Hello! I have some questions!

[GroovexChild]

Hi, I just got my first beardie today. I bought her from someone who was moving and couldn't take her with him. I'm not quite sure what kind of care she received with him, but when he gave us the terrarium and set up, none of the light fixtures had bulbs. We aren't sure how she ate but she is pretty big. He said that she is probably like 5 years old but he really didn't know for sure. She's approximately 15 inches in length and she's pretty chubby, at least in comparison to others I have seen. Does this sound about right for a 5 year old bearded dragon?

Also since we've had her, she's been eating like crazy. We gave her a dish of water and as soon as we put it in her home she started drinking furiously. We have had her for about 5 hours and she has eaten about 9 crickets, a handful of grapes, a handful of chopped broccoli, and several bearded dragon snacks that we purchased at petco. Is this too much? Everything that we have read has said to feed her until she is full, but I didn't realize she would eat this much. I'm concerned that despite her size maybe she wasn't fed well enough by her previous owner. She has also pooped once since we had her. At first it was like one large white stool came out, and then some softer brown feces. We saved it to take to the vet tomorrow when we get her checked out.

Her previous owner also told us that he never took her out of her terrarium. She seems friendly enough so far though and we have been letting her run around (supervised of course) and hang out on our shoulders.

So a recap of my questions...
Does she sound like she is 5 years old or could she be older or younger, and is there any other way to tell her age?
Has she been eating too much since she has been with us?
Does she sound like she is healthy, or could her previous owner have damaged her health in some way?

 

[Dopestar23]

It'll be really hard for anyone to tell you what the age is of your new found master, through the description you gave us, but I believe that your beardie is full-grown. When you say your beardie eats a lot, does that mean, over one feeding session or are those stats from several?
There is also no real way to tell if your beardie is overweight or just slightly chubby, without an accurate weight reading. When you see the vet, remember to ask him these same questions. He will be able to tell you, more than anybody.

Hope you like being the latest slave.

 

[lauraj1055]

Do you have pictures you can share?? I love looking at Chunky beardies