beardie isnt growing

[jkeeney1]

We got our beardie about three months ago and he doesn't seem to be growing. He is about six inches long and I think he is about four months old. We have him in a thirty gallon tank with uv lighting at about ninety degrees and he eats about five large crickets daily. Why is he not getting any bigger?

 

[coastergirl946]

His basking spot needs to be at 110 degrees and the cool side of the tank needs to be around 85.

He also should not be eating large crickets at that age.. switch to the smallest ones you can get. The food you are offering should be no larger than the space between his eyes.. he can choke, or he can get impacted. He should be eating 60-100 small crickets a day.

Are you offering a calcium or vitamin supplement? His food needs to be dusted with calcium 5x a week and a vitamin 2x a week.

Also, if you're using a coil bulb, ditch it immediately and get a tube.. coil bulbs are known to cause a lot of health problems.

 

[jkeeney1]

His basking spot needs to be at 110 degrees and the cool side of the tank needs to be around 85.

He also should not be eating large crickets at that age.. switch to the smallest ones you can get. The food you are offering should be no larger than the space between his eyes.. he can choke, or he can get impacted. He should be eating 60-100 small crickets a day.

Are you offering a calcium or vitamin supplement? His food needs to be dusted with calcium 5x a week and a vitamin 2x a week.

Also, if you're using a coil bulb, ditch it immediately and get a tube.. coil bulbs are known to cause a lot of health problems.

I am also using vita spray every day. That's alot of small crickets a day. How costly is that?

 

[Beardednoob]

it adds up that is for sure. My little guy, Thor is eating around 50-70 a day. If we average it out it would be about .09 cents a cricket. Multiply that by how many they eat, we will use the median of how many Thor eats, so 60. This comes to $5.40 a day, multiply by 7 for a week. $37.80 a week. :wink:

 

[jkeeney1]

it adds up that is for sure. My little guy, Thor is eating around 50-70 a day. If we average it out it would be about .09 cents a cricket. Multiply that by how many they eat, we will use the median of how many Thor eats, so 60. This comes to $5.40 a day, multiply by 7 for a week. $37.80 a week. :wink:

Are there any alternatives for food other then crickets other than $40 a week? He refuses meal worms as well as any sort of fruit or vegetables. does everybody spend that much for their diet? please let me know. Thanks.

 

[AmandaKay]

it adds up that is for sure. My little guy, Thor is eating around 50-70 a day. If we average it out it would be about .09 cents a cricket. Multiply that by how many they eat, we will use the median of how many Thor eats, so 60. This comes to $5.40 a day, multiply by 7 for a week. $37.80 a week. :wink:

Are there any alternatives for food other then crickets other than $40 a week? He refuses meal worms as well as any sort of fruit or vegetables. does everybody spend that much for their diet? please let me know. Thanks.

My beardies don't eat that much. Not at all. We give them each 3 crickets a day. 3 meal works and as much lettuce as they want. We calcium dust the crickets.

 

[Beardednoob]

it adds up that is for sure. My little guy, Thor is eating around 50-70 a day. If we average it out it would be about .09 cents a cricket. Multiply that by how many they eat, we will use the median of how many Thor eats, so 60. This comes to $5.40 a day, multiply by 7 for a week. $37.80 a week. :wink:

Are there any alternatives for food other then crickets other than $40 a week? He refuses meal worms as well as any sort of fruit or vegetables. does everybody spend that much for their diet? please let me know. Thanks.

My beardies don't eat that much. Not at all. We give them each 3 crickets a day. 3 meal works and as much lettuce as they want. We calcium dust the crickets.

It is best not to ever feed mealworms to bearded dragons. Leave them for the geckos. Mealworms head or not are low in nutrients and what is there is partially blocked by the chitin shell of the mealworm. Bearded dragons should not be introduced to any species of mealworm until the dragon is at very least 16 inches in overall length. Bearded dragons are born with a natural kink in their digestive tracts. This kink does not straighten out until the dragon has reached at least 16 inches. During the period of time the dragons kink is there it is very difficult for the dragon to digest and pass mealworm species feeders. When your dragon has grown and the kink has straightened you can introduce superworms, slowly, little by little.

Lettuce is very low in any nutrients, high in moisture making it a not so great option either. If your dragon is eating lettuce there is chances for diarrhea and dehydration as a result. Not only that but, it may fill up on lettuce and not leave any room for more nutritional food items such as kale, collard greens, mustard greens etc..

For more information on food items/feeders and a complete dusting schedule please refer to http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
:mrgreen:

 

[AmandaKay]

it adds up that is for sure. My little guy, Thor is eating around 50-70 a day. If we average it out it would be about .09 cents a cricket. Multiply that by how many they eat, we will use the median of how many Thor eats, so 60. This comes to $5.40 a day, multiply by 7 for a week. $37.80 a week. :wink:

Are there any alternatives for food other then crickets other than $40 a week? He refuses meal worms as well as any sort of fruit or vegetables. does everybody spend that much for their diet? please let me know. Thanks.

My beardies don't eat that much. Not at all. We give them each 3 crickets a day. 3 meal works and as much lettuce as they want. We calcium dust the crickets.

It is best not to ever feed mealworms to bearded dragons. Leave them for the geckos. Mealworms head or not are low in nutrients and what is there is partially blocked by the chitin shell of the mealworm. Bearded dragons should not be introduced to any species of mealworm until the dragon is at very least 16 inches in overall length. Bearded dragons are born with a natural kink in their digestive tracts. This kink does not straighten out until the dragon has reached at least 16 inches. During the period of time the dragons kink is there it is very difficult for the dragon to digest and pass mealworm species feeders. When your dragon has grown and the kink has straightened you can introduce superworms, slowly, little by little.

Lettuce is very low in any nutrients, high in moisture making it a not so great option either. If your dragon is eating lettuce there is chances for diarrhea and dehydration as a result. Not only that but, it may fill up on lettuce and not leave any room for more nutritional food items such as kale, collard greens, mustard greens etc..

For more information on food items/feeders and a complete dusting schedule please refer to http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
:mrgreen:

Oh! We give them mustard greens, not lettuce, and once again the petstore lady told me to feed them mealworms. She needs to do her research beforetelling her customers all this stuff that isn't true.

 

[Gail]

You can buy cricket in bulk online, 1000 can be picked up pretty cheap. Most people do spend that much or more feeding babies, depends on what they are feeding as some feeders are more expensive. You can also feed dubia, you can buy quantities of 1000 and they should last 2 weeks or so. crickets or dubia should be 1/2" or smaller for a dragon your size.
Alternately, you can buy as many adult/half grown dubia as you can afford and start your own breeding colony. That way your food is virtually free after a few months.

Most petstore employees have no idea about proper care for the different reptiles they sell, its best to ignore any info you get from them and seek advice from experienced owners.