Beardie really small!

[Ironside407]

Hello i just recently became the owner of a young bearded dragon named Tatsu. According from the person that i got him he was born late November 2014. I do not know the conditions in which he was kept but he is roughly 4-5 inches and looks like a hatchling, he also is mising part of his tail and one of his toes ;( . I currently have him in a 40 gallon breeder (all i had) with a powersun MVB that does uvb 10.0 and a night time heat lamp. his basking temps are at 108-111 degrees while hot side is 96 degrees and cool side at 83 degrees. He is eating fine (around 10-15) crickets a day and is given veggies daily though he wont touch them. My concern is that he wasnt taken care of when he was born and will be small his whole life. Is it normal for beardies to catch up and grow to the correct size or will he be smaller than average his whole life?

This is my Tatsu He is very sweet and i just want to know he will be ok
Thank you in advanced for your help and comments.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....it's a good chance that he will always be on the small side. That doesn't mean he can't be a [ relatively ] healthy + happy pet ! It sounds like you're taking great care, he's eating well and I even see a chubby little belly there. By the way, are you sure of his gender ? If not you can lift his tail in the air at a 90 degree angle while he is sitting flat and take a couple of pics of his " back end" area , above the tail and post here if you like.

 

[Ironside407]

Thank you very much for the complement and helping me alleviate my fears of his size Im new to bearded dragons but i love animals and am trying my best to learn everything i can in order to provide the best life for my pet. As for his gender i looked under his tail and thought i saw his hemipines but ill let you look for yourself.

I did my best taking the picture by myself but he did not feel like cooperating :/ it looks like he has a dip in the middle and a bump on either side (which from what i read is male) but if i'm incorrect please tell me. (like i said still learning). And thank you for being helpful and super friendly

 

[AHBD]

Your'e welcome. I do think he's a boy, it's good to take a couple of pics to get more views but it looks like you see what I see. Try again in about a month and see if it's even more evident.....but for now I'd say he's a boy.