from there but I wouldn't recommend over 70 a wk for now unless you're going to supplement with the chicken & squash baby food. Once he starts putting on wt, then cut back to the 50 crickets a wk.

The calcium should have D3 but be phosphorus-free and you should be dusting either his live food or greens 3 to 4 days a wk and with vitamins 2 days a wk.

Does your digital thermometer have a long wire & probe end? If it doesn't, then you will need to get one of those or a temperature gun. The stick-on thermometers are inaccurate & can be off as much as 20 degrees.

Giving him a bath at least 3 to 4 times a wk would be a good idea as proper hydration helps with their activity level, pooping and appetites. A 15 to 20 min bath is a good amt of time to be beneficial.

*Edit: I just noticed that the tank is 75 gallons, that's a good sized tank. The 150 watt bulb should be ok but if you're not using a digital with probe end, I suggest you get one to check the temps. The vita-sand can be dangerous as it contains vitamins & encourages them to lick it which can cause an impaction. You might want to think about changing to children's play sand or a solid substrate instead.

This is his tank, it is a work in progress. As soon as everyone is up and moving we are changing the vita sand, that cost me a fortune, to the play sand I paid $3 for. LOL I am adding a few more climbing things today, and have a few other ideas once I get to the hardware store.... The temp is a probe with a dome cover, it is a special one I bought for my husband that he no longer uses, it measures temp and humidity, so I know it is hot enough and dry enough for him.


This is Scorch and all his glory. LOL

Oh he is just sweet !
looks to me as if he is indeed under a year in age, however as has been stated above, length isn't always indication of age.

Good you removed the vitasand, and changed out !

Also you can offer a few superworms, since he is longer than 14", and you can try roaches, phoenix worms, silk worms all as staples. Variety is always a good thing, when discussing any diet !

I will say though, that i don't think he is getting close enough to that tube UVB. Perhaps a raised platform with some tile as a basking spot will help with that !

When you removed the vita sand, did you also remove the aquarium colored rocks ? These are an impaction hazzard.

hope this helps out !
Janie.

Vita sand and rocks, should be gone in a few hours. I am working on the platform thing. Going to try and make one of those hand dandy styerofoam/rock caves with some tall walking platforms, also going to get him some logs. I have them, but from tortoise experience, I have found that it is best to place them in an air tight container for about a week, wrapped in plastic to kill any critters that might be hiding deep within.

or you could bake it in the oven then scorch could get them sooner

That isn't a bad idea... I hadn't thought of that one. I'm going to try that next time, his logs this time are ready. Stuck them in the tank this evening.