well after years of life with furrys i was dragged kicking and screaming last month into the world of scaleys and now im here im rather enjoying it.

IM very new to beardie ways but im learning fast as my boy wasnt very well looked after in his new homw, ive had him a month and i have to say his belly is expanding quite a fair bit im not sure if this is normal.

Also i heard they should be fed on bugs no bigger than the distance between the eyes, so on sun when i wnet for his bugs they gave tme the most horrendous looking huge black and yellow things!

I thought surely they must be to big, the guy at the time didnt know much anout lizards so wasnt much use, i opted for some medium crickets and his treat of meal worms.

what are these bugs and will they be ok for my beardie to eat? i was told he was a year old but he dosnt seem fully grown.

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Tiggy, 13 yr old Collie x Alsation, Lucy 11 yr old epileptic cross breed, Kara, collie x whippet

my boy.

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Tiggy, 13 yr old Collie x Alsation, Lucy 11 yr old epileptic cross breed, Kara, collie x whippet

They sound like Locusts. I prefer Locusts to crickets.
I would recommend size small/medium for him.

Are you supplementing all is food with calcium and nutrobal? Only, it could be the photo, but he looks like he could have a kink in his tail, and also an over shot lower jaw, which could be a sign of MBD.... but seen as you haven't had him long, his last owners would have not given him enough calcium and UV light.

Have you had him at the vets for a check over?

oh yes your right, ive just had a look and his bottow jaw does look overshot.

It didnt have a veyr good start, they said he was 12 months old by a friend said he wasnt big enough.

He was stone cold when i went to look at him fed on meal worms, i have him now in a four ft tank with a heat mat/and heat rock and proper UV light.

Im getting a heat lamp next week as i coudlnt work out how to attach one to the tank lid, his light before looked like the curly bulbs you put in the light socket, the energy saving ones???

I dust his bugs with a white powder, i ave only just got him eating greens this week, i feed mailny crickets with hoppers and this wek got meal worms.#

I gut load the bugs with a brown food from pets at home and i give them some clear gel stuff for water.

Is this ok?

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Tiggy, 13 yr old Collie x Alsation, Lucy 11 yr old epileptic cross breed, Kara, collie x whippet

The curly bulb could be a compact UV bulb like this one.... Livefood UK Ltd.
Or it could be a energy saving bulb, which of course is insufficient for heating or lighting.

Have you got a fitting for the bulb yet? I would make this high priority. Beardies have their heat sensors on their heads and prefer their heat in a form of a light. So heating from underneath can cause over heating, as their sensors to tell them they are too hot is on their head.
I personally wouldn't use a heat rock either, for the same reason and they could burn.

If the white powder is limestone/calcium powder then that's OK, but he needs vitamins too, which is Nutrobal, which should be used 2 days out of seven - careful with this as you can over dose.

Not too sure what the brown food is..... but you can just use bran (weetabix) but you also need to feed them fresh greens too, as essentially that's what your beardie will eat.
I have never used the gel, just simply because they get enough moisture from veg.

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Tiggy, 13 yr old Collie x Alsation, Lucy 11 yr old epileptic cross breed, Kara, collie x whippet

Thanks for putting those up. Do you have any of his tail?

I would get him booked in at the vets and get him looked at, I think he has MBD.

Ill tyr get some of his tail, i dont think it has a kink in it, what is MBD? it dosnt sound good.

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Tiggy, 13 yr old Collie x Alsation, Lucy 11 yr old epileptic cross breed, Kara, collie x whippet

MBD stands for Metabolic Bone Disorder is basically a umbrella term to describe an nutritional imbalance. If a lizard has received too little calcium, too much Phosphorus and not enough UV, they can end up with weakened, malformed, curved or swollen bones and joints.
It can also affect the jaw, making it appear swollen and off set.

Get him booked in at the vets as soon as you can.

Thanks ive googled it for more info.

It seems it can be corrected with proper lighting and nutrition???? am i doing everything right?

He isnt swollen anywhere and his tail isnt kinked when he runs, ive only just got him eating greens, curly kale cabbage and cucumber what else can he have?

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Tiggy, 13 yr old Collie x Alsation, Lucy 11 yr old epileptic cross breed, Kara, collie x whippet