Bearded Dragon Question?

[AshleyClark007]

Hey guys, I have a question. I have a Beardie and I got her around September 10th 2013. She hasn't grown at all really. When I got her the pet store said she was about 2-3 months so about 7-8 months old now". Well she is only about 8 inches. Is this normal? I have had one before and she grew a lot faster then this. If some one could give me some advice that would be cool. Thank you.

 

[fluxlizard]

No its not normal.
Tell me about your husbandry and I'll see if anything stands out.

 

[Decadancin]

Definitely should be bigger by now. Something isn't right!

 

[AshleyClark007]

Setup:
10Gal tank
Light fixer:
Exo-Terra UVB light fixer,
Exo-Terra Repti Glo 2.0 uvb "wiggly kind"
Exo-Terra Heat fixer and bulb.
Basking Spot:
Day time 100 F-105 F- Night doesn't go under 75 F.
Dusting:
5X a week with Calcium "1 feeding a day"
2X a week with Multivitamin "1 feeding a day"

 

[fluxlizard]

Nothing obvious jumps out at me.

Things I would do differently though-

I'd trade the 10 gallon tank up for something larger. If cost is an issue, you can get a 30 gallon rubbermaid storage tube that is about 3' long and a foot wide and high for around $10 and hang the lights over that. You can rough the floor of the tub up with sandpaper so you don't need a substrate- his feet can grip the floor and insects can't hide and cleanup is as easy as wiping up or washing out.

The reason for the larger tank- in addition to more room for exercise (put your lights on one end, your food and water dishes on the other so the lizard has to go back and forth during the day) it allows for a bit more thermo-gradient. Your thermometer is reading enough heat at your warm end, but a larger enclosure will allow more space for a thermo gradient. It allows a bit more room for growth.

If you are providing night heat to maintain that 75 degrees don't. Much much cooler is very safe (down near freezing at night is OK) and cooler temps induce a slower metabolism and deeper sleep. Also, any lighting at night can be something of a bother and might possibly be effecting him. On the other hand if your room temp is 75, I wouldn't worry about that at night. My concern is more if you have a red or blacklight or heat pad or ceramic heater or the like running on him at night.

UVB- when you replace it, you might want to go with something a bit stronger. Meanwhile, make sure you are using d3 with your calcium, especially if you can get growth to take off.

The insects you are feeding- at his size, you can feed any size insect. It looks like you are feeding adult crickets in the pics maybe. That is OK, but because his growth is poor, something I've found is that I can accelerate growth rate by feeding lots of small insects, rather than a few larger ones.

Also feeding fewer numbers, multiple meals per day until he is full for the day, is better than all he can eat 1x per day with leftovers running around for snacks.

The reasoning is this- the smaller insects have more surface area and therefore a higher percentage by weight is exposed to the digestive juices and so by weight everything breaks down faster and then digests faster.

Also smaller insects pack in tighter (imagine jumbo marbles in a jar vs small marbles in a jar- each jumbo marble is nice and heavy and big, but there is a lot of space between each marble. Many more smaller marbles can fit in the jar, and the space between them is also less, allowing more total weight of marbles into the jar.

You end up with more total weight of food going into the lizard, and the food breaks down faster because more surface area of the food is exposed to the digestive process, so a higher percentage by weight gets worked on at any given moment compared to larger prey items. So not only more food goes in, but more food goes through faster, which means more of the stuff the lizard builds itself from goes into the lizard over a measure of time.

More frequent meals and fewer insects per meal, rather than a big daily meal with a few snacks running around. First of all- snacks running around- a large part of a lizard's appetite is visual stimulation from the movement of the insects. The greater the length of time the lizard is exposed to that movement, the less that movement stimulates and attracts the lizard's attention and appetite. Leftovers decrease the total amount possible in a lizard.

Nothing wrong with this single meal possibly with leftovers approach to feeding, but your goal right now is to get your lizard to grow and that involves eating as much as possible at this size. So, no snacking is a principle that will optimize ability to achieve that goal.

Secondly- several meals per day with fewer insects per meal vs one large meal: Taking at least a few meals to fill up for the day again maximizes the total number of insects the lizard will consume for the day. In 4 ways- firstly, leaving him a little hungry earlier will keep the feeding stimulus strong for later feedings. Secondly digestion will move some of his earlier meals on down a bit, making room for more later in the day. Thirdly, because no snacks are around, the visual stimulation to feed from the movement of the insects at each feeding will attract him. Lastly, like Pavlovs dogs wanting to feed when a bell is rung, the lizard will fall into a program routine that when you open the door to the cage and drop a few insects in, it is time to feed. It's inner bell will tell it to feed when you come more often and drop the bugs in.

Also regarding food- make sure you offer him some greens as well as the insects. I start mine with the greens each day before offering the insects. It makes them much more likely to eat some of the greens. And don't worry about leaving the greens in there- it won't effect how many insects they are willing to eat. And personally- I always have some rep-cal bearded dragon pellets in there as well in a separate bowl. For small dragons I grind it up a bit in a coffee grinder. This food is nutritionally complete and is good for a little variety in the diet.

Regarding temperature- I'm not sure if I believe your thermometer. You can believe your dragon though. When temps are right, the lizard will wake up, bask right at the hottest spot for a little while (30-60 minutes) then start moving a bit. During the day it may return to the hottest spot sometimes for a little while- especially after eating or drinking, but a lot of time will also be spent away from the spot or warming up near the hottest spot, but not directly in it. The lizard will be lighter most of the day, with more bright coloring. Dark lizard basking under the spot all day means it cannot warm up and is trying unsuccessfully to do so with the best option available to it. Pale lizard that almost never basks is too hot- need more room to escape the heat or a less hot basking spot.

That's about all I can think of to offer for advice. The feeding stuff is based on numerous feeding trials that I have done with relatively large amounts of bearded dragon babies (some groups up to 100) for my own information. I've been breeding bearded dragons since 1994 and my group consists of descendants from my group at that time along with more recent genetics brought in over time. I needed to know what works and what doesn't, and how to do things like maximize growth rate and get consistent growth rates, etc. The main keys I learned from my trials with growth rate is many smaller insects, fed in multiple smaller meals during the day, rather than a single large meal or meals with larger insects. I fed 100 baby bearded dragons 3/4 of a million roaches one summer over a few months trying it out and it really worked! I even had incredibly uniform growth rate among all 100 dragons- meaning nobody outgrow anyone else and nobody got left behind. Unfortunately, it used too many insects compared to what I could produce for me to use the practice consistently after the trial, but the knowledge gained was worth it.

You want at least 3 meals where he will feed to maximize your results. If he fills up sooner than the third meal, cut back the next day on the number of insects you are feeding the first and second meals a little bit. And by smaller insects- the smaller the better pretty much is the rule. According to your budget and what you can get. But for example 1/4" or 1/2" rather than full size or 3/4". Don't be afraid to mix things up a bit- small mealworms, small roaches, etc. Variety can boost growth rate on it's own I've observed, and often maximizes interest overall, encouraging more total food intake, which of course gives even more growth.