Growth and Size Question

If you haven’t taken her to the vet, which is always a good idea when you acquire a new dragon, I highly recommend doing so. Within a month of getting a new beardie, especially a baby, I take the dragon to my herp vet and bring a fecal sample. We test for parasites (pinworms, coccidia, etc.) and the vet does a thorough physical inspection. The majority of the time, the beardie gets a clean bill of health and she’s good to go until her next annual exam. But (and here’s where this may be helpful regarding your situation) there was one instance where I had a new baby that seemed particularly small for her age when she came to me. Concerned, I took her to my herp vet and we ran tests to see if there was an underlying health issue stagnating her growth. When the results came back they confirmed my earlier suspicions: she had coccidia and pinworms. She was prescribed medicine for each issue. And after she finished her final course of treatment? She grew like a frickin’ weed. And now this formerly frail little runt is on track to be one of the biggest beardies I’ve ever owned. She just had her second annual checkup, and she’s a healthy happy (mammoth!) girl. So if your beardie’s husbandry/diet is on point (and it sounds like you’ve got a really good setup) then I think sometimes you need to look for a potential internal issue. Parasites and illness can occur in beardies that come from the best of breeders, which is why I’m a huge advocate of making sure new lizards see a vet within the first month of ownership and every year thereafter. Bring pictures of your setup, any information you have from the breeder, and a fresh fecal sample for testing. Even if the issue isn’t parasites, a reptile specialist can help pinpoint other underlying health issues that may be in play (and easy to treat). It’s really important to see a specialized herp vet. Check out this link to find a qualified reptile vet in your area:
http://www.anapsid.org/vets/index.html
Testing a fecal sample was all it took to get my runt back on track so hopefully this info helps!

Hey, thanks! We went to the vet a bit after I brought her home, somewhere back in October / November. Her fecal was clear.

I am going to try a slight diet change and get her off all of her fatty worms back on to dusted crickets & see if that helps.

Exactly how many insects a day was she getting ? This is not to lecture you but it's very important to come to the possible conclusion of her size.

I have such a hard time getting her to eat crickets and dubias. She is lazy as hell and doesn't hunt, so I have to feed crickets one by one by smashing them and putting them in front of her, hoping the wiggling will catch her attention. Same with the phoenix worms. I have a dish of dubias in her cage now (dish were they cant get out) and it's like the same thing - she sees them crawling around the bowl from her perch, but won't friggin move to eat them. Lol, she is a trip.

Just wondering how she's doing ?

Hey there, she seems to be doing ok. Maybe has grown a half inch? Tried a bit of a diet change, but it's been tough - she can't really hunt crickets, and doesn't make a move for dubias. She's a wormy girl, so I went ahead and ordered 250 BSFLs coming in the mail today and or tomorrow, and hoping that might help her. She acts totally chill and still has good bowel movements etc.

Might give her back to the breeder just to see if there's anything Im doing wrong, maybe somehow she can flourish elsewhere? I love her loads & want her to grow

Thanks for asking!