11 month(?) the size of 3 month old

[moose42]

Hi!

I just got a bearded dragon from a high school student that is supposedly 11 months old, but she's only 63 g and 10 inches long. I took her to a local vet just to establish care in case of emergencies. The nearest reptile vet is an hour away. The vet said that she's small, but healthy.

Do you think there is anyway we can help her grow? She's a super picky eater, only really likes superworms (which I know are probably too big for her) and some zucchini (which is a new development). She went through some serious relocation stress, where her legs kinda stopped working, but she's improving every day and can now climb on things and everything. She also has been pooping almost daily, which is more than usual according to the high schooler.

I'm going to start monitoring her weight and length from now on, but wanted some other opinions.

 

[AHBD]

Get her some Calci or Phoenix worms. They are much healthier than superworms. The leg paralysis was probably from eating superworms, esp. if they are on the large side. The baby won't starve if you wean it off the supers, so keep some medium crickets on hand and some dubias as well.

Can you post some pics of the dragon as well as the tank + lights ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them.

 

[moose42]

Here's Opal. Her setup is a 40 gal tank with repti-carpet, a zoo med 30" hood with a reptisun 10.0 UVB lamp and two basking lamps (usually not on at the same time) one is 100w and the other 150w. I have been feeding her some Nat Geo pellets just to get her to eat something other than superworms (I'll stop when I can get her to eat other things).

We don't have any local feeders besides superworms and crickets. The girl I got her from says she doesn't like crickets, but I will be ordering some dubias and nutriworms as soon as I get back from a previously scheduled vacation.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Give the pellets to the crickets/roaches....Nat Geo pellets are worthless for a lizard.

BSFL are excellent feeders , but this little one may need coaxing to eat them .
Medium silkworms will be much more interesting to her.

Two meals of live insects per day for now would be my approach ….. she still has 12 months growth in her but she'll never make up the lost growth from her first 11 months.

Is the 10.0 tube a T8 or a T5HO ? How far is it from her usual basking spot ?

 

[moose42]

Is the 10.0 tube a T8 or a T5HO ? How far is it from her usual basking spot ?

It's the ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 from petsmart. Their website doesn't list that spec. It overlaps her basking spot.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Is the 10.0 tube a T8 or a T5HO ? How far is it from her usual basking spot ?

It's the ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 from petsmart. Their website doesn't list that spec. It overlaps her basking spot.

not sufficient information …. I'm not interested going to Petsmart and trawling through their web page.

Compact UVB globe ?
or
T8 UVB tube ?
or
T5HO UVB tube ?
and distance to basking spot ….. this is not rocket science , and easy Information for you provide .

 

[moose42]

Is the 10.0 tube a T8 or a T5HO ? How far is it from her usual basking spot ?

It's the ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 from petsmart. Their website doesn't list that spec. It overlaps her basking spot.

not sufficient information …. I'm not interested going to Petsmart and trawling through their web page.

Compact UVB globe ?
or
T8 UVB tube ?
or
T5HO UVB tube ?
and distance to basking spot ….. this is not rocket science , and easy Information for you provide .

I wasn’t asking you to trawl their website. I’m saying that I did and the information wasn’t listed. I did further research and it seems like the reptisun tubes only come in T8.

As I stated, her basking spot and the UVB lamp overlap, so there is very little distance between the two, but I’m not in my house right now, so I can’t measure for you.

 

[LindseyStar]

Sometimes UVB lights can be rocket science to someone not used to them. I know it felt like that for me when I started reading.

You can take away the supers and offer another live bug. She won’t starve, she may “go on strike” for a day or two, but she will come around to the alternative. Supers have a possibility of impacting. You just have to change her bad habits from a previous owner.
I would try to mount your UV bulb under the screen for better efficiency as the UVB will be reflected off the mesh, providing her with much less UVB. Outside sunlight trips for even 20 minutes a day are helpful too!