I'm going to preface this with this: I admit I have not done adequate research on bearded dragons, and I'm honestly surprised/a bit horrified I hadn't realized sooner that these guys were underfed.
So I have two bearded dragons (one is my brother's, but I have done most of the feeding recently for both). Mine, Rex, is about four or five years old, and he's always been pretty skinny, as is the case with Mookie, my brother's, who is about two or three years old. I live in Michigan, so the winter is very tough for them even with heat lamps and ceramic heaters (I don't have a very good way of getting accurate temperature readings, but they seem happy with the temps), so they tend to be picky and eat less in general during that part of the year. I also just haven't fed them enough in the past and have honestly neglected them somewhat and I would like to change that.
Rex, as of today, a few hours after feeding him a bunch of blueberries, is 17 inches long and weighs 247 grams. Mookie (weighed, measured, and ate at the same time), is 15 inches long and 195 grams. Mookie looks very young still, with the roundish head features of a baby. Both came from PetSmart a while ago.
I found a post here and read that the target weight for beardies is about 500 or so grams, and that they may grow a little longer if they are healthy but Rex, at least, is at the lower end of how long they get as adults, though I'm mainly concerned about weight, so I'm wondering what I should feed them and how often I should do so to fatten them up to a healthy weight in a reasonable amount of time. I'm currently feeding some crickets and superworms for them, as they both love crickets, and have liked mealworms in the past. I also read that superworms are really good for gaining weight.
While they can't be very healthy as they are, I'm assuming putting on 250+ grams quickly can't be too healthy, either, so I'd love any advise anyone can give.
So I have two bearded dragons (one is my brother's, but I have done most of the feeding recently for both). Mine, Rex, is about four or five years old, and he's always been pretty skinny, as is the case with Mookie, my brother's, who is about two or three years old. I live in Michigan, so the winter is very tough for them even with heat lamps and ceramic heaters (I don't have a very good way of getting accurate temperature readings, but they seem happy with the temps), so they tend to be picky and eat less in general during that part of the year. I also just haven't fed them enough in the past and have honestly neglected them somewhat and I would like to change that.
Rex, as of today, a few hours after feeding him a bunch of blueberries, is 17 inches long and weighs 247 grams. Mookie (weighed, measured, and ate at the same time), is 15 inches long and 195 grams. Mookie looks very young still, with the roundish head features of a baby. Both came from PetSmart a while ago.
I found a post here and read that the target weight for beardies is about 500 or so grams, and that they may grow a little longer if they are healthy but Rex, at least, is at the lower end of how long they get as adults, though I'm mainly concerned about weight, so I'm wondering what I should feed them and how often I should do so to fatten them up to a healthy weight in a reasonable amount of time. I'm currently feeding some crickets and superworms for them, as they both love crickets, and have liked mealworms in the past. I also read that superworms are really good for gaining weight.
While they can't be very healthy as they are, I'm assuming putting on 250+ grams quickly can't be too healthy, either, so I'd love any advise anyone can give.
