bearded dragon too small for its age

[Lapipi99]

Hi,
so i have had my little beardie for a month now and i am really concerned that she is extremely small for her age of 5 months. She is around 23 cm long and waighs 39 grams. She is in a big exo terra 90x45x45 cm terrarium. Her basking spot has around 100-105 degrees, the warm side has around 85-90 degrees and her cool side has 70-80 degrees. She has an Arcadia slimline t5 d3+ luminaire uvb light. Her lights are around 30 cm from her branch. I feed her gut loaded and dusted crickets and mealworms. She eats greens almost every day and im trying to get her to eat other veggies too.

Thanks in advanced for all your replies.

 

[AHBD]

That is pretty small but she can catch up . Hi there, can you post a few pics of your baby and also of her set up ? Here's how to post pics :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

 

[Lapipi99]

Here are the pictures she might look a little wierd beacuse she started shedding today (i guess that shows that she is in fact growing), the tank is minimalistic but i a plan on adding some things. And she is also super dark today probably because of the shedding.

 

[AHBD]

That's good, her set up is fine but It could use one taller basking log or branch which you can even get from outside [ but nothing from pine tree ] and pop in a preheated oven for 60 minutes at 250 degrees to kill any possible pests.

How much live food would you say she is eating ? If you feed her crickets, dubia and Phoenix worms twice a day [ not just once ] she'll grow faster.

But she's cute + looks healthy so don't be too worried. She can still grow to a good average sized dragon.

 

[Lapipi99]

THank you i really apreciate it. For the crickets and insects in general i give her around 20 a day depends on how hungry she is. And yeah she is the cutest little thing ever she's super curious too. Il try to find phoenix worms but its possible that i won't because we don't have a lot of insect feders in my country compared to the US or UK.

 

[Lapipi99]

I have looked on the website where I get my feeders from and they have a few types of fly larvae (here are the exact species Lucilia caesar, Sarcophaga canaria ) and wax worms would any of these worms be ok instead of phoenix worms.

 

[Ellentomologist]

Hiya there -

For Lucilia caesar you are probably seeing pupae advertised instead of larvae. Now, beardies do love these from what I've seen, however they're a bit... Gross. They're flesh feeders, and you'll probably end up feeding live flies which can lead to escapees since they are quite small. Also I really do not know their nutritional value. The reason blow flies are available, as far as I know, is for feeding other invertes like mantids and also picky frogs.

For Sarcophaga carnaria, these are also flesh flies. Again, gross, probably pupae, and therefor flies and a chance at escapees. They are larger, but otherwise see above.

Wax Worms are great feeders, but they are fatty little devils! I have my own wax worm colony and sell the excess to local fishermen, and would happily give you a guide to breeding/keeping them, but they should not be used as a staple feeder. I would suggest NOT breeding them, but buying a small container to feed you beardie over a week or so to give her a TEMPORARY extra calorie boost. I use mine as treats only! Or if you think your beardie is dehydrated. These things are basically sweet sacs of fat and water + just a touch of protein, so treat them like you would a cake or, more accurately, maybe a high-sugar granola bar.

Now, when we are talking about "phoenix worms", we are talking about Hermetia illucens, or the Black Soldier Fly Larvae. The reason these are great is because they are high in protein AND have a great calcium/phosphorous ratio. You don't even have to dust them before you feed them (though you can). Also, they waste-eating flies instead of flesh eating flies - as such, most of the ones you feed to your pet will be raised on vegetable/fruit waste. Essentially, they could be eating things that you might feed to your beardie anyway, and are a healthier choice for it. They are sold as LARVAE, not pupae, and are far, far less gross then other fly larvae. You should use them before they pupate, and therefor NOT end up with live flies flying around and escaping.

I hope this helps,
-Ellen

P.S. Where do you live? You might want to try Josh's Frogs, dubiaroaches.com, or gotdubia.com for your feeders. There are other sites that are good for feeders too, but I know those three should sell black soldier fly larvae. I live in MI, so getting food for my pets right now is hard due to cold weather.

 

[AHBD]

Phoenix worms is just the brand name , they are black soldier fly larva [ bsfl ] I just threw that brand name out there for the sake of simplicity. I believe that Calcl worms are the same. Lapipi if you get the Phoenix or Calci worms, order the large ones, it would take a lot of the small or medium to fill up your dragon. And I agree that waxworms are not a good staple and some dragons may even snub the other insects if you start using those. I raised them about 20 years ago too. Ellen are you an actual entomologist ? I love taking pics of insects.

 

[Lapipi99]

Thank you very much for your help and for the question where I live i live in Europe in a country on the Balcan. So Josh's forgs isn't an option.

 

[AHBD]

Oh yes, you probably can't find Phoenix or calci worms. Sorry I missed that in your earlier post, that you are not in the U.S. My father is from Serbia, I've traveled all around the Balkans, beautiful places, Adratic sea, etc. One of the unknown gems of the world are the Plitvice waterfalls. I never made it there but the pictures show , in my opinion, some of the the most beautiful waterfalls in the world.

But just keep feeding her crickets twice a day and she will do fine.

 

[Lapipi99]

Its no problem. And yes all the countries here are beautiful . I can get dubias though so i will mostly be feeding those to her from now on.

 

[Lapipi99]

Hi,
I just wanted to post that my baby has grown to 24 cm (that is around 9 inches) and is weighing 55 grams. When i got her exactly two months ago she was only 22 cm (8 inches) and weighed 34 grams so thats some progress in my book.