Underweight?

[Bleepblop]

Hi there, I obtained a bearded dragon on Monday of this week, previous owner told me he was between 4-5 years old and this is now his third home. I have never owned a bearded dragon before so I have no reference points for what they should look like - but in my very uneducated opinion he looks very underweight and dehydrated. The guy told me he fed him one locust one day, rocket the next day, then fasted him the third day. I have not stuck to this as it seems insufficient and I have been giving him various insects and worms, along with rocket etc. The guy said he was lethargic and he thought he was possibly in brumation, but he seems to have fairly perked up after munching on a bunch of insects. I’d appreciate the opinions of people who actually have experience as to whether I’m just being overly cautious or whether he is actually underweight. Many thanks in advance!

 

[Nikki.D]

Hi there, I obtained a bearded dragon on Monday of this week, previous owner told me he was between 4-5 years old and this is now his third home. I have never owned a bearded dragon before so I have no reference points for what they should look like - but in my very uneducated opinion he looks very underweight and dehydrated. The guy told me he fed him one locust one day, rocket the next day, then fasted him the third day. I have not stuck to this as it seems insufficient and I have been giving him various insects and worms, along with rocket etc. The guy said he was lethargic and he thought he was possibly in brumation, but he seems to have fairly perked up after munching on a bunch of insects. I’d appreciate the opinions of people who actually have experience as to whether I’m just being overly cautious or whether he is actually underweight. Many thanks in advance!

He does look underweight. You should provide him with fresh salad every day. Some vegetables/greens that you can put in their salads are arugula, romaine, mustard greens, collards, dandelion greens, kale, bok choy, alfalfa and cabbage. You should give him at least three types of insects such as roaches, black soldier fly larvae and locusts. Make sure that all of the offered insects are no longer than the distance of their eyes at the top of their head. You can feed him insects once a day or three times a week depending on him. To make sure he is hydrated give him baths two to three times a week. Just wondering have you had a bearded dragon before or researched?

 

[Bleepblop]

He does look underweight. You should provide him with fresh salad every day. Some vegetables/greens that you can put in their salads are arugula, romaine, mustard greens, collards, dandelion greens, kale, bok choy, alfalfa and cabbage. You should give him at least three types of insects such as roaches, black soldier fly larvae and locusts. Make sure that all of the offered insects are no longer than the distance of their eyes at the top of their head. You can feed him insects once a day or three times a week depending on him. To make sure he is hydrated give him baths two to three times a week. Just wondering have you had a bearded dragon before or researched?

Thanks very much for your help - I researched before getting him, but even with that research it couldn’t really help with whether or not I was correct about his weight. The guy who owned him said he would only eat rocket and I assumed that was nonsense so I bought a variety of stuff (that I had read online was acceptable) and he has turned his nose up at everything except the rocket. The live food I got for him was crickets, locusts, morio worms and wax worms. Thank you again

 

[Nikki.D]

Thanks very much for your help - I researched before getting him, but even with that research it couldn’t really help with whether or not I was correct about his weight. The guy who owned him said he would only eat rocket and I assumed that was nonsense so I bought a variety of stuff (that I had read online was acceptable) and he has turned his nose up at everything except the rocket. The live food I got for him was crickets, locusts, morio worms and wax worms. Thank you again

So he will only eat rocket?
If you want you can buy a bearded dragon care book. I have three but two I love. They are called Bearded Dragon Manual, 3rd Edition: Expert Advice for Keeping and Caring for a Healthy Bearded Dragon and The Complete bearded dragon care book. If you don’t like reading the spruce pets has some online articles about bearded dragons: How to Care for Pet Bearded Dragons

 

[Bleepblop]

So he will only eat rocket?

Well he is crazy for all live food, but turns his nose up at all leaves I tried but rocket leaves. I know they’re not great but not sure how to make him eat something he is not interested in.

 

[Bleepblop]

So he will only eat rocket?
If you want you can buy a bearded dragon care book. I have three but two I love. They are called Bearded Dragon Manual, 3rd Edition: Expert Advice for Keeping and Caring for a Healthy Bearded Dragon and The Complete bearded dragon care book. If you don’t like reading the spruce pets has some online articles about bearded dragons: How to Care for Pet Bearded Dragons

Thank you so much - I’ll look into those.

 

[Nikki.D]

Well he is crazy for all live food, but turns his nose up at all leaves I tried but rocket leaves. I know they’re not great but not sure how to make him eat something he is not interested in.

This is some ways you can try to get him to eat other greens and veggies:

 

[Bleepblop]

This is some ways you can try to get him to eat other greens and veggies:

Thank you so much for that - that is unbelievably helpful. May I ask which book that is from?

 

[Nikki.D]

Thank you so much for that - that is unbelievably helpful. May I ask which book that is from?

The complete bearded dragon care book

 

[Bleepblop]

The complete bearded dragon care book

Thank a mill! Will definitely purchase that

 

[AHBD]

Yes he is underweight, sadly a lot of people are following severe dietary guidelines and are now really under feeding their dragons. The new guidelines are popular in some facebook pages as well as popping up on Reddit.

So one important thing.....DON'T feed him a whole bunch of insects at once. That could cause health problems itself. Just a few insects a day, not too many superworms at one time [ beardies can wolf down a bunch, then throw them up ] So 3-4 good sized insects every other day should be safe but definitely keep offering greens. If he likes rocket, aka arugula , that's O.K
Try a little bit of kale mixed with it.
ETA, the link that Nikki provided is the care sheet on this site, not a book so you probably see it by now.

 

[Chris.]

He looks quite slim as the others said. They can slim down and puff up though, so what I always do is run my finger down the spine towards the tail. If I'm able to feel the two hip bones, I'll try to feed a little more until they are gone. If the hip bones are visible even by looking at him, he is really underweight....

 

[Bleepblop]

The complete bearded dragon care book

Thank a mill! Will definitely purchase it

Yes he is underweight, sadly a lot of people are following severe dietary guidelines and are now really under feeding their dragons. The new guidelines are popular in some facebook pages as well as popping up on Reddit.

So one important thing.....DON'T feed him a whole bunch of insects at once. That could cause health problems itself. Just a few insects a day, not too many superworms at one time [ beardies can wolf down a bunch, then throw them up ] So 3-4 good sized insects every other day should be safe but definitely keep offering greens. If he likes rocket, aka arugula , that's O.K
Try a little bit of kale mixed with it.
ETA, the link that Nikki provided is the care sheet on this site, not a book so you probably see it by now.

Thank you for the information - yes, I saw that it was a link only after I replied. I would be delighted if he liked kale as I am also a fan of it!

 

[KarrieRee]

What kind of lighting has he been under-coil UVB's or long tube fixtures- what are his surface basking temps? and how are you getting them? Dragons need these things to be on par it controls their behavior and their over all health -

 

[Bleepblop]

What kind of lighting has he been under-coil UVB's or long tube fixtures- what are his surface basking temps? and how are you getting them? Dragons need these things to be on par it controls their behavior and their over all health -

I bought the guy’s set up and he has a long tube uvb light, but not long enough in my opinion so I’ve ordered a longer one. He also had a pretty crappy basking light which I’ve replaced it with an Arcadia D3 bulb. There is a temperature gauge in the enclosure, but I’ve ordered an infrared thermometer to test all areas. I’m trying my best.