12weeks too small!

Hello everyone, I just picked up my bearded dragon on Tuesday, I picked it from a group of 8 and I didn't pick the smallest one. I was told they were 11weeks but it's so tiny compared to others the same age I've seen vids of on the net. It ate like mad to start with greens and calcium dusted cricket then went off for a few days and is shedding. It had only 3 crickets today. Basically I think she's a lot younger than I've been told and if so how should I a just its care? She's pooing fine by the way. Any tips from breeders or keeps of the v young most great full.

Hi there, can you post pics ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then hit XIMG

He may be younger than you were told or he may actually be 11 weeks. As long as he's eating well, just keep it up feeding him live food 2-3 X daily as many small crix as he'll eat. It's normal for some dragons to eat less while shedding so don't worry about that.

Thanks I will do a pic tomorrow when it's awake.

If you can indicate "his" weight it would be helpful too.
At 12 weeks old
Peppa was 61g
Toothless was 51g
Rex was 51g (she grew to 630g full grown) and Puff was 43g (he grew to 640g full grown).

Is very likely "he's" the runt of the litter (not a bad thing in itself, I've had a runt (a bluetongue skink) who was a bit smaller than his tub mates (all siblings) who grew up big and healthy and is uberaffectionate (George : he chose me , came over to me and actually looked up at me as if to say "pick me ! pick me PLEASE !" and he then proceeded to crawl onto my hand and I fell in love immediately and had to take him too , only planned on buying one , his sister, walked away from breeder's place with 2 baby bluetongues).

Being smaller than "his" tub / tank mates / siblings / clutchmates will mean "he" was likely at the bottom of the pecking order and only got the scraps of food, and hardly ever got a live insect, and only got the worse sleeping spots , and likely never got access to the prime basking spot, and was intimidated and under constant stress while with the other hatchlings, he should have been separated by the shop and put into a tub / tank by himself but they likely wouldn't care or even know and left "him" to own devices .... result, stunted growth and maybe some malnutrition , both fixable since you got "him" very young.

Give him a few days to a week to settle in (he'll be suffering relocation stress) and keep offering live insects (small crickets or roaches or calciworms (phoenix worms) or small silkworms at least 2 times per day, 3x per is better at his age, just a few at a time so "he's " not overwhelmed by bugs running in all directions, and start offering some grated carrot mixed with a high calcium green leafy vegs (cut up roughly) , and let him get used to you by keeping the handling to minimum for now , spend lots of time close by and talk to him frequently, and maybe pet him when he's basking and relaxed.
He'll come good in short order.

The O.P noted that he didn't pick the smallest one, that it was on par with it's clutchmates so it wasn't the runt. He just said that compared to other peoples dragons of that age that he saw on videos , his dragon looks small.

AHBD":2l4zvb5y said:

The O.P noted that he didn't pick the smallest one, that it was on par with it's clutchmates so it wasn't the runt. He just said that compared to other peoples dragons of that age that he saw on videos , his dragon looks small.

Click to expand...

.... oops
My error , still it was with lots of other hatchlings so much of response is still applicable.

8grams 15cm. Much smaller than other 12 weekers by far!

Most babies in the U.S.are raised in groups until sold and it depends on how much they are fed, whether kept singularly or with their clutchmates, that determines how quickly they'll grow. He is on the small side but can definitely catch up. He is looking thin, so if you list your exact set up [ type + brand of lights ] and post pics of it someone can help if it needs adjusted. Have you offered water ? He may be slightly dehydrated. Try using a syringe, eyedropper or small spray bottle for a drink by dripping it directly on his nose. Sometimes they get startle at first but the quickly learn.
Here's a video showing it....these aren't mine but it's how I've done for over 20 years :
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi379n2lf_MAhUJ6CYKHUA9DfoQtwIIKDAD&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DgN3tSmkZisM&usg=AFQjCNEH17dGwh1qOu9GiH91SNkMl1h50A&sig2=cOFopv-pn8vp6mlAlHohXA&bvm=bv.123325700,d.cWw

Cripes !

He's had a hard start in life .... they must have been starving their stock for he and the hatchlings he was kept together with to be so undersize. I'd call it maltreatment.

Yes - as AHBD says - same here, it's just not practical for breeders with even one large clutch of very young hatchlings beardies to keep them all in separate rearing tubs, it's not a perfect world, most do a much better job of raising their baby beardies than the place he came from .
He's typical size for a smaller 5 - 6 week old who has had good care.

Anyway , he's your little spikey baby now and you are taking all the right steps to help him recover and thrive by asking questions here. He'll probably never really catch up with the growth curve he could have followed under ideal circumstances, his growth will still amaze you and he'll still be a great pet. Size isn't everything.

Once he settles in and you have everything in his tank set up right and he's comfortable , he'll start growing very rapidly , in a few months you'll not recognise him as he'll fill out become a lot bigger.

He needs lots of suitable sized live insects (silkworms, calcigents, crickets, roaches are the best as many as he wants at least twice per day, thrice (3X) is better) , lots of UVA and UVB , plenty of dietary calcium (dusted on the roaches and crickets) , warmth , and long day cycles and a warm enclosure overnight , and I'd start offering grated carrot and high calcium greens (cut up into small chunks) from the get go.

I have since panicked and taken baby to a local expert who has said this is only a couple of weeks old! Was told my set up was perfect for a baby of 12 weeks but I now have changed because baby was not getting warm enough. Have been told to place a plastic breeding tube in the center of Viv and carry on as before with babe in this. Lady was astounded that my new pet had survived the inishal travel. Even gave me free food to bulk her up. Hope everything will be okay, they don't usually sell them in my area till they are around 10 weeks.
So thank you everyone for your input basically now its feed and feed and hope.

Mmm .... I'll let others comment on the new guess on his actual age ...

My beardies started off as follows :

Puff was 8g at 6 weeks old
Rex was 7g at 6 weeks old
Peppa was 13.9g at 5 weeks old
Toothless was 11g at 5 weeks old.

All were into the insects and grated vegs and greens from the getgo.

As you can see there is some spread in sizes at same age, depending on quality of husbandry prior to my buying/adopting them and some genetics too (I expect).

Sounds like the seller switched dragons on you. Are you going to contact seller to inquire or just let it go?

What food were you given? If the dragon is eating on his own he shouldn't need a special food.

He looks about 6 inches. Correct? I've seen plenty dragons for sale the same size as yours.

A dragon his size would need 110 degree basking temp. Cool end low 80s. Be sure to have a probe or infrared heat gun to get accurate temps.

You can feed pinhead crickets, small phoenix worms, and small roaches. The crickets and roaches should be no bigger than the space between his eyes. You may need to order these online as they can be difficult to find in stores. I would offer him live food at least three times a day. Be sure to offer fine-grated salads with veggies daily.

Don't forget to dust feeders with calcium d3 powder six times a week and a multivitamin powder two times a week. If you are using a mercury vapor bulb you can just use calcium powder w/out d3.


Get a dropper and place a drop of water on his nose so he can drink.

Have the worms but not much interest there it seems to prefer the little crickets possible cos they move quicker? I have to make the veg move with my finger to get that eaten. I have been dusting as follows and have ordered a higher heat bulb as mine only get 100.

Actually the size of a 2 month old, not 2 week old. Definitely not a 2 week old.