Does my bearded dragon seem healthy?

[Inkticious]

Hey there, I am a bit worried that I'm unable to properly take care of my bearded dragon, this is the third bearded dragon my family in general has had, and the second bearded dragon that is specifically my responsibility. The reason I'm concerned is I don't know if I am taking good care of her. The first bearded dragon that was my responsibility sadly passed away due to my family, and I not realizing we had been feeding incorrectly, and his liver had failed. He was my best friend and I loved him like he was my own son. I've been trying my best to make sure I take proper care of her, she just turned 1 year old 2 months ago in November, and the previous visit to the veterinarian we had was a couple months ago, maybe 4, or 5 months ago? If I remember propperly the vet said shes healthy. I do my best to take care of her the best I can. Sorry if that was kinda ranty, I go off on tangents a lot by accident. Do y'all think she looks healthy, or do you think it might be best for me to try to find another home for her? I just want the best for her, I love her a lot, shes kinda like a therapy dragon for me. Here's some recent photos of her.

 

[mango_the_beardie]

Hey there, I am a bit worried that I'm unable to properly take care of my bearded dragon, this is the third bearded dragon my family in general has had, and the second bearded dragon that is specifically my responsibility. The reason I'm concerned is I don't know if I am taking good care of her. The first bearded dragon that was my responsibility sadly passed away due to my family, and I not realizing we had been feeding incorrectly, and his liver had failed. He was my best friend and I loved him like he was my own son. I've been trying my best to make sure I take proper care of her, she just turned 1 year old 2 months ago in November, and the previous visit to the veterinarian we had was a couple months ago, maybe 4, or 5 months ago? If I remember propperly the vet said shes healthy. I do my best to take care of her the best I can. Sorry if that was kinda ranty, I go off on tangents a lot by accident. Do y'all think she looks healthy, or do you think it might be best for me to try to find another home for her? I just want the best for her, I love her a lot, shes kinda like a therapy dragon for me. Here's some recent photos of her.

Hi^^ uhm so yea in my opinion she does look a little thin and np I'm a little ranty myself but can you send pictures of what you keep her food in and can you take a picture of her tank? what does she eat? how many times a day does she eat? how does she act during the day? where did you get her from? and lastly can you also take a picture of her tail lifted up and a full body picture because sorry those picture don't show her body good enough

 

[Inkticious]

Hi^^ uhm so yea in my opinion she does look a little thin and np I'm a little ranty myself but can you send pictures of what you keep her food in and can you take a picture of her tank? what does she eat? how many times a day does she eat? how does she act during the day? where did you get her from? and lastly can you also take a picture of her tail lifted up and a full body picture because sorry those picture don't show her body good enough

Uhm, sure can do! Phone acts a bit weird on the site so currently typing on computer, this way also I can type easier. So, once I answer your questions, I will also take photos of what you wanted me to take photos of. So, she typically eats once a day, sometimes two times. During the day she is very energetic and gets to run around the house, if she is unable to do so, she keeps glass surfing till she is taken out. She typically eats freeze-dried crickets, and meal-worms, but I try to not give her too many a month as I don't want her to get sick like our previous dragon. I believe we got her from PetSmart, possibly PetCo, we got her when she was a hatch-ling, she held onto my finger the whole car ride home and wanted to go home with us the second we went over to where they have the bearded dragons, the way they were taking care of the bearded dragons also looked a lot better then the place where we got our previous dragon.
Also as for her looking thin, I honestly thought she looked a bit overweight, so now I'm worried I ain't feeding her enough.
I may not be able to take a photo of the underside of her tail lifted up as she is currently asleep and I don't wanna disturb her, but I will take a photo of her underside tomorrow if possible.

EDIT: I forgot to mention veggies, greens, and fruits that she is fed, my bad! She is fed spring mix, romaine, spinach, and sometimes other greens I can't remember off the top of my head. She sometimes gets green-beans, red and yellow bell peppers, watermelon, strawberries, blue berries, and apples, but she only gets those sometimes, as I don't want her to have too many of em, as I worry it will make her sick, or make her belly upset.
Also, the reason I feed her freeze-dried bugs and not live ones is they are easier to maintain, and they won't go to waste as much.
Any time we got worms for our previous dragon a lot of the time they a majority of them died before he could eat them.

Ok, be right back with a post full of photos of her.

 

[Inkticious]

She threw a lil bit of a fit today and made a mess of her take because I slept in today, and she wanted out of her tank.

 

[KarrieRee]

Uhm, sure can do! Phone acts a bit weird on the site so currently typing on computer, this way also I can type easier. So, once I answer your questions, I will also take photos of what you wanted me to take photos of. So, she typically eats once a day, sometimes two times. During the day she is very energetic and gets to run around the house, if she is unable to do so, she keeps glass surfing till she is taken out. She typically eats freeze-dried crickets, and meal-worms, but I try to not give her too many a month as I don't want her to get sick like our previous dragon. I believe we got her from PetSmart, possibly PetCo, we got her when she was a hatch-ling, she held onto my finger the whole car ride home and wanted to go home with us the second we went over to where they have the bearded dragons, the way they were taking care of the bearded dragons also looked a lot better then the place where we got our previous dragon.
Also as for her looking thin, I honestly thought she looked a bit overweight, so now I'm worried I ain't feeding her enough.
I may not be able to take a photo of the underside of her tail lifted up as she is currently asleep and I don't wanna disturb her, but I will take a photo of her underside tomorrow if possible.

EDIT: I forgot to mention veggies, greens, and fruits that she is fed, my bad! She is fed spring mix, romaine, spinach, and sometimes other greens I can't remember off the top of my head. She sometimes gets green-beans, red and yellow bell peppers, watermelon, strawberries, blue berries, and apples, but she only gets those sometimes, as I don't want her to have too many of em, as I worry it will make her sick, or make her belly upset.
Also, the reason I feed her freeze-dried bugs and not live ones is they are easier to maintain, and they won't go to waste as much.
Any time we got worms for our previous dragon a lot of the time they a majority of them died before he could eat them.

Ok, be right back with a post full of photos of her.

The most important thing in the tank is your UVB NO coils and basking surface temps- those need to be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer and they should be 95-100 on the spot where she sits for basking---- next I would get her off the freeze dried stuff and start feeding live insects dried insects are very dehydrating - she needs a staple feeder like crickets dubia roaches they are very easy to maintain - BSFL or silk worms -- here is a website for nutrition ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder Nutrition Content
I dont think your dragon looks thin but she could use a better staple insect in her diet --adding a treat worm like supers or horn worms butter worms or wax feed those sparingly they are like candy and she will get hooked on them -
Letting her out of the tank is good but she should only be out for 2 hours w/ out a heating lamp to where she can go to warm up or she should go back to her tank --- how big is the tank she is in?
So for her to stay healthy she needs correct basking temps NO stick ons for basking surface temps and NO coils for a UVB those are inadequate
Please ask for help if you need help w / those or anything else we can post links for UVB's--- please get rid of the heat rock they can cause severe burns

 

[mango_the_beardie]

The most important thing in the tank is your UVB NO coils and basking surface temps- those need to be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer and they should be 95-100 on the spot where she sits for basking---- next I would get her off the freeze dried stuff and start feeding live insects dried insects are very dehydrating - she needs a staple feeder like crickets dubia roaches they are very easy to maintain - BSFL or silk worms -- here is a website for nutrition ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder Nutrition Content
I dont think your dragon looks thin but she could use a better staple insect in her diet --adding a treat worm like supers or horn worms butter worms or wax feed those sparingly they are like candy and she will get hooked on them -
Letting her out of the tank is good but she should only be out for 2 hours w/ out a heating lamp to where she can go to warm up or she should go back to her tank --- how big is the tank she is in?
So for her to stay healthy she needs correct basking temps NO stick ons for basking surface temps and NO coils for a UVB those are inadequate
Please ask for help if you need help w / those or anything else we can post links for UVB's--- please get rid of the heat rock they can cause severe burns

ok so i- the food- NO I'm sorry but you're NEVER supposed to give them freeze-dried things give her a limit! I suggest giving her 5-8 crickets in the morning that are LIVE and 5 or 6 superworms in the afternoon that way she can get protein from the crickets because freeze-dried food gets rid of a ton of nutrition that she needs also the shell on super worms can cause liver problems and stomach issues and yes your completely right with the temps and UVB tubes she is still small so make sure you keep feeding her calcium and lastly can you weigh her in grams or oz and can you see how long she is including the tail?

 

[Inkticious]

The most important thing in the tank is your UVB NO coils and basking surface temps- those need to be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer and they should be 95-100 on the spot where she sits for basking---- next I would get her off the freeze dried stuff and start feeding live insects dried insects are very dehydrating - she needs a staple feeder like crickets dubia roaches they are very easy to maintain - BSFL or silk worms -- here is a website for nutrition ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder Nutrition Content
I dont think your dragon looks thin but she could use a better staple insect in her diet --adding a treat worm like supers or horn worms butter worms or wax feed those sparingly they are like candy and she will get hooked on them -
Letting her out of the tank is good but she should only be out for 2 hours w/ out a heating lamp to where she can go to warm up or she should go back to her tank --- how big is the tank she is in?
So for her to stay healthy she needs correct basking temps NO stick ons for basking surface temps and NO coils for a UVB those are inadequate
Please ask for help if you need help w / those or anything else we can post links for UVB's--- please get rid of the heat rock they can cause severe burns

I'm not sure how big her tank is, but it's definitely getting too small for her, we're planning on either making her a tank, or just getting a new one once we're able to get our own house, currently we're staying with my grandpa as our house was too big for two people, and was getting too expensive. As for bulbs, I don't think we use any coil bulbs at all, her basking area seems to be great for her, she seems happy from what I can tell.
Also, the next time I am able to go to the pet store I will try to get live crickets for her after cleaning out the tank we had the crickets in, also, I don't wanna give her super worms at all to be honest, just after what happened with our previous dragon, I don't wanna risk her going through the same thing.
Also, I'm definitely glad I posted here about this, I thought the heating rock was safe and all as an employee at the pet store said it was safer then the heating pad we had previously for her tank, and that it was good for beardies, her basking light is currently off as I don't want the bulb to blow, but typically her tank is 90 degrees Fahrenheit when the basking light is on.
Also, she is very energetic and such, so typically she spends her time out of her tank running all over the place, or snuggling/spending time with me.
I spend a lot of time with her, and all, shes my lil buddy.

 

[Inkticious]

ok so i- the food- NO I'm sorry but you're NEVER supposed to give them freeze-dried things give her a limit! I suggest giving her 5-8 crickets in the morning that are LIVE and 5 or 6 superworms in the afternoon that way she can get protein from the crickets because freeze-dried food gets rid of a ton of nutrition that she needs also the shell on super worms can cause liver problems and stomach issues and yes your completely right with the temps and UVB tubes she is still small so make sure you keep feeding her calcium and lastly can you weigh her in grams or oz and can you see how long she is including the tail?

I can't check her weight, or length, but we are planning on taking her to the vet sometime soonish, when we do, I will ask if they can measure, and weigh her. Also, I really really really don't wanna give her super worms, I just, I can't go through the pain of losing her the same way I lost our previous dragon, the vet said we shouldn't give them super worms very often, and I just don't wanna give her super worms at all, I just, a lot of painful memories, I didn't even know that our previous dragon was sick until it was too late, and I dont want the same to happen to her. Also, as for the freeze-dried food, I will likely try to give her more live bugs due to that, but I do also wanna try to limit how many she gets.

Is there anything else wrong with the way she eats? from what I can tell she seems healthy, but I wanna make sure that her current diet is okay, besides the freeze-dried bugs.

 

[KarrieRee]

I can't check her weight, or length, but we are planning on taking her to the vet sometime soonish, when we do, I will ask if they can measure, and weigh her. Also, I really really really don't wanna give her super worms, I just, I can't go through the pain of losing her the same way I lost our previous dragon, the vet said we shouldn't give them super worms very often, and I just don't wanna give her super worms at all, I just, a lot of painful memories, I didn't even know that our previous dragon was sick until it was too late, and I dont want the same to happen to her. Also, as for the freeze-dried food, I will likely try to give her more live bugs due to that, but I do also wanna try to limit how many she gets.

Is there anything else wrong with the way she eats? from what I can tell she seems healthy, but I wanna make sure that her current diet is okay, besides the freeze-dried bugs.

Your uvb and basking temps are the MOST important thing in the tank- please look on the bulb and tell me the brand and bulb look for a T 8 or T 5 on it placement and distance is crucial for the bulb-- basking temps are to be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer- 95-100 - 90 is to low-- surface basking temps is what you want and 90 will not start digestion the uvb is what helps the dragon absorb / synthesize the calcium w/ out proper uvb he will not be able to do that+ this is where the health thing comes in

 

[Inkticious]

Your uvb and basking temps are the MOST important thing in the tank- please look on the bulb and tell me the brand and bulb look for a T 8 or T 5 on it placement and distance is crucial for the bulb-- basking temps are to be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer- 95-100 - 90 is to low-- surface basking temps is what you want and 90 will not start digestion the uvb is what helps the dragon absorb / synthesize the calcium w/ out proper uvb he will not be able to do that+ this is where the health thing comes in

If it's okay, can I take a photo of what it is tomorrow? I'm sorry, I'm just very tired currently, and got a bit of a head-ache, I am also sorry if I am not properly explaining things and all, I am also sorry if I am misunderstanding what y'all are saying, I have issues which make it hard for me to properly understand certain things, and/or how things are explained, I am very sorry.

 

[KarrieRee]

If it's okay, can I take a photo of what it is tomorrow? I'm sorry, I'm just very tired currently, and got a bit of a head-ache, I am also sorry if I am not properly explaining things and all, I am also sorry if I am misunderstanding what y'all are saying, I have issues which make it hard for me to properly understand certain things, and/or how things are explained, I am very sorry.

Please post everything I have asked I'm the morning if you have boxes that the bulbs came in post them

 

[mango_the_beardie]

I can't check her weight, or length, but we are planning on taking her to the vet sometime soonish, when we do, I will ask if they can measure, and weigh her. Also, I really really really don't wanna give her super worms, I just, I can't go through the pain of losing her the same way I lost our previous dragon, the vet said we shouldn't give them super worms very often, and I just don't wanna give her super worms at all, I just, a lot of painful memories, I didn't even know that our previous dragon was sick until it was too late, and I dont want the same to happen to her. Also, as for the freeze-dried food, I will likely try to give her more live bugs due to that, but I do also wanna try to limit how many she gets.

Is there anything else wrong with the way she eats? from what I can tell she seems healthy, but I wanna make sure that her current diet is okay, besides the freeze-dried bugs.

ok im sorry for the bad memories but literally all bearded dragons are different and superworms are something they need in there adult diet but I understand why you don't but you can try dubia roaches instead just pls stop the mealworms pls but if you live in Canada dubia roaches are illegal for whatever reason so yea other than that her energy is fantastic even my bearded doesn't do that shes healthy and all she just prefers stay by me my bearded dragon does have separation anxiety according to our vet which is sweet but sad because I'm gone for most of the day but also can you send a pic of you lifting her tail up just to get more of a visual of her pores and weight because a main way to tell how there doing is based of the tall and thinkness of it

 

[Inkticious]

Here

 

[KarrieRee]

Here

Not sure about the sex if you can arch the tail a little higher would be great - basking bulb is a good one what about your UVB -- this is crucial to the health of your dragon

 

[Inkticious]

I got no idea, we've had the UVB bulb since our previous dragon.