My 5 Yr. Old Beardie is Just Small?

So I have had my bearded dragon, Balthazar, for about 4-5 years now. He has always been fairly small. He’s always had crickets and various veggies (not the ones you’re not supposed to feed beardies like iceberg lettuce). I took him to the vet recently because he lost quite a bit of weight rapidly. She concluded that he was dehydrated (so I fixed that), he might have worms (so I gave him deworming medicine as prescribed by the vet), and started feeding him some baby food (all natural with no sugar or anything else added) to help gain some weight back as suggested by the vet. He got nice warm baths for a few weeks and lots of water, he ate baby food (and loved it ?), and he gained his weight back. But he’s still just super small compared to other beardies I see all the time. He seems healthy and happy also. Does anyone know why he’d just be super tiny? Or does anyone else have just a small bearded dragon? His cage is like a yard long and like 2 feet tall. He has his heat lamp and UV bulb (always has), and has never had substrates that can be injested or anything.

Also he recently got a cut on his foot and I’m just curious as to how long minor cuts take to heal on a beardie.

Depends on the lighting--- what kind of lighting do you have? Was he really small when you got him-- what kind of start did he have from a baby? All this can factor in
Karrie

Well what is small to you? You never gave us a length or weight of your dragon. do you have pics?

-Brandon

Yeah sorry I didn’t mention his size. So he’s 18 inches long. I don’t have a weight because when I got him weighed at the vet’s he was underweight (hence why I went) and I don’t have a scale to weigh him. But here are two photos (deck of cards for reference). Also I use the kind of light in the photo, and I don’t have a box with the UV bulb I use. Like I said his cage is large enough for one beardie, however when he was young I had him in a cage for like 3 months that was about 1.5 feet wide and about 1 foot tall. Realized that was too small and got him his big cage. I bought him from a pet store (he was the size of the rest of them), he had a little bent tail and a part of one of his toes was missing. Maybe he was mistreated? I should have definitely purchased a beardie from a reputable breeder but I didn’t and I still love him to death anyways. The branch he sits on is several inches below his heat bulb (the lights both turn off at night around 10 PM and turn on at like 6 AM.

What kind of UVB do you have? And how big is his tank?
Karrie

His length falls in to the average size of a beardie but he is on the thin side, but not so much that he looks unhealthy. A minor cut on the foot can be treated with raw honey or Neosporin.

You say he was eating baby food for a while but what is he eating now and how often does he get calcium + vitamin supplements ? Can you post a picture of his set up + show the actual uvb bulb ? It sounds like he's doing pretty well now but a proper uvb bulb is one of the most important things a dragon needs.

Oh god ya all probably think I’m not using a UVB bulb, I kept calling it just a UV bulb. Don’t worry I have one! It’s an exoterra 26 Watt UVB bulb. Like the coiled type.

As for what he eats. He gets 50-60 large crickets dusted in calcium a week. He doesn’t seem to want more. Then I usually give him kale or collard greens daily with different kinds of baby food kinda coated on them like squash or pea baby food. He seriously loves it and I’m assuming it’s a good way to keep a balanced diet if I change up the baby food to different types occasionally? I don’t give him any meal worms because he seems to always have pooping problems after, even if I only give him like one.

Here’s a photo of his set up. Currently I’m using news paper as substrate until I get something new (his old sand mat started to get a smell to it even with daily cleaning). The plants are artificial, the substrate is usually one of the mats that look like fake sand that I just mentioned (no loose substrate), heat bulb above his branch, UVB bulb on the other side, and heat mat under basking side for extra warmth. Here’s a photo of the set up.


Perhaps I’m overreacting but he just won’t get bigger. The pads on his head seem gushy and good. But his tail is so small where he should have fat and no matter what I try won’t fix it. It always has been so idk if it’s just that size or if he’s been malnourished for the entire time I’ve had him (which would make me feel entirely awful).

The UVB is the issue -- I would recommending changing it out ASAP-- here is some info
Which UVB light should I use?
The best UVB light is a ReptiSun 10.0 fluorescent tube HO (Or Arcardia 12% in the UK). Compact or coil bulbs do not emit the proper amount of UVB light for a bearded dragon, and should not be used. Other brands, such as the Zilla Desert Series and ReptiGlo have been known to cause eye problems and other health issues with bearded dragons, and should be avoided. The reason that some UVB lights (Zilla, ReptiGlo, coils/compacts, ect.) are considered dangerous is because the wavelength of UVB that they emit is shorter and more intense than the wavelength of the "safe" lights (ReptiSun, Arcadia).
UVB lights should be replaced every 6 months. The T5’s are a strong bulb and only need to be replaced once a year – the T 8 every 6 months--- where as the T 8 are not as strong—they need to be placed inside the tank the T 5 10.0 bulb approx 10-11 inches from basking spot – the T 8 approx 6-8 inches from basking spot—the cover needs to be off the bulb for full effect of the UVB rays-- please get one of these and I will think you will see a difference in the behavior
Karrie

Oh no I didn’t even know that about the coil UVB bulbs! That’s so scary! My poor beardie ? I will try the new type ASAP! Thank you so much for your help!!

Me and BZar thank you Karrie! ???

Another suggestion for substrate-- non adhesive shelf liner-- or slated ceramic tile-- idk if he's in his permenant tank but if he's not and you plan up grading I would wait on tile if you decide or want to get that- but the shelf liner-- is easy and cheap and easy to clean vinager/ water in spray bottle-- can be bought at home Depot or lowes--- I would get some w/ texture so he's not slipping-- please get rid of the heat mat if you need extra heating get a CHE - no light-- they are around $40
Karrie

Your set up looks good, the basking log makes it easy for him to get up close to the lights. If his uvb bulb was over by the heat bulb he would have gotten more exposure, so you can put it over there until your new bulbs come in. The coil, compact + other ones that Karrie mentioned are not actually dangerous, some of the coil + compact used to be but that's been corrected . Still, they don't put out as good a uvb as the good ones that Karrie mentioned. The Reptiglo 10.0 long tube is actually a good bulb but it's a t8 , on par with the Reptisun 10.0 t8 but not as good as the t5. I know it's all confusing !!

BTW, your boy is not stunted, 18" is perfectly fine. They don't all grow to be 22-24" long just like some people are smaller but still healthy. Being large will not mean he is healthier or going to live longer. Still, once he gets his new bulb his appetite may increase and he may eat a bit more and fill out some. But he's not unnaturally small, he's within the average size just like humans can have a variety of healthy heights. A man can be 5'5" and perfectly healthy or may be 6'5 or taller.

AHBD":3r7c1lt1 said:

The coil, compact + other ones that Karrie mentioned are not actually dangerous, some of the coil + compact used to be but that's been corrected .

Click to expand...

Do you have a source for this? As far as I am aware one of the dangers of the coil bulbs was how intense of a light they put out, which isn't limited to only reptile cfls. They've always put out less UVB than their tube counterparts, but that wasn't the real issue with them.

Actually, I think Francis Baines mentioned here that one way to mitigate the intensity issue was to mount it horizontal and that would help. But of course, that hurts the already weak uvb output even more.
I will agree, we haven't really seen any eye issues pop up lately, but on the other hand, people aren't mounting them as close to their dragon as they would need to to get proper UVB anyways :?

-Brandon

The reason that some UVB lights (Zilla, ReptiGlo, coils/compacts, ect.) are considered dangerous is because the wavelength of UVB that they emit is shorter and more intense than the wavelength of the "safe" lights (ReptiSun, Arcadia). This came from the Newbies Guide Lighting Help under Articles- thats where I found it-- this website
Karrie

Thank you Brandon! I also really appreciate your help! What you said makes me feel much better ?. I’m glad he’s pretty normal other than a bit on the skinny side. I’ll try the new bulb and hopefully see some good results!

Brandon I'm going by the fact that there are people that use them without the dragon getting eye problems but my biggest reason to make that claim is that old friends of mine [ Tim + Terry Turnbull from A-1 reptiles ] who bred dragons pretty much along with the first pioneers of breeders in this country for over 25 years actually raised their babies with the coil/compact bulbs. They produced at least 10's of thousands of healthy dragons throughout that time, probably many more.

As far as Reptiglo long tubes, I used them for years myself along with the Reptisuns. Another top breeder in the U.S. Tamara from Rainbow B.D.'s [ at least 15-18 years breeding ] uses them exclusively and mentions it on her website.