Hey all! First time posting, just have a few questions!

Hey! I’ve had a beardie since February when she was 3-4 months old so she’s about 8/9 months now and it’s been amazing since then!! I’m just always worried because while she eats great, twice a day fresh greens and reptiworms I worry that she’s dehydrated. The thing is I’ve never actually seen my girl drink water! Even during baths (which she despises) I’ve filled the water up to her mouth and she doesn’t get the concept of drinking water. I’d say she light just be a bit slow but she’s actually pretty smart I just can’t get her to drink any water and I don’t want to tarnish our trust by forcing water down her throat with a syringe. We took her to the vet and she said that’s fine, some lizard just don’t drink water and she would get her hydration from the air and her fresh food and feeders. As an added precaution I spray down her salads with water just to get a bit more moisture in her as well as spray her tank a couple times a week (it’s humid where i live). Her fat pads don’t seem indented but they’re also not bulging, her skin tends to be wrinkly when she’s hanging in her cage but when she puffs out her body there’s no wrinkles so i just attribute the wrinkles to her body being able to expand. Recently her Urates have been pinkish which I’ve read can be due to parasites, dehydration, or the color of food she’s been eating. She acts totally normal and has way more energy than I ever know what to do with lol! Anyone else have a beardie that refuses to drink water? Um i would love to add pictures but can’t seem to figure out how!

And since I’m sure someone will ask:
Reptisun 10 bulb covers 80% of her tank
Sand substrate switching to tiles next week
Basking zone is always 100-105
Cool side is 80
She eats collard greens, snap peas and reptiworm salads twice a day. It was hard to find veggies she would regularly eat and she is very picky.
BlackBerry snack every other day
Calcium dusted 2 times a week as the vet said too much calcium can be deadly.
I probably missed something but thanks if anyone reads this!

She's beautiful, love her coloring. You don't need to worry too much about drinking. They get most of their hydration from their food. I tend to wet my greens slightly before I feed so she gets some water that way, not so their soggy, just a light spray. My little one never drinks either and she is just fine. Some drink some don't. One thing you can try is to drop a bit of water on the end of her nose / mouth with a syringe. Then if she's thirsty she can lick it and you can drop some more on, but she might not be interested but worth a try. Signs of dehydration will be sunken fat pads and eyes and general lethargy. Also if her urates in her poo (the white bits) are really dry that is a sign. If her poo looks fine and everything else seems alright she might be like my Izzy and just not need any extra liquid.

sparkybeardyandme":e0u9v54s said:

She's beautiful, love her coloring. You don't need to worry too much about drinking. They get most of their hydration from their food. I tend to wet my greens slightly before I feed so she gets some water that way, not so their soggy, just a light spray. My little one never drinks either and she is just fine. Some drink some don't. One thing you can try is to drop a bit of water on the end of her nose / mouth with a syringe. Then if she's thirsty she can lick it and you can drop some more on, but she might not be interested but worth a try. Signs of dehydration will be sunken fat pads and eyes and general lethargy. Also if her urates in her poo (the white bits) are really dry that is a sign. If her poo looks fine and everything else seems alright she might be like my Izzy and just not need any extra liquid.

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Thanks so much!!! We’ve tried the water droplet on her nose and she seems oso ffended every time I do that and never drinks it lol! She always looks so bright and aware and active so I know that’s always a good sign! Her poops and urate are always well formed. It just doesn’t make sense to me how a creature could live without drinking water!

It freaked me out a bit too in the beginning. She used to have a water bowl in her viv, but in the end all it did was put the humidity up and she never even looked at it so I removed it. The way I look at it is as long as she has the opportunity to drink once a week either in the bath or with a dropper, then if she chooses not to that's fine.

Also if she does ever look dehydrated you can always give her foods like cucumber which have a high water content. Not suitable for constant use as they can cause an upset tummy but if she looks dehydrated and won't take water you can sneak it in other ways.

Sounds like she's healthy and happy and that's what is important so as I say I wouldn't be worried. They are strange little characters. I'm three months in to owning my little one, she is a rescue and I feel like I've learnt such a ridiculous amount and still learning lol. All worth it in the end though.