Rookie Bearded Dragon owner, one who is concerned about his little Safi, seen here:
Recently I've been worrying about wether or not he is possibly dehydrated. I've done the "pinch skin test" before and it takes a moment (less than a second) to shift back. I am familiar with the other symptoms of dehydration (lethargy, sunken eyes, struggles pooping or shedding) but so far he doesn't seem to have any of the other symptoms.
Some days he's lazy, others he loves exploring my house. He had a poop this morning, and it was normal brown with white at the end.
By my own admission, I'm a terrible worry wort when it comes to my baby. I'm constantly panicking when things don't seem well. Sometimes they're harmless (ie: turns out he's shedding and wants to be alone), but I just want to be safe rather than sorry.
What do you guys think?
For clarifying purposes: Safi is less than a year old (bought as a baby at 8 weeks back in November 2020). I've been very thorough in making sure both his home (especially lighting) and his food is perfectly healthy fo Beardies. I try to give him a bath every week and ensue there's a water bowl in the cool part of his tank (splashing the water so he sees it) and misting every once in a while.
His poops are going to tell you whether hes dehydrated they need to be dark formed and moist -- urate white formed and moist --- make sure hes getting his salads rinsed before serving and his insects are gut loaded w/ water crystals or carrots -- too many baths will dry the scales out -- if hes not drinking from a bath or dish then I would not have it in there ---- he will get most of the moisture from what I just posted
Safi is very sweet, I think that he looks healthy in appearance & doesn't seem to look
dehydrated. Just to maintain his hydration, you can try & train him to drink directly from
a plastic dropper or syringe.
I hope that he continues to do well!