Underweight beardie?

I’ve had my beardie, Merv, for a week now, and I’m starting to wonder if he’s a little on the thin side.

He was from a breeder and kept in good conditions, but I got the impression they didn’t feed him insects daily, but every other day alternated with veg. I got him from a small local reptile shop.

Bizarrely they’re unsure of his age, somewhere between 6 months and a year, but at 12” and 160g I’d have thought it was nearer 6 months?

He is in a 4 foot viv with a MVB as well as a HO T5 Arcadia strip lamp, basking spot gets to 100F on the log he sits at so I’m guessing it’s nearer 105F on him, he sometimes basks with his mouth open so I’m confident he’s getting hot enough.

I’m feeding him greens daily and crickets x1 and he’s only just really started eating properly. On his second day he ate 22 crickets in one sitting and then the next day vomited half back up again so I think he isn’t used to eating many at once. He lost his appetite for a couple of days after this but it’s definitely back now.

He is also shedding and has been since we got him. I’ve given him a couple of warm baths since we got him too.

Here’s photos of him, I’m wondering if he’s underweight because of his protruding hip bones? He seems to have fat pads and wee comes out when he poos so does seem hydrated...

He's on a hemp substrate btw - can be digested and I also don't feed him in there so he doesn't eat it anyway. He'd been out of his tank prior to the basking photos, so is quite dark in colour as he was colder! He lightens up when he gets warm enough.

Hi there, were the crickets large ones ? 22 would def. be too many at once if he's not used to big meals. He looks a bit longer than 12", part of his tail is nipped so I'd think he's more in the 14" range if you take that in to account. And it's not good to feed a new dragon too much at first, esp. if the other owners mentioned the more restrictive diet he was on. He is a bit thin but not really unhealthy looking. Just take it easy with the bugs, esp. if they are large.

I would change the flooring, that stuff would be easy to ingest. Maybe some non adhesive shelf liner which looks nice + is easy to wipe clean. That stuff you have will harbor all sorts of nasty germs from poo soaking in it and it's a risk for impaction.

Other than that your lights + set up sound good and he seems to be settling in nicely after his initial upset tummy.

Thanks for your reply

The crickets were large ones, so I think you're right; 22 was too many. I've started feeding him two smaller meals and he seems happy with that.

I am planning on changing the flooring in the next week or two, going to go for a non particle substrate for that reason.

I weighed him today and he's up to 180g already so he's clearly gaining weight just fine

His shed is finally coming away and he's being a little grumpy today, hoping it finishes soon so that he can chill a bit, poor thing.