My Chinese water dragon is skinny from laying eggs. How to feed her?

Increase her calcium supplementation. Dust prey daily or provide a liquid calcium supplement. Check the UVB light source and replace it if it is more than 6 months old. Offer a variety of gut loaded prey (crickets, dubia roaches, etc), vegetables and a commercial beardie diet. Soak her in a warm 50/50 solution of water and unflavored PediaLyte for 20-30 minutes 3-4 times a week until she perks up. Check for proper temperatures, ambient and basking, in the enclosure. If symptoms persist, have Beatrix examined by an experienced herp veterinarian in case she is impacted or egg bound.

Thanks for reaching out. Water dragons are predominately insectivorous. Typically live insects attract the attention of the dragon, stimulating appetite. You might try pinhead crickets or small mealworms. Hand-feeding might be an option to start. Intestinal parasites or an infection, might also be a possibility, a veterinary visit needs to be scheduled for a diagnosis and treatment plan. Good luck.

You can increase the amount of food being fed temporarily to get weight back on. Monitor for lethargy, loss of appetite, loose droppings or no droppings. These are all symptoms that should be addressed by your veterinarian or a vet experienced in treating reptiles. It is near impossible to determine the cause for the weight loss without an exam and diagnostics. It is not uncommon for beardies to stop eating and drinking before, during or for a short period after a shed. This could account for minor weight loss.

Submit a stool sample to your veterinarian or an experienced herp vet to diagnose intestinal parasites or bacterial overgrowth. Confirm proper environmental parameters. Low temperatures can affect activity, appetite and digestion in reptiles. Soak him in a warm 50 /50 solution of water and unflavored PediaLyte for 20 minutes. This can warm him up and may treat or prevent minor dehydration. Offer appropriately sized crickets and mealworms as well as fresh, chopped greens and fruits. Follow the link below for more information regarding care. http://www.anapsid.org/waterdragons.html

Have him examined by your veterinarian or an experienced herp vet to diagnose and treat any infection related to the loss of the tail. In the meantime, increase tank temps by about 5-10 degrees F, soak daily in a warm 50/50 solution of water and unflavored PediaLyte for 20 minutes. Once he warms up and rehydrates, offer appropriately sized prey. Gutload prey for 24 hours prior to offering to maximize nutritional value. Supplement with a product such as Fluker's Repti-Boost to get weight back on him. You can clean the stump with diluted betadine or chlorhexidine. Use paper towels for substrate until the stump is healed.

Submit a stool sample to your veterinarian to diagnose intestinal parasites. Consider a supplement such as Oxbow Critical Care or Fluker's Repta-Boost. Review her diet with your veterinarian to make sure it is appropriate, adequate and that Saphira isn't getting too much vitamin D3 which can be toxic in large quantities.

Mealworms can be a problem for some beardies, especially juveniles, due the chitinous body. If you can, switch her over to appropriately sized crickets or dubia roaches. Gut load all prey for 24 hours prior to offering and dust with multivitamin and calcium powders to maximize nutritional value. Maintain adequate temperatures as well. Low temps can affect activity, appetite and digestion in reptiles. A temp gradient ranging from about 76 F (cool side) to 86 F (warm side) with a basking spot of 90 F to 100 F is recommended. To stimulate defecation, soak Lizzie in a warm 50/50 solution of water and unflavored PediaLyte. Gently massage her abdomen from front to back during the soak. The soak will also hydrate her and aid in shedding.