3 and half month old beardie still hasnt grown

[winfieldblue]

my 13 - 14 week old beardie still hasnt grown a centimeter, he eats about 5 - 10 crickets a day. temps are right 80 - 85f cool side 100 to 105f warm side (doesnt like it much higher) uv are right reptisun 10.0. my question is if he had worms would they impact his growth? because i cant think of anything else that not making him grow. thanx.

 

[VEGASLIZARD]

He is not eating enough crickets for growth. At that age they should easily down up to 50 crickets a day. also you didn't mention any greens or fruits in the diet. You may want to try adding other things to the diet if he is only interested in eating a few crickets. Phoenix worms and roaches also make great staples for young beardies.

 

[gini]

Hi. Does he want to eat more than 5-10 a day? I don't mean for that to sound like a stupid ? but that sounds like an appetizer, not a meal. Young beardies should be eating a lot more than that a day, so I just didn't know if that was all you could get it to eat... Do you offer it vegees?

 

[winfieldblue]

thats all hell eat and then jump on his basking rock. i tried offering baby bok choy and he only ate a little bit from my hand then after a couple of days my dad tried giving him some and apprently he spat it out. apprently when you turn the temps up it gets em to eat more, but my beardie hates it too hot i think everytime i set it to 105-110 i find him always on the other side of the enclosure. thats why i think its worms.

 

[diamc]

What type of thermometer are you using to check the temps? Is the Repti-Sun a strip fluorescent or coil/compact bulb? What is the distance to the UVB? Also, how often do you bathe him?

 

[winfieldblue]

thats all hell eat and then jump on his basking rock. i tried offering baby bok choy and he only ate a little bit from my hand then after a couple of days my dad tried giving him some and apprently he spat it out. apprently when you turn the temps up it gets em to eat more, but my beardie hates it too hot i think everytime i set it to 105-110 i find him always on the other side of the enclosure. thats why i think its worms so do they impact growth?

 

[winfieldblue]

i use a infared temp gun and strip fluro reptisun 10. he gets within 7 -8 inches of the fluro and he drink from a syringe and i bathe him eevery 3 to 4 days. dos anybody know if worms impact their appetite and growth?

 

[diamc]

That's good that you're using a temp gun. What is the distance you hold the gun when getting a reading? What is the distance to the UVB? Also, how often do you bathe him?

 

[VEGASLIZARD]

Well you can have a fecal done at the vet. As far as the salads, you really need to be offering salads every day. Just leave the salads in the viv and eventually he will eat them. You can look up some tricks on here to help him eat them. As far as only eating a few crickets at a time that is fine, just offer them a bunch of times. They should be eating breakfast, lunch, dinner at that age. It is not good to leave live crix in the viv but you could try killing a couple and leaving them on top of the salad. You can also try supplementing the diet with baby food. Squash, apple bluberry are great just make sure that there are not additives. The label should say squash and water. Also you can try feeding chicken baby food, it is hard to find, but I just discovered chicken apple baby food and Scorch loves it.

 

[winfieldblue]

i measure with the gun two inches away. ill the baby food thing. thanx for the reply's.

 

[VEGASLIZARD]

Your welcome. Everything I know I learned from bd.org. That's how it works here. We use what we learn and then pass it on to the next person If you spend enough time on here you will eventually become a master beardie slave!

 

[diamc]

Have you tried feeding any greens/veggies from this staple list? http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html Also, how often are you dusting with calcium & vitamins? What is the distance to the UVB? And how often do you bathe him?

 

[winfieldblue]

my local suermarket only has endive and baby bokchoy and squash which im gunna buy for him today i dust 3 to 5 times a week. the distance to the uvb is 6- 8 inches, he usually drinks from a syringe so i bathe him once or twice a week.

 

[diamc]

That would be great if you could find the endive and squash, he might really take a liking to one of those, hopefully both of them. Since he is only 3 1/2 mo old, you should really be dusting with calcium with D3 but phosphorus-free 5 days a wk but only 1 feeding a day and then vitamins the other 2 days a wk but only 1 feeding a day. So, trying that, may help his growth some. That's good that he drinks from a syringe but I wanted to mention that I've noticed over the yrs that bathing more often like 3 to 4 times a wk increases their activity level which also helps with the appetite, you might want to try that to see if it makes any difference too.

 

[winfieldblue]

the vitamins are a good idea, thanx for your help.