Not growing?

KhaleesiStormborn":2xszkxlq said:

We got our dragons about 5-6 weeks ago. They're estimated at around 3 months old (about 10" long) one has more than doubled in size,<<< see my response below. on her second shed. Our boy has barely grown and is much thinner, has had one partial shed (legs and back)
Set up- 40g tall. <<< very small tank but will do until A BEARDIE (ONE BEARDIE) is about 16 months old, and will then need a full size 4ft x 2ft x 2ft tank, you have 2 beardies , so you need either another 40Gal for now , or two 100L - 140L stackable see through plastic tub (easy to convert to a lizard rearing tub)

Paper towel as substrate until we find a nice tile. Temps are 105-110 and 80-85 with a probe. Lights are 12 hours on/off. <<< too short , they need at least 15 hrs of UV and heat per day.
We are using a coil bulb at the moment. <<<< not the best but probably best you can do with such a small tank , needs to be a 26W UVB200 in each 40Gal tank (after you separate them) in NanoHoods and about 8 inches from the basking spot.

Getting tube on Wednesday! <<< make sure it is at least a T8 and rated at least 10% UVB and the fitting has a reflector built in , DO NOT MOUNT YOUR UVB lights ONTOP of a MESH TOP if you have mesh top on the tank/s (very common in the USA , and very bad tank design IMO)


They both eat around 20 crickets a day (calc dusted 5 days a week),<<<< I doubt it, more likely the bigger one eats most the crickets in each meal (UNLESS you are handfeeding or feeding them separately in a separate tub.
1-2 super worms <<<<NO SUPERWORMS (or MEALWORMS) at such a young age PLEASE, I know they love them , but their exoskeletons are very hard for them to digest
better worms are
>> BSF maggots (Phoenix Worms in the USA , or reptiworms) = excellent feeders but small
>> silkworms , at 4 months old even the little one can easily handle small (1.5 inch long) and medium (2 inch long) silkworms = very nutritious feeder insect

and a few bites of greens.<<<that's a bonus at a few months old.
They are well hydrated, poop great. Active and fun! But he just isn't growing Wednesday we're also getting a second tank to separate them! <<<< excellent IDEA , I'm glad you decided to do this, you'll find the smaller boy will be much happier once the bigger one is moved out and he has the existing tank to himself and he'll thrive and start to grow nicely, but he'll likely never catch up sizewize with the bigger one.

Girl on right was half his size a month ago ;(

Vet trip next week...but any advice until then?

Click to expand...

kingofnobbys":34x4704t said:

This is easy fixed , you have two beardies sharing the same tank and one is dominant and gets the lion's share of the good food (bugs) and UVA and UVB and best access to the prime spots for basking and sleeping.

While the other has take the dregs and is essentially starving and continuously under stress.

They may look cute and adorable housed and living in the same tank , and you might think they love each other and are inseparable friends. This is a very common Noob beardie keeper mistake.

I highly recommend that you get a second tank into which to house the bigger dominant beardie , it can stand another dose of relocation stress much better than the little tank mate. I RECOMMEND YOU SEPARATE THEM IMMEDIATELY , as this dominance will very likely become physical bullying and at this point the biting and vicious attacks start and your little one can easily have toes/ fingers , hands / feet , arms / legs and the end of it's tail mutilated or even bitten off and it could even be killed in a sudden an vicious attack.

Bearded dragons are more happily housed in their own tanks , only meeting another in person for a brief encounter to do the deed.

Click to expand...

kingofnobbys":2998ua5b said:

KhaleesiStormborn":2998ua5b said:

We got our dragons about 5-6 weeks ago. They're estimated at around 3 months old (about 10" long) one has more than doubled in size,<<< see my response below. on her second shed. Our boy has barely grown and is much thinner, has had one partial shed (legs and back)
Set up- 40g tall. <<< very small tank but will do until A BEARDIE (ONE BEARDIE) is about 16 months old, and will then need a full size 4ft x 2ft x 2ft tank, you have 2 beardies , so you need either another 40Gal for now , or two 100L - 140L stackable see through plastic tub (easy to convert to a lizard rearing tub)

Paper towel as substrate until we find a nice tile. Temps are 105-110 and 80-85 with a probe. Lights are 12 hours on/off. <<< too short , they need at least 15 hrs of UV and heat per day.
We are using a coil bulb at the moment. <<<< not the best but probably best you can do with such a small tank , needs to be a 26W UVB200 in each 40Gal tank (after you separate them) in NanoHoods and about 8 inches from the basking spot.

Getting tube on Wednesday! <<< make sure it is at least a T8 and rated at least 10% UVB and the fitting has a reflector built in , DO NOT MOUNT YOUR UVB lights ONTOP of a MESH TOP if you have mesh top on the tank/s (very common in the USA , and very bad tank design IMO)


They both eat around 20 crickets a day (calc dusted 5 days a week),<<<< I doubt it, more likely the bigger one eats most the crickets in each meal (UNLESS you are handfeeding or feeding them separately in a separate tub.
1-2 super worms <<<<NO SUPERWORMS (or MEALWORMS) at such a young age PLEASE, I know they love them , but their exoskeletons are very hard for them to digest
better worms are
>> BSF maggots (Phoenix Worms in the USA , or reptiworms) = excellent feeders but small
>> silkworms , at 4 months old even the little one can easily handle small (1.5 inch long) and medium (2 inch long) silkworms = very nutritious feeder insect

and a few bites of greens.<<<that's a bonus at a few months old.
They are well hydrated, poop great. Active and fun! But he just isn't growing Wednesday we're also getting a second tank to separate them! <<<< excellent IDEA , I'm glad you decided to do this, you'll find the smaller boy will be much happier once the bigger one is moved out and he has the existing tank to himself and he'll thrive and start to grow nicely, but he'll likely never catch up sizewize with the bigger one.

Girl on right was half his size a month ago ;(

Vet trip next week...but any advice until then?

Click to expand...

If you get a second tank that is identical to the one you have , you can save a little on fit out/ UV upgrades by placing the two tanks side by side (with a screen of paper of cardboard between them so they can't see each other) and if they have an open top (or mesh top - ditch the mesh tops and replace with a ventilated timber top (1/2 inch plywood is good)) and you can then place a long t5 reflector hood over both tanks with a 10% - 14% UVB tube in it ==> both tanks covered by one T5 10%UVB+ tube.

Click to expand...

KhaleesiStormborn":366d3582 said:

kingofnobbys":366d3582 said:

This is easy fixed , you have two beardies sharing the same tank and one is dominant and gets the lion's share of the good food (bugs) and UVA and UVB and best access to the prime spots for basking and sleeping.

While the other has take the dregs and is essentially starving and continuously under stress.

They may look cute and adorable housed and living in the same tank , and you might think they love each other and are inseparable friends. This is a very common Noob beardie keeper mistake.

I highly recommend that you get a second tank into which to house the bigger dominant beardie , it can stand another dose of relocation stress much better than the little tank mate. I RECOMMEND YOU SEPARATE THEM IMMEDIATELY , as this dominance will very likely become physical bullying and at this point the biting and vicious attacks start and your little one can easily have toes/ fingers , hands / feet , arms / legs and the end of it's tail mutilated or even bitten off and it could even be killed in a sudden an vicious attack.

Bearded dragons are more happily housed in their own tanks , only meeting another in person for a brief encounter to do the deed.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. I'll definitely increase their light time! And Wednesday we're getting him his own tank and new tube lights. I am a noob but read they should be separate, I understand their "cuddling" isn't the love kind...as cute as it looks. As for the feeding....they eat their crickets we dump in...I have noticed she's more "gungho" to go after them so we usually hand feed him extra. I'll feed him in a big plastic tub today and tomorrow til he's housed alone.

Click to expand...