Your bearded dragon can be too skinny for various reasons, including low appetite, illness and more. But is my bearded dragon too skinny? In this post, you will learn why your bearded dragon might be underweight, how a skinny bearded dragon looks like and how to make it gain weight.
Is my bearded dragon too skinny? What does a skinny bearded dragon look like?
A skinny bearded dragon will have a very flat stomach – you can see when lifting it up. If you look at your bearded dragon from top, it’s sides will be too thin. Also, you will see lose skin from the sides.
If your bearded dragon is skinny, it will also have thin legs and a skinny tail. Its ribs will be also protruding, along with hips. With very underweight bearded dragons, their head will look large compared to their body.
What is more, a skinny bearded dragon will have no or very flat and sunken fat pads on the head. Normal weight bearded dragons have normal fat pads that are on the same levels as the head skin.
How much should a bearded dragon weigh? Growth chart.
Hatchling bearded dragon weight – 2-3 grams
1 month old bearded dragon weight – 5-20 grams
2 month old bearded dragon weight – 12-20 grams
3 month old bearded dragon weight – 20-70 grams
4 month old bearded dragon weight – 50-90 grams
5 month old bearded dragon – 90-150 grams
6 month old bearded dragon weight – 100-200 grams
7 month old bearded dragon weight – 120-250 grams
8 month old bearded dragon weight – 150-300 grams
9 month old bearded dragon weight – 200-350 grams
10-18 month old bearded dragon weight (maturity) – minimum 250-300 grams, average 300-450+ grams, a big dragon – 700-850 grams. Above 900 grams = overweight, under 250 grams = underweight.
24 month old bearded dragon weight – 250-800 grams (preferably minimum 300-400 grams)
Please note that these numbers are only general, and your bearded dragon’s weight will depend on many factors.
These will be sex (males tend to grow faster), how much your dragon eats, husbandry, genetics and more. Some will grow at faster rates, some at slower rates.
Why is my bearded dragon losing weight?
If your bearded dragon is losing weight, there might be few different reasons for that. Please read this post first, if your bearded dragon is refusing to eat and is losing weight.
Please note that healthy bearded dragons can go up for few months without eating and not lose much if any weight. This doesn’t apply to baby bearded dragons though, as they don’t have much fat storage yet.
If your bearded dragon is losing weight, there must be a reason that has caused that.
Reason #1: Parasitic infection
If your bearded dragon is infected with internal parasites, it will be losing weight. With more serious parasitic infections, your bearded dragon might be losing weight rapidly. If your bearded dragon is losing weight suddenly and rapidly, please take it to the vet immediately and perform a fecal check.
One of the parasitic infections that will cause weight loss is Coccidiosis. Another parasitic infection that is more serious and leads to body wasting is Cryptosporidiosis.
Other parasites that can infect bearded dragons are tapeworms, pinworms, microsporidia, and more. Adenovirus infection also causes serious complications and symptoms, including weight loss or slow/stunted growth.
Your bearded dragon is likely to be suffering from a parasitic infection is poop is extremely smelly and/or runny, or even has some blood in it. Other symptoms of a parasitic infection are lethargy, constipation, refusing to eat and abnormally bloated belly.
Parasitic infection is one of the main reasons for weight loss! Always quarantine your bearded dragon for around 2 months after getting it. Take your bearded dragon’s poop to the vet for a full fecal check and keep its tank clean.
Reason #2: Lack of, or wrong lighting & heating
If you don’t provide correct lighting for your bearded dragon, it will have trouble digesting food. This will also cause indigestion, infrequent pooping, poor appetite, and hence, weight loss.
Apart from a UVB tube, your bearded dragon requires high basking temperatures mounted from above to digest food properly. 92-110 degrees Fahrenheit (33-43 Celsius) is an ideal basking spot temperature.
You can reach high basking spot temperatures by having high wattage halogen flood lights, household bulb or others. Bright light is important to help your bearded dragon stay active and have a good appetite.
You can read a full lighting and heating guide for bearded dragons here (new tab).
Reason #3: Cage mates and bullying
You should not keep bearded dragons in groups – not babies or adults. If you keep bearded dragons in groups, some of them won’t get enough food or space to bask.
This will lead to a problem of gaining weight and stress. Prolonged stress will also affect the immune system, making your bearded dragon seriously sick.
Always keep bearded dragons separate, because they are truly competitive. Bearded dragons in groups will stack (lay on top of each other) to get the best basking spot. An alpha bearded dragon will stress out a beta bearded dragon with body communication & signs.
Reason #4: Dehydration
If your bearded dragon is dehydrated, it will also look thin and sick. A dehydrated bearded dragon will also have trouble eating, gaining weight and pooping.
One of the signs that your bearded dragon is dehydrated is loose skin that doesn’t go back to normal quickly after pulling. Another sign that your bearded dragon is dehydrated is slimy saliva. Also, small and/or thick urates (white part of the poop).
To help hydrate your bearded dragon, start giving it baths few times a week (to drink and soak) and spray some water on its nose. Bearded dragons don’t normally drink water from a bowl. So offer veggies and some fruit to help hydrate your bearded dragon.
Reason #5: Another illness/problem
Your bearded dragon can also lose weight due to other illnesses, or have trouble gaining weight. For example, your female bearded dragon might be gravid and become egg-bound or have a ‘calcium crash’ after laying eggs.
Gravid females need a nesting site to lay eggs and extra supplementation to stay healthy. A healthy diet is also important when your dragon is gravid, and after she laid eggs.
Many female bearded dragons become skinny after laying eggs – please start supplementing and feeding extra to restore her sources.
Other internal organ issues, especially digestive organ issues, can cause weight loss. If your bearded dragon looks sick, take it to the vet for an examination.
Reason #6: Not eating enough
Bearded dragons eat quite a lot, especially when they are babies. That being said, bearded dragons need to eat mainly live bugs 2-4 times a day until they become sub-adults. A baby bearded dragon can eat up to 100 small crickets per feeding!
You need to feed your baby bearded dragon as much as it can eat within 15 minutes. While you need to decrease food portions for your adult bearded dragon, feed your baby dragons as much as they want.
Not feeding enough, especially coupled with lack of lighting & heating, will cause weight loss and make your bearded dragon skinny and lethargic.
How to make a bearded dragon gain weight?
Tip #1: First of all, find out the underlying cause
If your bearded dragon has been looking sick as well as losing weight, there might be an internal problem. Take your bearded dragon’s poop for a full fecal test to exclude parasitic infections. If parasitic infection is confirmed, that will require a special treatment to go back to normal.
Get kitchen or jewelry scales that weigh to nearest 0.1 grams like this, and keep a journal of your dragon’s weight. Weigh your bearded dragon few times a week to document any changes.
Whatever the reason, it will be much easier to fix everything when you find the cause of weight loss. Maybe it was a lighting setup mistake, bullying, underfeeding, mistreatment from previous owners or something else.
With the parasitic infections, you must treat your dragon for it to become healthy again and gain weight. Otherwise, your bearded dragon will be eating (if much at all) but not gaining weight.
Tip #2: Feed more
Once you have found out the underlying cause of bearded dragon’s weight loss, you can start fixing this problem. Apart from medical treatment that your dragon might be taking, start feeding more food.
If your bearded dragon is a baby-juvenile under 10-12 months old, offer more bugs. Make sure to gut-load them for 24 hours and dust them with supplements. Offer as many as it can eat in 15-20 minutes. Find a full supplementation guide here.
Diversity is a key – offer various types of bugs. However, don’t offer mealworms, superworms or butterworms to your baby bearded dragon until it reaches 15 inches long (38cm).
For adults, offer a big range of bugs, including Phoenix worms, grasshoppers, crickets, mealworms, butterworms, silkworms, hornwroms, roaches and more. Offer nutritious salads daily.
Don’t forget about staple vegetables and greens that your adult bearded dragon needs to eat every day. Make sure that fruits only make 5-10% of your bearded dragon’s diet, as too much sugar will lead to high sugar levels. This is very unhealthy for bearded dragons.
You can find a list of staple, occasional and foods to avoid giving your dragon in this post.
Tip #3: Offer fatty worms and fuzzy mice to your adult 15+ inch bearded dragon
If your bearded dragon 6-7 months old or over, you can offer higher fat worms. The reason to avoid offering mealworms, superworms or butterworms to baby dragons is to avoid choking, impaction or paralysis due to high chitin and fat content.
However, if it’s a baby bearded dragon that needs to gain weight, offer all the other gut-loaded bugs in bigger quantities. Offer as many bugs as your young bearded dragon (under 10-12 months old) can eat in 15-20 minutes.
While higher fat bugs are considered a treat, you might feed them more often to your skinny bearded dragon. Your bearded dragon that is over 12 months old will need to eat bugs 3 times/week, over 18 months old – 2 times/week. You can make each of day’s half portion made of fattier worms. This is only until your dragon gains weight.
But also add greens and other bugs, to avoid making your bearded dragon picky! Fatty bugs are addictive and tasty. And if your bearded dragon gets used to their taste, it will start refusing other bugs! Too much fat can also impact liver function.
For example, mealworms contain 13% fat. Waxworms containt 24% fat. Superworms contain 17% and butterworms – 29% fat. This is compared to 3-6% fat in crickets, 14% in Phoenix worms and 1% in silkworms. Make sure to gut-load and dust all bugs apart from Phoenix worms (they have ideal 2:1 Ca:P ratio).
Fuzzy mice (neonatal mice without hair) is also a fatty treat (for adult dragons only). But if your bearded dragon needs to gain weight, you can offer up to 2-3 small baby mice to your dragon a month. Once in 10-14 days until your dragon fattens up will be enough.
You can buy frozen pinky mice and let it thaw before offering. Feeding a live mouse is not very ethical, so frozen fuzzy mice can be a better choice.
You can find how much, how often and what to feed your bearded dragon in this post.
Tip #4: Review your lighting & heating setup
To help your bearded dragon get back on track again, it will need to eat more and digest the food properly. Please take some time to review your lighting and heating setup, to make sure that everything is optimal.
Types of bulbs you use, distance from the light, positioning and other factors can affect your dragon in a big way. Please always position lights from overhead and don’t use very bright, coiled or colored bulbs at all.
Do you have a high output 10.0-12.0 UVB tube like this that runs at least 50% of the tank? UVB light is very important for a healthy appetite and immunity. Your adult bearded dragon must live in at least 40 gallon breeder tank, and have a UVB tube that runs the enclosure.
Always aim to get a good quality reptile only UVB tubes (not for plants!). For example, ReptiSun T5. T8 tube is much weaker than T5, and your dragon needs a high output T5 tube.
It is recommended to mount the tube in a hood with a reflector like this, so that your dragon can get as much light as possible. T5 will benefit from a reflector, while T8 must be used with one.
Position overhead in the middle of the tank, as mounting in the back will cause light to refract in different directions and not properly reach your dragon. T5 tube (24 watt for example) without a reflector should be 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) away from your dragon, and one with a reflector – 8-10 inches (20-25.5 cm).
Compact and bulb UVB lights are not suitable, as they do not emit enough UVB, or at least not evenly at all. You also must replace your UVB tube every 5-6 months, because it stops emitting UVB without you noticing.
Place your heat bulb(s) near UVB hood with the tube, so that your bearded dragons can get UVB while basking as well. Your bearded dragon’s basking spot should reach 92-110 degrees Fahrenheit (33-43 Celsius). Cool side should reach 75-85 F (23.8-29 C) degrees.
Read a full guide on how to setup lighting and heating in a bearded dragon tank in this post.
Thank you for reading this post. If you would like to learn more about bearded dragon care, you can find a resource page on this page.