Underweight?

ghostinstinct · Aug 26, 2016

How can you tell if your lizard is underweight? I saw a rule of thumb for overweightedness, but not for underweigthedness...and I'm trying to become a better beardie owner, so I really need to know.
On a related note, what are good foods to feed your lizard to help them gain weight?

CURIOUSpinkie · Aug 26, 2016

Do you have a recent updated photo of your little buddy?
Visual check is probably the easiest and most obvious.

Also I found with my little guy Pinkie, odd reason he just doesn't drink water at all so he started to look little dehydrated. Skin was looser and when we pet him his skin kinda didn't reflex back into place well, my loving and very patient gf for a week did syringe drops of water each night eirh him and we started doing baths once a week. He really filled out well again and his skin wasnt loose feeling or when u gave a GENTLE pull it reflexed back to normal fairly quickly.

Just a thought not a cure all... I had same worry that pinkie wasnt weighted enough.

I also found that if a dragon is healthy and small.... maybe they are jus healthy and small

Humans same way really some tall some short some skinny some fat... all different however if ur very concerned and little buddy isn't eating that be your primary to see a herp vet

Gormagon · Aug 26, 2016

ghostinstinct":3avzjyuh said:
How can you tell if your lizard is underweight? I saw a rule of thumb for overweightedness, but not for underweigthedness...and I'm trying to become a better beardie owner, so I really need to know.
On a related note, what are good foods to feed your lizard to help them gain weight?

What has his diet consisted of?
What kind of vivarium setup do you have?
Yes pics would be a great help.
You can upload pics at this link and post them from there. https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/

ghostinstinct · Aug 27, 2016

Here's a few pictures from this morning:
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/45678/full
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/45676/full

His vivarium used to have calci-sand, a water bowl, and a log for him to climb on up until yesterday, when I found out calci-sand was a health hazard and switched to newspaper. I also try to have a hiding spot for him (a shoe box with a hole cut in it) but the tank isn't big enough for the water bowl, the food bowl, the log and the box all at once...right now there's a hiding spot, a plate of food, and a water bowl in the tank. I was going to put the log in the tank but I'm not sure that it'll be secure on the newspaper.
We usually feed him a couple of crickets daily and leave out some veggies (carrots, usually) and greens on a dish. He doesn't usually eat them, though.

ghostinstinct · Aug 27, 2016

Oh, and he readily drinks water once he finds it in the tank. He gulps it down.

SpacialCoogs · Aug 27, 2016

How old is he? That will help determine how much g e should be eating.

If you can see his tail bones at his hips then he's underweight or if the fat pads on his head are depleting.

You can weight him using a kitchen scale too. Keep a log of his weight and length so you v have a record. It will help you in the long term.

Gormagon · Aug 27, 2016

A couple of crickets a day would be a teaser to my dragon, lol.
If he is under a year old his diet should consist of 80% bugs and 20% veggies and if over a year old it will be reversed.
Mine will eat as many as 20 crickets and two dishes of veggies every other day, and three dishes of veggies on non cricket days, (yes she is a pig, lol). We treat her crickets and veggies with calcium supplements(5days a week) and vitamin powder (2days a week).

ghostinstinct · Aug 27, 2016

SpacialCoogs":2tocmdpk said:
How old is he? That will help determine how much g e should be eating.

We don't know. We got him from a pet store and they didn't provide an age when we got him.

SpacialCoogs":2tocmdpk said:
You can weight him using a kitchen scale too. Keep a log of his weight and length so you v have a record. It will help you in the long term.

I'll get a scale for him as soon as I can, then!

SpacialCoogs":2tocmdpk said:
If you can see his tail bones at his hips then he's underweight or if the fat pads on his head are depleting.

Alright, I think he may be underweight. What kinds of foods should I feed him to help him gain? He's been snubbing his veggies for a while unfortunately.

Gormagon":2tocmdpk said:
Mine will eat as many as 20 crickets and two dishes of veggies every other day, and three dishes of veggies on non cricket days, (yes she is a pig, lol). We treat her crickets and veggies with calcium supplements(5days a week) and vitamin powder (2days a week).

Alright, I'll try and switch to a diet more like this then. I know older lizards are supposed to eat more veggies than crickets, but recently he's been extremely disinterested in greens. He won't always go after them even if I try and move them around for him, and he almost never eats them from the plate. The only thing he gets really excited seeing his dandelion flowers, which I usually get from my garden (we don't use pesticides or chemical fertilizers) except that there haven't been many flowers recently in the yard.
I guess basically my question is, how do you get a lizard to eat more veggies and fruits?

Gormagon · Aug 27, 2016

I'm not sure but I don't think they are supposed to eat the dandilion flowers, just the greens.

ghostinstinct · Aug 27, 2016

I've read on multiple sites that they're okay for bearded dragons to eat, along with in a care book I bought when I first got him.

Gormagon · Aug 27, 2016

ghostinstinct":39mmq22d said:
I've read on multiple sites that they're okay for bearded dragons to eat, along with in a care book I bought when I first got him.

OK, wow, I have a regular smorgasbord out in my yard then, lol. Like I said I wasn't sure.

On another note, I have noticed if they miss getting a certain piece of food out of the bowl a few times,they will get frustrated and stop eating for a bit (they have no patience). I spritz her veggies with spring water to make she gets her hydration. She won't drink for me bowl or otherwise,so I trick her, lol... Jokes on her :lol:

Gormagon · Aug 27, 2016

Gormagon":15tjwgbj said:
ghostinstinct":15tjwgbj said:

I've read on multiple sites that they're okay for bearded dragons to eat, along with in a care book I bought when I first got him.

Click to expand...

OK, wow, I have a regular smorgasbord out in my yard then, lol. Like I said I wasn't sure.

On another note, I have noticed if they miss getting a certain piece of food out of the bowl a few times,they will get frustrated and stop eating for a bit (they have no patience). I spritz her veggies with spring water to make sure she gets her hydration. She won't drink for me bowl or otherwise,so I trick her, lol... Jokes on her :lol:

SpacialCoogs · Aug 27, 2016

You can feed them dandelion flowers.

Gormagon · Aug 27, 2016

SpacialCoogs":22dcl8qx said:
You can feed them dandelion flowers.

That is awesome, learn something new everyday.

ghostinstinct · Aug 27, 2016

I mentioned this before but I really am having trouble getting my beardie to eat his fruits and veggies. He seems to only really want live feed. How viable health wise is it to gut feed crickets and feed solely with that? (I'd prefer not to do this of course. Feeding him straight fruits, veggies and greens would be the easiest and most convenient option for me, and likely the most enjoyable for him.)
Does anyone have any tips to get beardies interested in veggies again?

Underweight?

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