1+ year old Beardie is not growing

[CallMeHarli]

Okay so last Christmas I received a bearded dragon. At that time she was maybe 7/8 inches in length. It is now more then a year later and she has only grown a few inches (she is less than a foot). Since I have had her I fed her crickets and some fruits and veggies aka Lettuce, Carrots, peppers (bell peppers), grapes and apples. (although she rarely ever eats them, usually only the peppers). She is very very very picky as I stated previously. I have tried most of what was recommended by other owners. Lately She has even stopped eating her crickets. (maybe 1-2 a day or less). I went to the pet store where I got her from and asked what I could do to help her grow and I was told to put the white light on more and too use calcium on her crickets (but it doesn't help if she doesn't eat them). Nothing is working and I am a little bit desperate now as she has even appeared lethargic (she sleeps all the time!). Please respond if you can, any care tips would be greatly appreciated as I have never had a Beardie before only leopard geckos.
- Many thanks from Taylor & Harli

 

[ohmybandit]

Hi there, I'm sorry your dragon is feeling well Could you go over your husbandry with us? What type of tank is she in? What lights do you use and what uvb brand? Is the UVB coil or fluorescent tube? How are you measuring your temps? What's the substrate you use?

Have you ever tried introducing phoenix worms or dubia roaches into her diet? Phoenix worms seem to tempt beardies to eat with how wiggly they are and are a good calcium boost.

Calcium should be given 5x a week (calcium with d3 unless you're using an MVB bulb). If she's not eating you could always get baby food and syringe feed her. Squash babyfood and chicken (or turkey) baby food. Lettuce isn't really good for beardies, I would recommend switching to collards/turnip greens/dandelion or mustard. Here's a good link to what to feed them, http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Hopefully someone else will join in and ask any questions I may have skipped.

 

[CallMeHarli]

Tank: 40 Gallon glass tank with a wired/mesh cover (that slides open and closed)

She has three lights.
- her UVB (White Light) (I turn it on when I wake up about 7 am & off at about 8 pm)
Zilla UVB 50 Desert (Coil)
- Her Red Incandescent bulb (also Zilla I believe) which comes
on at 8pm and turns off at 7 am
- Her heat lamp. is a ceramic model.

She does have a thermometer on the furthest side of her tank below her white light. Which reads about 80 degrees F. as of now. It is summer right now and is very hot outside but we do have air on inside which is very cold.
I also have her tank situated between two windows. For substrate I use newspaper.

I feed her Crickets (w. Calcium), Wax Worms ( which she really likes),
She does eat lettuce & Green peppers but she waits for them to dry out
before doing so. other than that she usually ignores anything else I put in there.
I don't know if this is relevant or not. Last summer, we had an accident where
a TV fell on part of her cage actually knocking it off the table and shattering the glass
(I was not around and she was okay). She also likes to sleep a lot which I thought was really strange for her as usually beardies seem more energetic and she is not. She will go
a long while with out moving. She does get excited around the cat, who likes to
sit next to her tank. I also bathe her once a week. (she does get sprayed though).

 

[Soulwind]

The UVB bulb you're using isn't the best or recommended bulb, but it's better than nothing.
Assuming that it's less than 6 months old that is. If it's older than that, then it's worthless and is harming her (for lack of UV).

UVB bulbs must be replaced every 6 months or so, even if they still light up -- they stop putting out UV.

We here on the site recommend a long-tube florescent type rather than the coil type UV bulbs, as the coil types have been shown to cause some eye problems in the past. They also tend to wear out quickly (ie even sooner than the 6 month replacement time).

We recommend that you use a Repti-SUN (not the Repti-GLO) 10 bulb or an Arcadia 12 bulb for UV, and a clear white light bulb for basking spot lighting and heating (she should be exposed to white light, heat, and the UV light during the day). For night, don't use any lights, and if you need extra heat overnight use the ceramic heat emitter.

You can also use a mercury vapor bulb for her basking area. MVB's put out light, heat, and UV at the same time with the same bulb. They also last 10-12 months instead of 6.

You MUST ensure that your dragon is getting enough UV light, and is being given Calcium supplement powder (preferably with added vitamin D3) (one meal, 5 days a week) and also is given a multi-vitamin supplement powder (one meal, 2 days a week).

Your dragon should be much larger than you've stated she is, and it does sound like malnutrition/lack of calcium and/or UV light (called MBD); but it could be other things like parasites or such.

Can you post a few pictures of her and her enclosure setups?

 

[Momomo]

is 80 F the hottest temp in the tank? the basking spot has to be 95-100F for the dragon to properly digest their food. This might be why your dragon is inactive and not a very big eater. You should get a new UVB light as suggested previously, and put it next to your basking lamp, which should be a CLEAR BRIGHT bulb (eg. regular household bulb). Do not use the red bulb at night as beardies need complete darkness to sleep.

P.S. Yeah, Soulwind totally beat me to it lol

 

[CallMeHarli]

Thank You guys so much for the replies!
Pictures of her tank/lights & her (yes there is a crack in the tank I am aware & I will be getting a new one)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4382432178438&set=a.2118249535287.81219.1817248406&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4382431138412&set=a.2118249535287.81219.1817248406&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3005228709212&set=a.2118249535287.81219.1817248406&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4382431898431&set=a.2118249535287.81219.1817248406&type=3&theater

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4382432098436&set=a.2118249535287.81219.1817248406&type=3&theater

 

[ColorMeAbby]

i'd try to give it these purple things I give to mine, she gobbles them up and if i'd let her she'd eat them until she popped, their called Nature Zone Bites.

 

[CallMeHarli]

It was her lights. We have changed her lights over to the ones you specified. She is now eating and ALOT. she isn't even picky and she is even more active. I was surprised she could actually move so fast. She also just shed which is a relief. Thank you guys so much!

 

[Soulwind]

Glad we could help. Sounds like you're on your way to a healthy and happy beardie.

Just be sure to give her a sufficient quantity of Calcium and Vitamin supplement powder,
regular baths in warm (baby-skin warm) water, and offer her both veggies/salad and buggies
daily.

Also remember that the UV bulbs need to be replaced every 6-8 months, even if they still
light up, as the UV output diminishes over time.