Hello world

[Phoenix17June2009]

In need of some assistance/ideas.

As some of you know- Phoenix is my beardie, he is going on 6 years old and has always been a healthy eater (of his bugs anyway). I got him to the point he will tolerate his greens (yay!) however, while bathing him last night I was looking at his tail- it looks very thin to me and when i look at pictures from the past it IS thinner than it used to be. The part of the tail I'm referencing is the area at the very tip of the tail (where the fattest part is) I recently moved and can't find my scale for anything but he looks/feel thinner - what can i do to fatten him up a little? Odd part is, nothing has changed in his diet or husbandry (still eating our greens,squash,carrots and i swap back and forth between roaches and supers) now i will admit (poor planning on my part) I thought i had enough protein to make it through until it got warmer and i probably would have made it if the ants hadn't invaded my dubia colony and wiped them out... anyway, protein has been scarce for the last week. I just ordered more dubia today and they will arrive next week (hopefully alive weather permitting). His fat pads are otherwise in good shape, just his tail has me concerned... thoughts/ideas/suggestions? i'm all ears... thank you in advanced.

Jordan

 

[Esther19]

When protein is scarce, I syringe feed turkey Stage 1 baby food mixed with the same kind of squash.
They seem to like it, and it will tide them over protein-wise until the bugs arrive.

If his fat pads are fine, he is active, eating, and going potty, there is probably no cause for concern. Can you see his hip bones? I don't know whether their tails thin down normally as they age, or not.
Are you able to post pictures?

Waxworms will fatten him up, but feed sparingly, as we don't want him to stop eating roaches to hold out for waxies. :wink:

 

[Phoenix17June2009]

When protein is scarce, I syringe feed turkey Stage 1 baby food mixed with the same kind of squash.
They seem to like it, and it will tide them over protein-wise until the bugs arrive.

If his fat pads are fine, he is active, eating, and going potty, there is probably no cause for concern. Can you see his hip bones? I don't know whether their tails thin down normally as they age, or not.
Are you able to post pictures?

Waxworms will fatten him up, but feed sparingly, as we don't want him to stop eating roaches to hold out for waxies. :wink:

Good morning and thank you for the reply- i got him him squash baby food last night and of course (thats his favorite) he enjoyed it, i made his "salad" this morning and put some in it as well for a treat for him when he wakes up. Yes fat pads are good, VERY active, eating his greens (i put more than he needs due to the lack of protein) and yes he goes potty usually every 2 days. I did some research and found that many people struggle to keep weight on their beardies as they age. He has some health issues with his kidneys so while he isnt really old his body is still working twice as hard to do normal things i cant find any local waxworms- that was my first thought but everyone is out -- the local petsmart siad they were trying to get some in and would call me when they got them but hte batch they just got arrived dead so they are short too. When i get home later i will get some pix for you- it will be later this evening though as i have to work today bleh!

thank you so much for your help!!