Weight

So my bearded dragon Sunny is around two and a half years old but he is only 400-ish grams. His protein is usually meal worms because crickets die really fast and smell awful, and dubia roaches are illegal in my state unfortunately. The most reliable reptile store near me sells discoid roaches but they are extremely expensive. Sunny has a hard time eating his vegetables; in fact, most of the time I have to trick him into eating them. It concerns me because I know that at this stage in his life he should be eating more vegetables and greens than insects, but he just doesn't eat greens. He doesn't look awful, but I feel that he could definitely gain some weight. I just don't know how he will manage to do that with only ok bugs and not enough greens. I try putting red vegetables like bell pepper on his salads as well as dried bugs to entice him, but he just picks the bugs off. Any advice on how to help him gain wait and eat better? Thanks

Your dragon is of good weight - anything over 300 grams I am told is good for a adult dragon - post some pics of him so we can see him
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ click on XIMG at top of message box then click on pic it should post --
here is a website that has discoid roaches - www.https://www.lunaroaches.com/?postId=5da69347af7316001778e498
It is hard to get them to eat salads if you dont get them eating them when babies - w/ his weight you can hold off feeding him for a day or two and then feed salads - here is a website for nutrition
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html I would go get some of the vegies on this website and feed him those - I mix collard greens turnip greens kale and not too much mustard as it tends to go bad so fast so once in a while I will get some just to mix it up I also alternate squash like zucchini yellow and butter nut shredded to my dragons salads - I also had ordered some prickly pear cactus pads off of Amazon that is also a staple feeder green - you can try using BSFL that are a good staple feeder dont dust them add to his salads first thing in the morning you can get them from here
www. https://symtonbsf.com/ order large as they are small --- put as many as you want on his salad - that will get him to the bowl to eat --- you can use butter worms super worms and meal worms - only 1-3 tho to entice him to that bowl - let him pick from that bowl for like an hour or so then take a little of the salad out and add his discoid roaches they are the easiest to work w/ and depending on size they cant get out of a bowl that you need for those worms --- glass bowls are the best to use -- smooth sided and w/ a lip --- the BSFL site has them I have the extra large bowl it was like $15 or so ---------------- try some of those methods see if they work --- you can add some fruit like apples strawberries blueberries mango NO citrus tho -- and only feed once in awhile as it tends to give them runny stools
Karrie

Thank you so much!! You're truly a life saver. I'll upload photos as soon as possible.

He looks ok from this pic - can you get one from looking down on him
Karrie

KarrieRee":3tp13p3o said:

He looks ok from this pic - can you get one from looking down on him
Karrie

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just comparing him to other beardies I see, he seems underweight.

just comparing him to other beardies I see, he seems underweight.[/quote]

Let me rephrase, I definitely see that he is underweight. It's not like I starve him -I love him to death- I think it is more of a lack of nutrition than a lack of food if that makes sense. I just need to get him on a better diet but it's been really hard to get into a good routine. It seems that every time I try a new feeder, there is always something negative that comes with it. It is also so hard to get him to eat his greens.

I understand - we'll try the methods I have suggested- you want him on a healthy diet and he will gain weight-- are you in the states? I hope so I sent you those websites and they are all in the states- if so I will post more sites for worms looking at that pic he does look like he could use some more weight on him
Karrie

KarrieRee":1mn0s6t4 said:

I understand - we'll try the methods I have suggested- you want him on a healthy diet and he will gain weight-- are you in the states? I hope so I sent you those websites and they are all in the states- if so I will post more sites for worms looking at that pic he does look like he could use some more weight on him
Karrie

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Yes, I’m in the United States. Thank you so much for all the help. I’ll definitely take your advice and post in a month or two with progress

Ok so here are some sites for worms
www.dubiaroaches.com - they have horn worms butter worms super worms the horn worms are a hydrating worm they grow fast so order small amounts- butter worms are good - they all can be addicting so feed sparingly
www.mulberryfarms.com they have good silk worms which are a good staple worm--- when you can order them last looked they were out of stock if you order a large amount order food too- they eat alot---
www.reptilianarts.com another place for silk worms-
Karrie

I'm finding that adding some cilantro (coriander) to all my guy's salads seems to stimulate him to eat the salad. I also chop the salad small enough that when I add bugs/worms to it, the bugs/worms cause the salad to move, and that triggers his feeding response. He tries to pick out the bugs, leaving the salad, but eventually, he misses, gets a mouthful of salad, and then it goes down.

Can't say this'll work for any dragon, cuz a lot of the other salad "tricks" don't work with mine either. They're all different. :wink:

I thought I would add another site that I buy from https://www.rainbowmealworms.net/
and I would buy him superworms instead of mealworms (harder shell). I always buy the largest since they grow slower and my beardies are adults. Their hornworms have been fine when I order them. I usually buy the smallest and keep them in the cooler end of the cage so they grow faster and it doesn't take long. They just started selling silkworms which would be really good but can cost more. I haven't tried them yet but plan to on my next order if not sold out.

Hopefully the good diet tips will be of help. I do want to add that he's not much underweight at all. We just get used to seeing really hefty + overweight dragons so that it now seems normal .

Thank you guys soooo much for all the tips and help. I will try the cilantro and bugs in his salad and check out those websites for sure! Thanks!

Edit: I ordered some worms off of the websites that y'all recommended.