Top part of eyes sunken in

[23peterpai]

Hi! My beardie’s name is Rose and she’s getting old. Lately her eyes have looked sunken in on the top so I thought it was because of dehydration so I’ve been offering water to her everyday and she usually drinks quite a bit. But she has started to get more easily irritated (I was guessing bc she has eggs in her stomach) she gets a black beard when I offer her water sometimes lol. She’s a sweetheart though and everyone loves her. Please help![Click image to enlarge]

[CooperDragon]

It looks like her fat deposits are depleting for some reason. You say she is building eggs now? How has she been eating recently? Has she been losing weight?

[23peterpai]

I give her crickets around every two months and I always keep super worms and give them to her as treats every once in a while. But usually when I get her crickets she doesn’t eat very many of them. Usually around 5. She loves her collard greens and mangoes but she hasn’t been eating as many. She hasn’t lost any weight yet though. She also always has freeze dried stuff in her dish.

[CooperDragon]

I would try offering bugs a bit more frequently if you can. Maybe once a week or so. It's great that she likes collards. Those are a good staple green. I think it may be helpful to increase the variety of veges you offer. Maybe some squash and some chopped bell pepper or some chopped green beans or something like that depending on what you can get. I usually try to offer 2-3 items from this list every day http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html and just rotate based on what I can get. I keep favorites on regular rotation (squash in my case). I would avoid freeze dried food since it doesn't offer hydration. A fresh salad every day is the best way to go for optimal nutrition for an adult dragon.

[23peterpai]

Thanks! She also loves bell peppers and sometimes squash. She doesn’t like kale though lol. I’ll try to offer more often.I didn’t know I could feed her green beans! I guess I just never thought about it. ‘,P

[CooperDragon]

Bell peppers are great. Green beans (fresh) are usually a hit when cut into bite sized rounds. Not all of them like kale. Might be worth trying things like turnip greens, mustard greens, or bok choy and see how those go over.

[23peterpai]

Okay, thanks!

[Drache613]

Hello,

Definitely try getting more food into her if she is developing eggs. They are infertile, correct?
Are you giving calcium supplementation too, especially if she does have eggs?
As suggested, try to offer those insects more often for her. She probably isn't getting enough
fat or protein right now. Egg development zaps their nutrition.
Will she take water from a dropper or syringe?

Tracie

[23peterpai]

They are infertile. I’ve been giving her calcium powder on her food, is that enough? She’s a rescue so even though she’s eight, I’ve had her for 3 years. When I got her she had mouth rot Tao I had to give her medicine out of a syringe and so now she refuses them. We have to go in every once in a while for another treatment because it never goes away completely.