My little one seems too skinny

[Willtheeman]

Hi guys...it's been a while since I posted or came in the forum but it's good to be back and read on other fellow beardie lovers
My concern is that my little one seems to be really skinny from the wrinkles in his body...he doesn't eat much and it's been a battle to get him to eat his veggies since I first got him. I have a bin full of dubias that I breed and about 2 months ago he stopped eating them. I would getting the casual hornworms and waxies every other week or 2 and he loved those but he would only eat half of w.e I ordered. Last couple months I fed him the usual dubias and mealworms but only ate the worms and I know they're not that good...his poop is fine and he goes every other day or two...sometimes longer when I don't give him dubias only veggies. Any suggestions? He goes days w.o eating what I think it's sufficient so I leave the veggies there overnight just in case
His salad since pretty much I got him includes collar greens, mustard greens, butternut squash, prickly pears. Twice a week I throw blackberries, green peppers, carrots, kiwi, yellow squash and sometimes papaya and mango but he barely touches them....I put about a handfull
Oh and I did noticed that sometimes if I leave the salad too close to the bulb and dries out he eats some. Uv light was replaced about 5 months ago so it's and out time for a new one...bedding has been alfalfa bedding, sand but only for a couple months and now carpet...Temps stay around 95 at basking day and 70ish night...he is a little over a year old

Sorry for the long post [emoji28]

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[PatsyB]

Do you weigh him and keep track of his weight? I know there are times with mine where I think they are too skinny and they either have gained weight or they have stayed the same. He looks okay from this picture. As they get older they start tapering off on how much and how often they want to eat. When mine were small they ate bugs 3 times a day, then one day they only wanted food at 2 feedings, then all the sudden it was only one feeding a day that they wanted to eat. Now that they are adults they only want to eat every few days. I let them decide when they want to eat. Salads always get left in all day long and changed out the next morning.

I wonder what size bugs you are feeding him? Sometimes if the bugs are too small they aren't interested in them.

 

[Willtheeman]

Do you weigh him and keep track of his weight? I know there are times with mine where I think they are too skinny and they either have gained weight or they have stayed the same. He looks okay from this picture. As they get older they start tapering off on how much and how often they want to eat. When mine were small they ate bugs 3 times a day, then one day they only wanted food at 2 feedings, then all the sudden it was only one feeding a day that they wanted to eat. Now that they are adults they only want to eat every few days. I let them decide when they want to eat. Salads always get left in all day long and changed out the next morning.

I wonder what size bugs you are feeding him? Sometimes if the bugs are too small they aren't interested in them.

Hi Patsy

I never weighted him when I got my scale unfortunately but I'll try to do it today to see if he is on the average range...and he has always been picky but for a while he loved dubias...maybe he got fed up? Haha and I give him mixed sizes...I usually put 2 adult males and a female to keep the colony still growing and 4 a little smaller...he doesn't go for anything smaller than 3/4"...I'll try large crickets today and clip the legs so they stay in the tray and don't get out and bite him

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[PatsyB]

I did the same thing when I fed crickets to my frogs!

 

[Eavlynn]

Your boy doesn't look underweight. If you compared him to dragons in the wild he'd be chunky haha. In captivity, our beardies aren't super active, and are fed far more frequently, giving them the filled out look we're used to seeing. I prefer to keep my kids on the slimmer end of the spectrum, to avoid any future issues. I figure if obesity is bad for people, it could be bad for them too, and I'd like to have them around for many years to come.

I'm surprised that he doesn't like dubia, my kids are like addicts! Just feed him whatever he wants to eat bug wise, and keep up the good work with the salads. Beardies have a mind of their own, and I think they enjoy stressing us out by not eating the insects we so lovingly provide for them. He looks great, and it sounds like you're doing well by him

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[Steven Simon]

Do the dubis crawl out if that metal bowl you have there?

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[Willtheeman]

Your boy doesn't look underweight. If you compared him to dragons in the wild he'd be chunky haha. In captivity, our beardies aren't super active, and are fed far more frequently, giving them the filled out look we're used to seeing. I prefer to keep my kids on the slimmer end of the spectrum, to avoid any future issues. I figure if obesity is bad for people, it could be bad for them too, and I'd like to have them around for many years to come.

I'm surprised that he doesn't like dubia, my kids are like addicts! Just feed him whatever he wants to eat bug wise, and keep up the good work with the salads. Beardies have a mind of their own, and I think they enjoy stressing us out by not eating the insects we so lovingly provide for them. He looks great, and it sounds like you're doing well by him

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Yeah I think he enjoys giving me worries...he's only peaceful whenever I shower him lol....thank you

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[Willtheeman]

Do the dubis crawl out if that metal bowl you have there?

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It's ceramic and they usually dont...I've only seen it happen when they pile up and end up climbing on top of each other lol

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[PatsyB]

Yeah I think he enjoys giving me worries...he's only peaceful whenever I shower him lol....thank you

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They are good at making us worry!

 

[Hdrydr31]

Do the dubis crawl out if that metal bowl you have there?

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Mine never have except the large males and the larger females.. the rest can't get out.