Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,

I have a female beardie that is nearly one year old. She's my pride and joy, so I want to make sure I'm doing right by her!

In the many months that I've had her, I've never once seen her drink. I soak her anyway, using gently running water to try to coax her to drink. She has no interest. I also sometimes spray her when she's outdoors basking, creating rivulets of water on her basking log. She is similarly unimpressed.

She doesn't seem to be dehydrated at all... I make sure her greens are moist when I give them to her, and she has very regular bowel movements, at least every other day.

Is she just not drinking because she's already hydrated? Or should I be concerned? Again, she appears to be perfectly healthy.

Here's a picture of her from a few months ago. She's grown a bit since then.

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1.0.0 red spotted beaked snake - Beaker
1.2.0 corn snakes - Valis, Orlando, and Geislandi
0.1.0 bearded dragon - (Mrs. Emily) Shackleton
1.0.0 golden gecko - Nosferatu
1.0.0 leopard gecko - Darwin
0.1.0 Icelandic sheepdog - Saga
1.2.0 cats - Moony, Lucky, and Ziva
0.2.0 rats - Kara and Tilly
20 gallon Brackish Sri Lanka aquarium
1.0.0 emperor scorpion - Steampunk
1.0.0 desert hairy scorpion - Centurion

That is perfectly normal. They get most of their hydration needs fulfilled through thier food intake. Some like baths and will drink and swim in them, some dont. Misting is a great way to give them water too, spray the dragon directly. Some people keep water dishes in with them and some dont. Either way is fine.
Other then that your dragon looks fat and healthy . . .

peace,
Nathan
Uluru Dragons

A well hydrated dragon will put out some liquid along with a formed stool. This is a good way to tell if she's getting enough water.

Good to know! In that case, I believe she is currently well hydrated. That will be a good way to make sure she remains that way.
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1.0.0 red spotted beaked snake - Beaker
1.2.0 corn snakes - Valis, Orlando, and Geislandi
0.1.0 bearded dragon - (Mrs. Emily) Shackleton
1.0.0 golden gecko - Nosferatu
1.0.0 leopard gecko - Darwin
0.1.0 Icelandic sheepdog - Saga
1.2.0 cats - Moony, Lucky, and Ziva
0.2.0 rats - Kara and Tilly
20 gallon Brackish Sri Lanka aquarium
1.0.0 emperor scorpion - Steampunk
1.0.0 desert hairy scorpion - Centurion

She is a nice looking dragon Big too in length and width

My dragon I had for over three years and never seen her drink water no matter what method I present it (bath, misting etc) till she started laying infertile eggs for me this year. I can get her to drink by dropping water around her mouth only after she's laid her clutch. Once she hydrated this way, she went back to not touching water.

Using fresh greens lightly misted works great to keep them hydrate. I also feed nice fat plump and juicy insects such as silkworms, hornworms and butterworms on a regular basis ontop of her typical superworms, which all help keep her hydrated too. I typically feed about 10-20% insects daily, though this summer been feeding more like 40% of dusted insects because she is laying eggs (don't want her calcium supplies to get depleted with egg production etc.) So far she's been maintaining her weight plus or minus 20g (my scale isn't the best..and 20g is really the smallest increment it weighs in)
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PHLdyPayne

Thank you for the advice, and the compliment! I think she's good looking too.
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1.0.0 red spotted beaked snake - Beaker
1.2.0 corn snakes - Valis, Orlando, and Geislandi
0.1.0 bearded dragon - (Mrs. Emily) Shackleton
1.0.0 golden gecko - Nosferatu
1.0.0 leopard gecko - Darwin
0.1.0 Icelandic sheepdog - Saga
1.2.0 cats - Moony, Lucky, and Ziva
0.2.0 rats - Kara and Tilly
20 gallon Brackish Sri Lanka aquarium
1.0.0 emperor scorpion - Steampunk
1.0.0 desert hairy scorpion - Centurion

Let's see...Just from the picture I would most definately say she is well hydrated. There are two ways from the information you have posted that I can guess why she is getting hydrated. The first is the moist greens, if the contain enought moisture then she might not dring anything else. The other thing is that you can watch your beardie 24/7 she might drink when you are not around or just not looking, it's possible. Since you said she has normal bowel movements I would say she is well hydrated, and by the picture alone she looks great to me. How much has she gotten bigger since than that picture, and what do you feed her?