Hello! I am new here. I really would like some advice from some expert beardie owners.
I adopted Clyde from Petsmart (yeah, i know they are bad!) in May of 2025 as a baby. He is now about a 1.5 years old. As a baby, he was great! He ate great, he basked and everything was going well. In February of 2026, he started to act lethargic and his behavior changed. I took him to an exotic vet near me who had experience with bearded dragons. He checked him over and said he looked great. Listened to his heart and lungs and looked at his body condition and said he was doing well. He thought that maybe Clyde was attempting to go into brumation prior to turning a year old and that in a few weeks, he should snap out of it. Well, he did it seemed. He became more active, he was excited about food. He would pop his head near the glass on the cage to show us he wanted to run around. That lasted for maybe a month and then he starting acting lethargic again. I talked to people in facebook groups and checked his lighting and temps and his habitat. Everything was up to par. So back to the same vet we went in July. In July he had gained a good bit of weight and was sitting at 1.9 lbs. The doc said he was "well fed", joked about being chunky and said his body condition was great. Listened to heart and lungs as well. All checked out. I asked about how to help him lose weight and he said it wasn't needed. He said "just let him be". I am not sure at this point that I have faith in this vet.
Long story short.... he is still very lethargic and he refuses to eat, UNLESS it's a roach. I have given him critical care off and on and made him some rephashey gel cubes. He does not willingly eat anything. Sometimes I can put a piece of something in the crack of his mouth and he will open and eat, but at this point, he is barely eating anything. Please help. I love this little guy!
I adopted Clyde from Petsmart (yeah, i know they are bad!) in May of 2025 as a baby. He is now about a 1.5 years old. As a baby, he was great! He ate great, he basked and everything was going well. In February of 2026, he started to act lethargic and his behavior changed. I took him to an exotic vet near me who had experience with bearded dragons. He checked him over and said he looked great. Listened to his heart and lungs and looked at his body condition and said he was doing well. He thought that maybe Clyde was attempting to go into brumation prior to turning a year old and that in a few weeks, he should snap out of it. Well, he did it seemed. He became more active, he was excited about food. He would pop his head near the glass on the cage to show us he wanted to run around. That lasted for maybe a month and then he starting acting lethargic again. I talked to people in facebook groups and checked his lighting and temps and his habitat. Everything was up to par. So back to the same vet we went in July. In July he had gained a good bit of weight and was sitting at 1.9 lbs. The doc said he was "well fed", joked about being chunky and said his body condition was great. Listened to heart and lungs as well. All checked out. I asked about how to help him lose weight and he said it wasn't needed. He said "just let him be". I am not sure at this point that I have faith in this vet.
Long story short.... he is still very lethargic and he refuses to eat, UNLESS it's a roach. I have given him critical care off and on and made him some rephashey gel cubes. He does not willingly eat anything. Sometimes I can put a piece of something in the crack of his mouth and he will open and eat, but at this point, he is barely eating anything. Please help. I love this little guy!
