So... We got our second beardy at the beginning of March (so about 7 weeks ago now). He's gorgeous, and his name is Pancake. 
He is a hypomelanistic leatherback with about 2/3 of his tail missing (the breeder's daughter was feeding the babies and he tried to jump out of their enclosure just as she was closing the sliding doors, so alas, much of his tail is gone, but it's well and truly long enough that it won't have affected any genitals). We bought him as a boy, but I admit I can't tell because he's too little and I'm not experienced enough yet...
Just FYI, I got my first beardie in January, he was about 4" SVL when we got him and he's probably about 10" now (His name is Eddie Lizzard). Pancake was probably about 3" SVL when we got him and not much more than that now (maybe 3.5").
Pancake is in a tank about 18" cubed. He will be moving to a 3' tank very shortly (just sorting out tank stacks etc).
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I'll answer a list of questions seen in another post, which I thought were great questions, and may help with info:
What is your substrate? (Tile, sand, calci sand, paper towels ect) - the Exo-terra sand mat (with no loose sand, it's like a rubber mat with sand stuck to it, so it 'files' their nails, but they can't ingest it).
What are your temperatures? Directly under the spot lamp - 30c, cool end about 20c
What are you monitoring your temperatures with? Laser thermometer
What are you trying to feed him (tell me about both greens and insects)
Insects: home bred wood-roaches, medium crickets (not often, he doesn't seem to like them), rarely super-mealworms, but only if they've recently shed (the white ones, no hard shells and he's only had 2 in his life, one today, one a fortnight ago). Salad is usually corn (fresh off the cob), red capsicum, and carrot (all cut to the size of a corn kernel). Occasionally other salad items like spinach, kale, etc.
What are you using to dust his insects (Calcium without d3, calcium with d3, multivitamin ect)
He really hates insects with dust on them, so I gutload the insects with Repashy and feed them carrot and oranges for the vitamins (the insects get the oranges, NOT the beardies!!).
What is your dusting plans? (5x a week calcium, 2x a week calcium, 2x a week multivitamin ect)
As previously mentioned, only dusting rarely as he doesn't like powder at all, he'll just spit the insect out as soon as it gets in his mouth.
Is he housed with any other beardies? Yes and no... He is on his own, but, he's actually in a 3' tank, divided into about 1/3 / 2/3 - housing is temporary, I know he should be in a larger tank, and he will be ASAP.
What UVB brand did you purchase (zoomed/reptisun, exo terra, arcadia ect) It's a Zoo Med UVB tube (fluoro-tube type)
How far is the UVB from the basking spot?
About 10"
Is the UVB a t5 or a t8? Is it a 5.0, 10.0, 12% or 14%?
I can't remember, sorry. I think it's a 10.0, but it's 2.30am and I don't want to turn the light on to check...
Is the UVB mounted inside or on a screen?
The tank is an Exo Terra and the UV is sitting on top of the tank's screen lid.
There is also a heat spotlight directly over one corner of the tank, and he has two rocks under the heat lamp, one about 8" from the lamp, and one about 12" from the lamp. He usually sits on top of the taller rock during the day and flattens himself out (hence the name - pancake!).
He was getting really cold at night, and taking ages to get moving in the morning, so about a week ago we put a red heat lamp on him because I'd read online that the ceramic heat lamps can overheat beardie's eyes and blind them. Now, however, I've been reading that red lights can keep them up at night, so I admit, I'm confused. I live in Melbourne, Australia, so I'll HAVE to do something about heating at night, with all the reptiles we have we'll probably keep the heaters on at night over winter, so it should stay around 20c).
Note - not asked, but, he has a tub of water in his tank, fresh water with reptisafe drops in it.
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OK, so, having said all that - does anyone have any ideas why he isn't growing much at all???
He's had one shed since we've had him (I would have expected more), and he poops pretty much every day, although it's not very big.
He's VERY picky about food. He doesn't like woodies (wood-roaches) much, I have been taking him out of his enclosure and putting him into a tub with some woodies to allow him to eat without the woodies escaping from him (as they do if I put them into his tank). At first he was fine, and chased the woodies around or grabbing them as they run past him, but he's been eating fewer and fewer of them to the point where now he'll eat one, or maybe two, and that's it. He will run maniacally around the tub, but just doesn't eat. I tried crickets (small-ish ones, not bigger than the space between his eyes), and he does eat one or two, but he's not really enthusiastic. The only thing he's enthusiastic about is the super-mealworms, but I've read that they can be really bad for young beardies, due to their 'shells', so I've given him two (as mentioned above), but only when I've found them in our container freshly moulted. He doesn't eat much salad, but I wouldn't expect him to at his age, although he's always got some in his tank, just in case.
He has been seen by a vet who said there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him (although she did say he needs a bigger tank, which I knew and am working to rectify ASAP).
I can take some photos tomorrow if needed.
Thanks for any help, and for taking the time to read this far.
He is a hypomelanistic leatherback with about 2/3 of his tail missing (the breeder's daughter was feeding the babies and he tried to jump out of their enclosure just as she was closing the sliding doors, so alas, much of his tail is gone, but it's well and truly long enough that it won't have affected any genitals). We bought him as a boy, but I admit I can't tell because he's too little and I'm not experienced enough yet...
Just FYI, I got my first beardie in January, he was about 4" SVL when we got him and he's probably about 10" now (His name is Eddie Lizzard). Pancake was probably about 3" SVL when we got him and not much more than that now (maybe 3.5").
Pancake is in a tank about 18" cubed. He will be moving to a 3' tank very shortly (just sorting out tank stacks etc).
____________________________________________________________________________________
I'll answer a list of questions seen in another post, which I thought were great questions, and may help with info:
What is your substrate? (Tile, sand, calci sand, paper towels ect) - the Exo-terra sand mat (with no loose sand, it's like a rubber mat with sand stuck to it, so it 'files' their nails, but they can't ingest it).
What are your temperatures? Directly under the spot lamp - 30c, cool end about 20c
What are you monitoring your temperatures with? Laser thermometer
What are you trying to feed him (tell me about both greens and insects)
Insects: home bred wood-roaches, medium crickets (not often, he doesn't seem to like them), rarely super-mealworms, but only if they've recently shed (the white ones, no hard shells and he's only had 2 in his life, one today, one a fortnight ago). Salad is usually corn (fresh off the cob), red capsicum, and carrot (all cut to the size of a corn kernel). Occasionally other salad items like spinach, kale, etc.
What are you using to dust his insects (Calcium without d3, calcium with d3, multivitamin ect)
He really hates insects with dust on them, so I gutload the insects with Repashy and feed them carrot and oranges for the vitamins (the insects get the oranges, NOT the beardies!!).
What is your dusting plans? (5x a week calcium, 2x a week calcium, 2x a week multivitamin ect)
As previously mentioned, only dusting rarely as he doesn't like powder at all, he'll just spit the insect out as soon as it gets in his mouth.
Is he housed with any other beardies? Yes and no... He is on his own, but, he's actually in a 3' tank, divided into about 1/3 / 2/3 - housing is temporary, I know he should be in a larger tank, and he will be ASAP.
What UVB brand did you purchase (zoomed/reptisun, exo terra, arcadia ect) It's a Zoo Med UVB tube (fluoro-tube type)
How far is the UVB from the basking spot?
About 10"
Is the UVB a t5 or a t8? Is it a 5.0, 10.0, 12% or 14%?
I can't remember, sorry. I think it's a 10.0, but it's 2.30am and I don't want to turn the light on to check...
Is the UVB mounted inside or on a screen?
The tank is an Exo Terra and the UV is sitting on top of the tank's screen lid.
There is also a heat spotlight directly over one corner of the tank, and he has two rocks under the heat lamp, one about 8" from the lamp, and one about 12" from the lamp. He usually sits on top of the taller rock during the day and flattens himself out (hence the name - pancake!).
He was getting really cold at night, and taking ages to get moving in the morning, so about a week ago we put a red heat lamp on him because I'd read online that the ceramic heat lamps can overheat beardie's eyes and blind them. Now, however, I've been reading that red lights can keep them up at night, so I admit, I'm confused. I live in Melbourne, Australia, so I'll HAVE to do something about heating at night, with all the reptiles we have we'll probably keep the heaters on at night over winter, so it should stay around 20c).
Note - not asked, but, he has a tub of water in his tank, fresh water with reptisafe drops in it.
_____________________________________________________________________________
OK, so, having said all that - does anyone have any ideas why he isn't growing much at all???
He's had one shed since we've had him (I would have expected more), and he poops pretty much every day, although it's not very big.
He's VERY picky about food. He doesn't like woodies (wood-roaches) much, I have been taking him out of his enclosure and putting him into a tub with some woodies to allow him to eat without the woodies escaping from him (as they do if I put them into his tank). At first he was fine, and chased the woodies around or grabbing them as they run past him, but he's been eating fewer and fewer of them to the point where now he'll eat one, or maybe two, and that's it. He will run maniacally around the tub, but just doesn't eat. I tried crickets (small-ish ones, not bigger than the space between his eyes), and he does eat one or two, but he's not really enthusiastic. The only thing he's enthusiastic about is the super-mealworms, but I've read that they can be really bad for young beardies, due to their 'shells', so I've given him two (as mentioned above), but only when I've found them in our container freshly moulted. He doesn't eat much salad, but I wouldn't expect him to at his age, although he's always got some in his tank, just in case.
He has been seen by a vet who said there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with him (although she did say he needs a bigger tank, which I knew and am working to rectify ASAP).
I can take some photos tomorrow if needed.
Thanks for any help, and for taking the time to read this far.
