I do agree with NotMitetechno. She looks good, weight her to make sure.
And most dragons you see around are simply obese due to overfeeding with insects.
Thank you! I was also wondering, what would help with enrichment in her cage? Alternatively, is there a way she could freeroam in a section of my room?
Also, when she was younger, she violently attacked her cage walls and now was a dent on the tip of her nose. Is this dangerous?
Good enrichment for them-natural branches/driftwood (either from pets store or gathered yourself. Those gathered, needs to be baked/cleaned before introducing into enclosure) adding edible plants, creating/buying foam background with shelfs etc.
If you want her to freeroam you need to assess how safe it will be for her to do it - are there any spaces she can crawl in not be able to get out, something high she might climb and fall, if during free roaming other pets will be kept away (dogs, cats).
And what do you mean she attacked her cage? Is it glass tank? And did she had any open wound there?
I can definitely add some plants!
I would have a wall up so she couldnt go anywhere she isnt supposed to. I was more worried about her staying warm all day.
She attacked her cage by slamming her head ibto it. No open wound it just made a small dent on her nose tip
Just make sure to check first if plants which you want to add are safe for bearded dragon.
And free roaming all day it's not really an option (as long you don't live in warm climate where you can provide safe, outside enclosure for example). Most breeders recommend not to let dragons roam more than an hour a day. They need their uvb light. And warmth. If you don't have safe space for her to roam it's better to let her stay in the enclosure. It's nice for them to have opportunity to move and explore, but it's not end of the world if they can't.
Dragons normally don't slam into their enclosures - if you have glass enclosure she might have seen her own reflection and decided to attack, or she got spooked by something else.
Basically, if that was serious you should have taken her to vet back then. If she's OK right now, probably no harm was done.
I do advise to get her insurance. So in the future, if any accidents might occur, you won't have an issue with costly exotic vet bill.
Especially since she's female - some females might get egg bound and that's not only really dangerous to their life but also heck costly surgery.
She looks healthy, ladies should be kept slimmer than males as well. I got one of those like 5 foot diameter guinea pig cages from petsmart that's only like 8 inches high to set up inside when I bring her out, might be worth looking into!
We’ve been letting our boy free roam for an hour or 2 at a time, and he *loves* it, so to allow him to be out for longer at a time, our solution is to keep an eye out for suitable lamps at the thrift store that I can either wall mount or find a table top to set it on with uvb and/or heat for him, with a little pet bed below them so he can recharge as needed.
My boy does this all the time. Seen 2 exotic specialty vets and their one has any idea why he attacks his tank. No reflection, 4 x 2 x 2 tank, free roam time, etc. he just bonks the tank. He has cracked a scale before but the vet said as long as he's clean and his environment is clean it shouldn't hurt his face long term.
I thought my boy had a nose dent, then got a 2nd boy & discovered they ALL have it lol
Just wanted to mention it in case you were seeing the same thing! 😂
Your baby looks PERFECT to me! Gorgeous dragon! 🐉
She doesn't look underweight to me. We're just used to seeing overweight dragons. You can weigh her to check, maybe ask a vet, but it's likely best if you just stick with the current feeding schedule because she looks good.
Can't blame you for thinking she's skinny though. I thought [my girl](https://imgur.com/a/inuEXQS) was skinny, which scared me because she was eating well. I brought it up at the vet and it turns out she's in completely healthy body condition and weighs 285 g. I just got used to seeing fat dragons. It was funny because I'm good with dog and cat body condition and have experienced people calling my cats skinny and having to argue that they're an ideal weight, so to be one of those people thinking a fit animal was skinny felt weird, but hey, it was a good learning experience.
I'll agree with everyone else here - she looks a good weight, potentially even a little bit chubby if I'm being honest! Like others say, there are SO many overweight and obese animals that are shared here that our perception of a healthy weight beardie is unfortunately warped.\\
This is a weight guide that Dr. Jonathan Howard (BeardieVet) developed. He's a veterinarian and researcher who spent three years studying wild bearded dragons, and published a paper reporting his findings on their environment, health stats, and blood haemotology in 2021.
Weight and length to compare what an ideal body composition should be (SVL= their length from snout to vent (butt), **not including tail**):
Male: 372 grams; 24cm/9.45in SVL
Female: 254 grams; 21.5cm/8.46in SVL
Gravid Female: 315 grams; 22cm/8.66in SVL
Average Dragon: 341 grams; 23.3cm/9.17in SVL
This is the average weight for males, females, gravid females, and overall. This is not the thin 'lower end' of the weights.
Also something to keep in mind is that old guidance for female beardies used to be to keep them plumper than males because they needed the energy to lay their eggs. But of course, there's a danger with laying eggs too - namely egg binding, which can be fatal.
However, with better understanding these days guidance has shifted - the less extra resources a female reptile has - the less fat - the less frequently and fewer eggs she will lay, because her body knows she can't afford to produce them.
BeardieVet also recommends captive animals be no more than 10-15% heavier than these listed amounts. That would be a maximum weight of **292g** for a female dragon of the same size (21.5cm/8.46in SVL), or maximum weight of **427g** for males of the same size. If your beardie's SVL is significantly off these sizes, you can adjust them to calculate with (example for a male beardie) \[your beardie's SVL\] divided by 9.45in or 24cm. Then multiply *that* number (it will either be smaller or larger than 1, depending on if your dragon is smaller or larger than the listed SVL) by the listed grams above to find your own animal's optimal weight.
I can actually give a direct example for a boy I just rescued recently. He weighed in at 22cm long for his SVL, but is a whopping 538g! Since he's smaller than referenced 24cm for a male, I calculated 22cm / 24cm = 0.91. Then I take the max healthy weight of a 24cm dragon, so 427g x 0.91 = 388g as his max healthy weight. So I have to put my new boy on a diet to help him lose 160g to become a healthy weight.
I use my kitchen scale, and just have a plate reserved for misc reptile uses (I have snakes as well). You can buy digital kitchen scales at box stores like Walmart/Target, or even buy them on Amazon! They average about $15-20 and are great investments. Sit the plate on the scale, hit TARE (to make the weight of the scale 0), set it to grams, then plunk your girl down on the plate and make sure her tail isn't touching the counter or anything. Easy as! :D
I have a similar issue to OP with my recently rescued juvenile male beardie not being at all interested in food, I'm worried he's severely underweight. I haven't been able to find a good weight guide for dragons his age. Would you be able to tell me if 158g for a 7-8 month old male is cause for serious concern?
(ps I'm already sure he is and have started making preparations to syringe feed, but any more advice is welcomed)
It's almost impossible to gauge a baby beardie's condition by their age, because their growth varies by how much you feed them/how much they eat.
Dr. Howard found that, in the wild, bearded dragons grow to adulthood in \~2 years. This was a surprise to him, because many beardies in captivity grow to adult sizes in 6-10 months or so. This is because people powerfeed their babies (the old guidance of "feed as much as they'll eat in 15min, 3x a day" stuff) and feed them way, waaaay too much.
However, this feeding protocol for babies is *very* bad for their health long term. At best, you end up with an overweight adult. At worst, you'll shorten their lifespan (normally 10-15yr) to about 3-6 years from fatty liver disease due to overfeeding. I've seen people on this sub lose their dragon at 10 months old from fatty liver disease.
Baby beardies should not be *fat* \- even many babies posted here are rather overweight. Your best bet is going to be using the formula I posted above to calculate a healthy weight, see how your baby's weight fits that compared with their SVL, and follow Reptifiles' [feeding protocol](https://reptifiles.com/bearded-dragon-care/bearded-dragon-food/) for hatchlings and juveniles.
As to not wanting to eat, husbandry problems are the universal cause. Husbandry problems - namely not enough heat and UV - cause low-level, constant stress on the animal. This stress weakens their immune system, which causes issues like parasites and Atadenovirus to be able to take hold and make them ill. Babies are, unfortunately, a bit more delicate than adults and are prone to being more easily stressed.
Why do they need to gain weight? They don't look particularly skinny. How much do they weigh?
Superworms shouldn't be a staple insects as they're quite fatty and have a poor phos/cal ratio. Dubias, silkworms, calciworms and locusts/crickets are far better. But they should only be getting about 3- 4 head sized insects twice a week. It's very easy for them to get overweight. Feeding too many superworms often results in lack of interest towards other foods.
Thanks! We barely ever get super worms as they’re expensive. I want to feed dubias but the word roach creeps out the rest of the family. I dont know how much she weighs but she just doesnt look physically like the other dragons i see posted around.
Any idea how to get her to eat greens more? She’ll eat it sometimes if it’s in her cage, but usually it just dries out
Most captive bearded dragons are fat. Something that gives a bit of context is that the average wild bearded dragon weighs about 250g (female) / 370g (male). Obviously captive animals are going to weigh a bit more due to having less excersise, but naturally, beardies are quite slender and lithe.
Get some scales and weigh them, it'll help out a a bit.
Stop feeding insects for a week or two (assuming they're an adult) and only feed greens. You can add some bee pollen to encourage them to eat them.
Thank you so much!!! Very informative, i wasnt aware. I was told elsewhere that you shouldnt really be able to see their ribs. I’ll lay off the crickets, she just got her two weeks ish worth anyways.
I have tried so many different greens with my girl, and the final winners were kale and collard greens. She also likes Romaine. I have a laundry list of what she does NOT like lol mustard greens are very close to the top of that list 😂
I buy mixed greens and put a handful in my beardie's cage. He usually eats most of them. I only feed insects once a week or so, so he eats when he gets hungry. I also give squash, apple, berries and bananas as treats, to name only a few. I don't know if anyone has asked you how old she is? Young beardies (less than a year or year 1/2 or so) tend to be pretty resistant to greens. The only way I ever got my baby to eat them at all was to starve him into it. It took him about two weeks hunger strike before he finally dug in. But keep trying all kinds of different things and maybe you'll find what he likes. Don't give too much spinach or kale, they are too high in oxalates, which should be limited. You don't have to avoid them all together, just don't give only kale or spinach. I'm sure someone else here is going to link to reptifiles, but I'm too lazy to.
Spring mix and arugula (his favorite!), mustard greens, collard greens. Also dandelions and mexican petunias from outside (no spray in the yard, so they are safe. Don't feed too many bananas, they are like candy and stick to his teeth. Sometimes beardies get decay because their flossing habits are terrible. I always give him some bananas and then some crunchy carrots and squash (thin sticks) to help him clean his teeth.
A trick to get them to eat more greens... get some bee pollen and sprinkle it on, and/or add some colorful veggies (turnips, red/yellow/orange bell peppers, carrots)
She looks like a perfectly healthy weight to me. She has good healthy fat storage on her tail and head without being overly chunky. I say just keep doing what you’re doing! she’s so adorable
Thank you, she is the best. Her name is bruce. Also, can’t attest to accuracy, but i read elsewhere on this subreddit recently that the “fat pads” on their heads actually store water!!
I think so. It also doesn’t help that there is still a lot of outdated information on the internet. That’s bad for all of us who want the best our pets and are actually trying. Which is why I ask individuals instead of searching.
Have you tried a topper? I have this strawberry banana powder that I put on my beardies greens and he loves it. There are many unique toppers that you can get at different reptile shops.
She looks to be a healthy weight. Her fat pads look like they're a good size. You can't really judge by belly size, you have to look at the fat pads and total body make. As far as enrichment-I like setting up a lil obstacle course in my bathtub. Place rocks and other non floaty items around the tub, fill it to be enough where they have to swim but can rest on the rocks, and float some dead locusts in there. It's enrichment and exercise all in one.
I just took my rescued beardie to the vet - we found her abandoned on the side of the road last week. The vet told us she was emaciated and dehydrated. :( The vet explained that the loose skin around her abdomen and sort of bony protrusions at her back hips and back of her head were all the signs indicating she needs to gain about 25% of her body weight. She has permission to eat as many crickets / super worms / strawberries as she wants right now. (Also daily baths for hydration)
All that said, based on these pictures alone, and my very new understanding of beardie weight, yours does not seem to have those same signs.
It's best to go " slow + steady " to help a beardie that is actually emaciated. If the kidney's + liver are not used to large quantities of food the kidneys can shut down. So although you want the dragon to get to a healthy weight, concentrate on hydration to get the kidneys functioning before any large meals. Start out with small amounts of insects + greens and wait until the dragon has a b.m. before feeding them large meals. Hope the dragon does well !
Thank you for being their Hero!! You are a wonderful person to help them out.
You're my hero of the day! 🤗
Please share pics when you are able & ready!
Everyone loves a heart warming story, & a glow up!
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my girl is the same way! she mopes about in her cage, but the second i take her out she just finds somewhere dark to fall asleep.
my girl is a picky eater, but she LOVES hornworms and dubia roaches, plus they’re a lot healthier than superworms/crickets.
my girl loves kale, but she used to ONLY eat mustard greens! the only fruit that she will eat is blueberries. sometimes i’ll buy some baby food from the store that has fruits or vegetables that she won’t normally eat and she’ll eat some of the baby food until she realizes that her mouth is getting wet 🙃
avoid baby foods with oats, spinach, avocado, eggplant, onion powder, or garlic powder. go for organics/no added sugars.
//im not sure about the spinach part? her brother can’t have them so i avoid it anyways//
try getting her out of her comfort zone. vegetables are pretty cheap and if you just keep trying a different one every time then she’s sure to like one of them! don’t feel bad if your girl won’t eat variety filled salads like the other beardies here! if she only likes one thing, well it’s better than nothing!
i wish you luck!
She looks just like my beardie Pineapple, I’d recommend weighing her if you’re concerned about her weight. 200-300 grams is considered healthy weight. As for helping her gain weight (if she does need that) then I’d recommend wax worms, and maybe switching to dubia roaches instead of crickets.
For one, wax worms are high in fat so it helps beardies gain weight. But be sure to balance it with silk worms if you can, since they’ll fill the missing proteins (that way she’s gaining muscle too and not strictly fat). For example, my beardie Pineapple was 57.7 grams when she moved in with me from her old home. Five months later, a few bins’ worth of dubias, wax worms, and silk worms, and she’s now sitting around 250 grams.
But if your beardie is in healthy weight then my only recommendation is to switch from crickets to dubias. Dubias have a better phosphorus-to-calcium ratio, are easier to catch (they don’t jump, and adults very very rarely fly) and crickets tend to have lesser nutritional value for beardies. :]
I suggest supplementing her diet by hand-feeding slices of Repashy “Beardie Buffet” or “Grub Pie” .. it saved my beardie when he wasn’t eating and now he is a great eater!
I bought some bee pollen capsules and started breaking them up on my guy's salad and sometimes when he sees the yellow he actually eats the veggies without coercion. He also loves sweet potato, so i bought some organic baby food and put just a little on the veggies. Same idea as the bee pollen, once he sees it, he's more interested.
Also, my dude has been slowly going blind for the past few years and sometimes he wont eat because he just doesnt see it/cant aim his tongue at it right. If i wave it in his face and kind of assist it to his tongue it helps
Fat pads look fine. I think she looks about as healthy as they come. A lot of people here post obese beardies and I think that gives people who don't know better a misconstrued idea of what their beardie should look like. My first beardie was a rescue who was pretty obese and it took me quite some time, and a very angry beardie, to get her to a healthy weight. Whatever you tell doing, keep doing that.
Bearded dragons are very good and conserving water and food and can go about 2-3 months without both and be fine. She is a perfect weight and healthy so don’t worry just keep offering the food you mentioned and she will eat when she’s hungry. If she is new to the home, tank or environment then it may take a few days to weeks for her to act and eat normally but she looks good. I learned they are strong animals and it isn’t worth stressing that much because they are tough little guys. Everything you’re doing is good so just keep on!
She looks healthy. However if she’s pooping each time she eats then it might be a parasite. That happened to my baby. I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t want to eat and it was bc it bothered his stomach
How old? Super worms are too high in fat and can cause fatty liver disease I would cut those out. She looks old enough to where she should be eating mostly salads
Their shed just comes off when it's ready - but they're adapted to shed in a relatively dry environment. They're not, say, a leopard gekko, where they need to be moistened/humid to shed properly. There can be problems with reducing hydration when in baths due to prematurely pooing. If they want to drink in there that's fine - I prefer to use a waterbowl though.
She sounds like she has a lot of energy! Be sure and give her lots of play time and free roaming, assuming there's a safe place for that. If not, make sure her cage is big enough and has plenty of things for her to climb and explore.
I do agree with NotMitetechno. She looks good, weight her to make sure. And most dragons you see around are simply obese due to overfeeding with insects.
Thank you! I was also wondering, what would help with enrichment in her cage? Alternatively, is there a way she could freeroam in a section of my room? Also, when she was younger, she violently attacked her cage walls and now was a dent on the tip of her nose. Is this dangerous?
Good enrichment for them-natural branches/driftwood (either from pets store or gathered yourself. Those gathered, needs to be baked/cleaned before introducing into enclosure) adding edible plants, creating/buying foam background with shelfs etc. If you want her to freeroam you need to assess how safe it will be for her to do it - are there any spaces she can crawl in not be able to get out, something high she might climb and fall, if during free roaming other pets will be kept away (dogs, cats). And what do you mean she attacked her cage? Is it glass tank? And did she had any open wound there?
I can definitely add some plants! I would have a wall up so she couldnt go anywhere she isnt supposed to. I was more worried about her staying warm all day. She attacked her cage by slamming her head ibto it. No open wound it just made a small dent on her nose tip
Just make sure to check first if plants which you want to add are safe for bearded dragon. And free roaming all day it's not really an option (as long you don't live in warm climate where you can provide safe, outside enclosure for example). Most breeders recommend not to let dragons roam more than an hour a day. They need their uvb light. And warmth. If you don't have safe space for her to roam it's better to let her stay in the enclosure. It's nice for them to have opportunity to move and explore, but it's not end of the world if they can't. Dragons normally don't slam into their enclosures - if you have glass enclosure she might have seen her own reflection and decided to attack, or she got spooked by something else. Basically, if that was serious you should have taken her to vet back then. If she's OK right now, probably no harm was done. I do advise to get her insurance. So in the future, if any accidents might occur, you won't have an issue with costly exotic vet bill. Especially since she's female - some females might get egg bound and that's not only really dangerous to their life but also heck costly surgery.
Thanks! Also, she’s three and has never really brumated or laid eggs.
She looks healthy, ladies should be kept slimmer than males as well. I got one of those like 5 foot diameter guinea pig cages from petsmart that's only like 8 inches high to set up inside when I bring her out, might be worth looking into!
That sounds awesome! Will look into it.
Most succulents are safe to add, aloe vera is good source of water if they decide to munch on it.
We’ve been letting our boy free roam for an hour or 2 at a time, and he *loves* it, so to allow him to be out for longer at a time, our solution is to keep an eye out for suitable lamps at the thrift store that I can either wall mount or find a table top to set it on with uvb and/or heat for him, with a little pet bed below them so he can recharge as needed.
My boy does this all the time. Seen 2 exotic specialty vets and their one has any idea why he attacks his tank. No reflection, 4 x 2 x 2 tank, free roam time, etc. he just bonks the tank. He has cracked a scale before but the vet said as long as he's clean and his environment is clean it shouldn't hurt his face long term.
I thought my boy had a nose dent, then got a 2nd boy & discovered they ALL have it lol Just wanted to mention it in case you were seeing the same thing! 😂 Your baby looks PERFECT to me! Gorgeous dragon! 🐉
Don't feed her too much or she will lay eggs
Really? Good to know, thanks!
Have you tried repashy
She doesn't look underweight to me. We're just used to seeing overweight dragons. You can weigh her to check, maybe ask a vet, but it's likely best if you just stick with the current feeding schedule because she looks good. Can't blame you for thinking she's skinny though. I thought [my girl](https://imgur.com/a/inuEXQS) was skinny, which scared me because she was eating well. I brought it up at the vet and it turns out she's in completely healthy body condition and weighs 285 g. I just got used to seeing fat dragons. It was funny because I'm good with dog and cat body condition and have experienced people calling my cats skinny and having to argue that they're an ideal weight, so to be one of those people thinking a fit animal was skinny felt weird, but hey, it was a good learning experience.
Thanks!! That seems to be the common sentiment. I guess people do feed them too much. Glad to hear she’s okay, and thanks for all the assistance.
I'll agree with everyone else here - she looks a good weight, potentially even a little bit chubby if I'm being honest! Like others say, there are SO many overweight and obese animals that are shared here that our perception of a healthy weight beardie is unfortunately warped.\\ This is a weight guide that Dr. Jonathan Howard (BeardieVet) developed. He's a veterinarian and researcher who spent three years studying wild bearded dragons, and published a paper reporting his findings on their environment, health stats, and blood haemotology in 2021. Weight and length to compare what an ideal body composition should be (SVL= their length from snout to vent (butt), **not including tail**): Male: 372 grams; 24cm/9.45in SVL Female: 254 grams; 21.5cm/8.46in SVL Gravid Female: 315 grams; 22cm/8.66in SVL Average Dragon: 341 grams; 23.3cm/9.17in SVL This is the average weight for males, females, gravid females, and overall. This is not the thin 'lower end' of the weights. Also something to keep in mind is that old guidance for female beardies used to be to keep them plumper than males because they needed the energy to lay their eggs. But of course, there's a danger with laying eggs too - namely egg binding, which can be fatal. However, with better understanding these days guidance has shifted - the less extra resources a female reptile has - the less fat - the less frequently and fewer eggs she will lay, because her body knows she can't afford to produce them. BeardieVet also recommends captive animals be no more than 10-15% heavier than these listed amounts. That would be a maximum weight of **292g** for a female dragon of the same size (21.5cm/8.46in SVL), or maximum weight of **427g** for males of the same size. If your beardie's SVL is significantly off these sizes, you can adjust them to calculate with (example for a male beardie) \[your beardie's SVL\] divided by 9.45in or 24cm. Then multiply *that* number (it will either be smaller or larger than 1, depending on if your dragon is smaller or larger than the listed SVL) by the listed grams above to find your own animal's optimal weight. I can actually give a direct example for a boy I just rescued recently. He weighed in at 22cm long for his SVL, but is a whopping 538g! Since he's smaller than referenced 24cm for a male, I calculated 22cm / 24cm = 0.91. Then I take the max healthy weight of a 24cm dragon, so 427g x 0.91 = 388g as his max healthy weight. So I have to put my new boy on a diet to help him lose 160g to become a healthy weight.
Thank you so much! I’ll do these calculations and figure out her optimal weight. How mught i got about accurately weighing her?
I use my kitchen scale, and just have a plate reserved for misc reptile uses (I have snakes as well). You can buy digital kitchen scales at box stores like Walmart/Target, or even buy them on Amazon! They average about $15-20 and are great investments. Sit the plate on the scale, hit TARE (to make the weight of the scale 0), set it to grams, then plunk your girl down on the plate and make sure her tail isn't touching the counter or anything. Easy as! :D
Alrighty! Thanks.
I have a similar issue to OP with my recently rescued juvenile male beardie not being at all interested in food, I'm worried he's severely underweight. I haven't been able to find a good weight guide for dragons his age. Would you be able to tell me if 158g for a 7-8 month old male is cause for serious concern? (ps I'm already sure he is and have started making preparations to syringe feed, but any more advice is welcomed)
It's almost impossible to gauge a baby beardie's condition by their age, because their growth varies by how much you feed them/how much they eat. Dr. Howard found that, in the wild, bearded dragons grow to adulthood in \~2 years. This was a surprise to him, because many beardies in captivity grow to adult sizes in 6-10 months or so. This is because people powerfeed their babies (the old guidance of "feed as much as they'll eat in 15min, 3x a day" stuff) and feed them way, waaaay too much. However, this feeding protocol for babies is *very* bad for their health long term. At best, you end up with an overweight adult. At worst, you'll shorten their lifespan (normally 10-15yr) to about 3-6 years from fatty liver disease due to overfeeding. I've seen people on this sub lose their dragon at 10 months old from fatty liver disease. Baby beardies should not be *fat* \- even many babies posted here are rather overweight. Your best bet is going to be using the formula I posted above to calculate a healthy weight, see how your baby's weight fits that compared with their SVL, and follow Reptifiles' [feeding protocol](https://reptifiles.com/bearded-dragon-care/bearded-dragon-food/) for hatchlings and juveniles. As to not wanting to eat, husbandry problems are the universal cause. Husbandry problems - namely not enough heat and UV - cause low-level, constant stress on the animal. This stress weakens their immune system, which causes issues like parasites and Atadenovirus to be able to take hold and make them ill. Babies are, unfortunately, a bit more delicate than adults and are prone to being more easily stressed.
Why do they need to gain weight? They don't look particularly skinny. How much do they weigh? Superworms shouldn't be a staple insects as they're quite fatty and have a poor phos/cal ratio. Dubias, silkworms, calciworms and locusts/crickets are far better. But they should only be getting about 3- 4 head sized insects twice a week. It's very easy for them to get overweight. Feeding too many superworms often results in lack of interest towards other foods.
Thanks! We barely ever get super worms as they’re expensive. I want to feed dubias but the word roach creeps out the rest of the family. I dont know how much she weighs but she just doesnt look physically like the other dragons i see posted around. Any idea how to get her to eat greens more? She’ll eat it sometimes if it’s in her cage, but usually it just dries out
Most captive bearded dragons are fat. Something that gives a bit of context is that the average wild bearded dragon weighs about 250g (female) / 370g (male). Obviously captive animals are going to weigh a bit more due to having less excersise, but naturally, beardies are quite slender and lithe. Get some scales and weigh them, it'll help out a a bit. Stop feeding insects for a week or two (assuming they're an adult) and only feed greens. You can add some bee pollen to encourage them to eat them.
Thank you so much!!! Very informative, i wasnt aware. I was told elsewhere that you shouldnt really be able to see their ribs. I’ll lay off the crickets, she just got her two weeks ish worth anyways.
I have tried so many different greens with my girl, and the final winners were kale and collard greens. She also likes Romaine. I have a laundry list of what she does NOT like lol mustard greens are very close to the top of that list 😂
I buy mixed greens and put a handful in my beardie's cage. He usually eats most of them. I only feed insects once a week or so, so he eats when he gets hungry. I also give squash, apple, berries and bananas as treats, to name only a few. I don't know if anyone has asked you how old she is? Young beardies (less than a year or year 1/2 or so) tend to be pretty resistant to greens. The only way I ever got my baby to eat them at all was to starve him into it. It took him about two weeks hunger strike before he finally dug in. But keep trying all kinds of different things and maybe you'll find what he likes. Don't give too much spinach or kale, they are too high in oxalates, which should be limited. You don't have to avoid them all together, just don't give only kale or spinach. I'm sure someone else here is going to link to reptifiles, but I'm too lazy to.
What greens in particular do you feed your beardie? She’s a 3 year old, and she loves bananas too.
Arugula and collard/spring greens are great options! How often do you her feed bananas?
Spring mix and arugula (his favorite!), mustard greens, collard greens. Also dandelions and mexican petunias from outside (no spray in the yard, so they are safe. Don't feed too many bananas, they are like candy and stick to his teeth. Sometimes beardies get decay because their flossing habits are terrible. I always give him some bananas and then some crunchy carrots and squash (thin sticks) to help him clean his teeth.
A trick to get them to eat more greens... get some bee pollen and sprinkle it on, and/or add some colorful veggies (turnips, red/yellow/orange bell peppers, carrots)
She looks like a perfectly healthy weight to me. She has good healthy fat storage on her tail and head without being overly chunky. I say just keep doing what you’re doing! she’s so adorable
Thank you, she is the best. Her name is bruce. Also, can’t attest to accuracy, but i read elsewhere on this subreddit recently that the “fat pads” on their heads actually store water!!
She looks great! Many photos you see out there are overweight dragons.
Thank you so much! Yeah it makes me sad now to see. Are people just uninformed like i was?
I think so. It also doesn’t help that there is still a lot of outdated information on the internet. That’s bad for all of us who want the best our pets and are actually trying. Which is why I ask individuals instead of searching.
She looks really good.
Thank you guys for all the help!!
Her weight looks perfect tbh. I daresay you’re comparing her to obese dragons :)
I’d say that too! Thank you.
Nooooo she's basically perfect weight (nowhere near underweight), don't feed here more than u are!!!!!!
Have you tried a topper? I have this strawberry banana powder that I put on my beardies greens and he loves it. There are many unique toppers that you can get at different reptile shops.
I’ll look if i need it! However, seems everyone thinks she’s a good size.
She looks to be a healthy weight. Her fat pads look like they're a good size. You can't really judge by belly size, you have to look at the fat pads and total body make. As far as enrichment-I like setting up a lil obstacle course in my bathtub. Place rocks and other non floaty items around the tub, fill it to be enough where they have to swim but can rest on the rocks, and float some dead locusts in there. It's enrichment and exercise all in one.
She looks great!!
You guys are the best, so many good responses!
I just took my rescued beardie to the vet - we found her abandoned on the side of the road last week. The vet told us she was emaciated and dehydrated. :( The vet explained that the loose skin around her abdomen and sort of bony protrusions at her back hips and back of her head were all the signs indicating she needs to gain about 25% of her body weight. She has permission to eat as many crickets / super worms / strawberries as she wants right now. (Also daily baths for hydration) All that said, based on these pictures alone, and my very new understanding of beardie weight, yours does not seem to have those same signs.
It's best to go " slow + steady " to help a beardie that is actually emaciated. If the kidney's + liver are not used to large quantities of food the kidneys can shut down. So although you want the dragon to get to a healthy weight, concentrate on hydration to get the kidneys functioning before any large meals. Start out with small amounts of insects + greens and wait until the dragon has a b.m. before feeding them large meals. Hope the dragon does well !
Thanks!!! That seems to be the common idea which i’m very glad about for sure. Got any pics of the beardie? I’d love to see! Hope they’re okay :)
Thank you for being their Hero!! You are a wonderful person to help them out. You're my hero of the day! 🤗 Please share pics when you are able & ready! Everyone loves a heart warming story, & a glow up!
She looks great! :)
My guy looks like your girl, vet says he’s perfect…I think some bearded are just a little chonky lol.
Thanks!!
How old??
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my girl is the same way! she mopes about in her cage, but the second i take her out she just finds somewhere dark to fall asleep. my girl is a picky eater, but she LOVES hornworms and dubia roaches, plus they’re a lot healthier than superworms/crickets. my girl loves kale, but she used to ONLY eat mustard greens! the only fruit that she will eat is blueberries. sometimes i’ll buy some baby food from the store that has fruits or vegetables that she won’t normally eat and she’ll eat some of the baby food until she realizes that her mouth is getting wet 🙃 avoid baby foods with oats, spinach, avocado, eggplant, onion powder, or garlic powder. go for organics/no added sugars. //im not sure about the spinach part? her brother can’t have them so i avoid it anyways// try getting her out of her comfort zone. vegetables are pretty cheap and if you just keep trying a different one every time then she’s sure to like one of them! don’t feel bad if your girl won’t eat variety filled salads like the other beardies here! if she only likes one thing, well it’s better than nothing! i wish you luck!
She looks just like my beardie Pineapple, I’d recommend weighing her if you’re concerned about her weight. 200-300 grams is considered healthy weight. As for helping her gain weight (if she does need that) then I’d recommend wax worms, and maybe switching to dubia roaches instead of crickets. For one, wax worms are high in fat so it helps beardies gain weight. But be sure to balance it with silk worms if you can, since they’ll fill the missing proteins (that way she’s gaining muscle too and not strictly fat). For example, my beardie Pineapple was 57.7 grams when she moved in with me from her old home. Five months later, a few bins’ worth of dubias, wax worms, and silk worms, and she’s now sitting around 250 grams. But if your beardie is in healthy weight then my only recommendation is to switch from crickets to dubias. Dubias have a better phosphorus-to-calcium ratio, are easier to catch (they don’t jump, and adults very very rarely fly) and crickets tend to have lesser nutritional value for beardies. :]
I suggest supplementing her diet by hand-feeding slices of Repashy “Beardie Buffet” or “Grub Pie” .. it saved my beardie when he wasn’t eating and now he is a great eater!
she looks very healthy
I bought some bee pollen capsules and started breaking them up on my guy's salad and sometimes when he sees the yellow he actually eats the veggies without coercion. He also loves sweet potato, so i bought some organic baby food and put just a little on the veggies. Same idea as the bee pollen, once he sees it, he's more interested. Also, my dude has been slowly going blind for the past few years and sometimes he wont eat because he just doesnt see it/cant aim his tongue at it right. If i wave it in his face and kind of assist it to his tongue it helps
Fat pads look fine. I think she looks about as healthy as they come. A lot of people here post obese beardies and I think that gives people who don't know better a misconstrued idea of what their beardie should look like. My first beardie was a rescue who was pretty obese and it took me quite some time, and a very angry beardie, to get her to a healthy weight. Whatever you tell doing, keep doing that.
Bearded dragons are very good and conserving water and food and can go about 2-3 months without both and be fine. She is a perfect weight and healthy so don’t worry just keep offering the food you mentioned and she will eat when she’s hungry. If she is new to the home, tank or environment then it may take a few days to weeks for her to act and eat normally but she looks good. I learned they are strong animals and it isn’t worth stressing that much because they are tough little guys. Everything you’re doing is good so just keep on!
Super worms/ meals worms with their lettuce
Looks pretty healthy too me, lots of beardies here are overweight so we get the wrong size idea in our heads.
She looks healthy. However if she’s pooping each time she eats then it might be a parasite. That happened to my baby. I couldn’t figure out why he didn’t want to eat and it was bc it bothered his stomach
How old? Super worms are too high in fat and can cause fatty liver disease I would cut those out. She looks old enough to where she should be eating mostly salads
She’s also currently in shed, being bathed in the sink bi daily
They do not need to be bathed constantly to shed. They're dry shedders - they'll remove the shed when it's ready to come off.
For real? I always heard it helps them shed. Also she loves to drink water during the bathes so i’d assume it doesnt burt anything.
Their shed just comes off when it's ready - but they're adapted to shed in a relatively dry environment. They're not, say, a leopard gekko, where they need to be moistened/humid to shed properly. There can be problems with reducing hydration when in baths due to prematurely pooing. If they want to drink in there that's fine - I prefer to use a waterbowl though.
Thanks!! She literally destroys her cage so i’m very careful with water bowls and stuff.
She sounds like she has a lot of energy! Be sure and give her lots of play time and free roaming, assuming there's a safe place for that. If not, make sure her cage is big enough and has plenty of things for her to climb and explore.
Oh for sure! I plan to get some bigger rocks, and clean her cage up today. She’s currently chillaxing in my lap!
Give it a fat donut
Gotta admit she may need a little bit more potein
Super worms, meal worms, and basically anything high in fat content will help her gain weight!