Bearded dragon only growing 2 inches in 2 months

[matt11768]

Hi, I am a first time bearded dragon owner and when I first got my bearded dragon from petsmart he was 6 inches long, this was in may 26th, now it is august 6th so a little more than two months and now, he is only 8 inches, is this normal? His basking spot is at 98 degrees Fahrenheit and his cool side is at 85 degrees, my uvb bulb is a 75 watt flourecent bulb, and my basking bulb is a 100 watts.

 

[nursejones813]

I am by no means an expert. I've only had mine about 2 months also, but he's gone from 4" to 10". What type of UVB do you have? Is it mounted in the tank? I do know that younger beardies like their basking spot a bit hotter. Like 105-110. Also, how much and what does he eat?

 

[KristineM]

Hi there!! Sorry for your concern Welcome, it's great that you're here! Do you have pictures you can share of your beardie and set up?

These are a few wonderful places to start with. These links include great info on lighting, temps, and nutrition.

Certainly start here:
http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/caresheet/

This will help you with proper lighting and temps:
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=148006

This site is amazing as a guide to your beardies' nutritional needs:
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=148006

Please keep us updated!! Good luck!!

 

[matt11768]

thank you for the advice, he is in a 20 gallon long vivarium because he is still less than 10 inches, I just got him an exoterra 150 watt basking bulb, the uvb bulb is not mounted but it just sits on top of his tank. I do have photos, how do I add post them in the forum?

 

[KristineM]

Personally, I use photobucket and upload my pics from my phone. I never actually figured out any other way to do it. I believe there are instructions though on the home page

The UVB should be mounted inside of the viv as the screen will block 30% of the rays (from what I have read and understand).

I know this seems like a whole lot but it would REALLY help us to help you if you could answer these questions.



1. How old is your dragon?

2. How long have you had your dragon?

3. How long is your dragon?

4. What is the sex of your dragon?

5. What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?

6. What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?

7. Do you use UVB lights?

8. If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?

9. What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?

10. How old is your UVB bulb?

11. How close can your dragon get to the UVB?

12. Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb?

13. What are the basking temps?

14. What is the cool side temp?

15. Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?

16. Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?

17. Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?

18. What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.

19. How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?

20. Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?

21. Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?

22. Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?

23. Do you bath your dragon? How often?

24. Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?

25. Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

26. Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?

Like I said, it's a lot but if there's something else going on we can get a much bigger picture having this information.

 

[matt11768]

1. I believe he is 4 months old, but being from the pet store and the employees dont know ,there isnt really anyway to know for sure

2. I have had steve for 2 months and 12 days

3. He is 8 inches long

4. Male

5. 20 gallon long

6. reptile carpet

7. Yes I do

8. I believe it is coil

9. The brand is all living things, 75 watts, I do not know the number

10. 2 months 12 days

11. 8 inches

12. I have one exoterra basking bulb, 150 watts , it is not a white or colored bulb I believe

13. 102.3 degrees Fahrenheit

14. 84 degrees

15. a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe

16. 6 inches below the bulb

17.no

18. 20 small crickets

19. once a day during the afternoon

20. yes

21.I use repticalcium, 2 days

22. Yes everyday

23.yes, twice a week

24. I mist twice a day

25.no

26.no he is by himself

also here are the pics of him and his vivarium

http://s1274.photobucket.com/user/m...rs[recent]=1&filters[publicOnly]=1&sort=1&o=0

http://s1274.photobucket.com/user/matthewbwahn/media/photo1_zpsd1f38cd0.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1

 

[KristineM]

Since I am honestly just heading to my car to head home and tend to all my kids I have to make this quick. Hopefully others will chime in pretty soon as well:

My suggestions: Coil UVBs are no good as far as I understand. I have always been told to go with the Reptisun 10.0 TUBE mounted inside of viv. Or Arcadia 12% if you can get one. You should be feeding your baby 2-3x a day as many live feeders as he will eat in 10-15 minutes and clearing out anything left after that time frame. Also, should be dusting with calcium 5x a week 1 live feeding a day AND a multivitamin dusting 2x a week one live feeding on those days (alternating between the 7 days in a week).

Basking temp needs to be taken ON the basking spot for mist accurate reading. Probe should sit there for about an hour as temp can continue to rise. Misting is not necessary and doesn't accomplish much as bearded dragons absorb water through their vent (butt) which is why bathing is very important. You can also offer water orally via baby dropper or syringe.

Those are the most important suggestions I have at the moment (rushing around) but others will chime in soon and if not, I'll be back to read your list over again!

Good luck and keep us updated!! The set up looks nice!!

 

[nursejones813]

Also, along with your live feeders that you feed, (at least twice a day) you need to provide fresh greens (mustard, collared, ect) at least once a day. Mine prefers mustard greens and butternut squash.

 

[KristineM]

In my rush I messed up with the links! Sorry. This site will give you a great guide as to the veggies that should be offered daily:

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

 

[Sauzo]

Ditch the UVB coil and get a Zoo Med ReptiSun uvb tube to start. Get a cheap fixture from Home Depot, Lowes or Walmart and mount it inside the tank with 3M Command hooks about 6-8 inches from his basking spot. Your basking temp is fine.

As for feeding, he should be eating way more than 20 crickets a day. As an example. Harley who I got when she was 6 inches long about the same time you got yours has grown to almost 12 inches in that 2 month period. She eats around 30-40 1/2 inch to 5/8 inch dubias a day as well as about 5-6 pieces of greens. I generally feed her twice a day, breakfast is the greens and around 10-15 dubias and then dinner is another 15-25 dubias. The rule of thumb for babies is feed as much as they want in a 10-15 min period.

If you are using a UVB tube you should be dusting 1 feeding per day with calcium with D3 5 times a week. Then the other 2 days, you should be dusting 1 feeding with a multivitamin. I personally use Rep-Cal calcium and Herptivite multivitamin. Just do like 2 days with calcium, then 1 day with multivitamin, then 4 days with calcium and then 1 day with multivitamin. If you end up using a MVB, use calcium with NO D3 although some do say to still dust like 2 times a week with calcium with D3.

I wouldn't mist him. Dragon skin is pretty dense as to not allow much water to escape so it also won't allow water in. Either buy an eyedropper and drip water on their nose to get em to drink(which is what I did for Harley when she was really young) or if they eat some greens, they will get water there. Also bath every other day or so in shoulder deep water or at minimum vent(anus) deep water since that is where they absorb water from if they don't drink it. Another trick you can do is feed them phoenix worms soaked in a bowl of water for a couple mins. Don't dry the worms off either. I used to do that for Harley as well since she absolutely hated baths as a baby. Key is to keep babies hydrated since at that size they get dehydrated fast.

Anyways that's about it. I think the biggest reason for stunted growth on your guy is the lack of food. Cricketwise a baby will go through around 60-70 crickets a day which is part of the reason I switched to dubia roaches since 1 roach is about the meat of 3 crickets. Also there are tons fo other reason but you can search the forums for reasons why dubia roaches are better than crickets. Good luck and get to powerfeeding that little guy.

 

[matt11768]

Thank all of you for the fantastic advice I will make sure to get the new stuff and look into dubias