i have a very old bearded dragon (10 or 11 years) that a few months ago lost a lot of weight due to stopping eating. I got her to eat again by giving her her favorite food (these red cube things...bearded dragon diet or something) and she put on some weight. Gradually I have been introducing new things-she especially likes collards, occasional bananas and romaine lettuce along with some various insects (esp. those bearded dragon larvae that come in a can. She seems to like canned food a lot..) and shes gone from being very thin to a lot better, maybe a little under her previous weight, and her coloration is better, she has lost that slightly ridged look to her spine, she has shed again and she is still gaining. I never found out what caused her lack of appetite, other than stress perhaps? the point is that it resolved.

my question is this:

in case I ever have a situation like this again, are there items that can be put in a diet for rapid weight gain on an animal like this? It was mostly trial and error this time, esp since I had forgotten about the existence of this website, it had been so long since I visited. I just figure it would be good if there were tweaks I could make if it ever happens again.

Wax worms are high in fat, but not necessarily a healthy staple.

I would advise that you get a food scale or other small scale and weigh her weekly and keep track of it so you don't have to deal with a rollercoaster or gains and loses. It's much healthier to just offer her as much as she wants from a healthy diet than try to offer high fat when she is getting thin.

Occasional treats include the wax worms, pinkie mice, the red cube things that are full of fillers.

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I weigh her bi weekly to make sure she's staying on track.

I'll keep in mind the waxworms, right now she's doing great on a varied diet and eating more foods, and I'm hoping she stays that way. Like I said, I never found out what caused her to stop eating, though I had a suspicion it was stress. I didn't realize until after the fact that her stopping eating was at the same time that I got her a new cage because her old one had a crack in the bottom and had to be replaced.