Long story short: My sister had a bearded dragon...she failed to take care of it very well...fed it once a week(if that) and kept water in it's bowl maybe once a week as well...I've now convinced her to give me the lizard because I can actually take care of one...but i've not been faced with this situation before.

it looks bony, and so far the past 2 days I've had it, it just lays around in it's tank only moving when i feed it some crickets then laying back down...very lazy and it wont drink water.


I'm looking for help on how I should go about feeding it/getting it hydrated again. I don't want to force feed it a TON of crickets(sprinkled with calcium powder) and drown it in water because it's obviously been starving and dehydrated for a while now so I'm thinking to take it slow...few crickets a day and try to hand feed it water somehow..??

any ideas on bringing it back to a healthier state

btw the lizard is 7 years old...

Try using an eye dropper. You can see if it will take it directly into its mouth. If not you can drop a little on its snout. It should eventually lick it off. You can also try putting the crickets in the water dish or squirting them before feeding

you should go see a doctor
he will tell you what exactly to do and what can be done

I belive their native habitat is arid? If so small amounts of water along with the "juice" from their food may be able keep him hydrated.

Lethargy may be caused by the interior temperature being too low as well.

Feed it cucmbers, great source of water. Does the tank have iva and uvb lights? Feed it some superworms or dubia roaches if allowed in your state. You fan also give it a bath in a tub or something. Warm water and you may add some Pedialyte, leave it in water for 20mins

try spraying it with a water bottle it will lick some of the water up. dont drench him just a little bit.
and take it slow like u said dont rush him into eating.