Concerned about bearded dragon not growing

[BeardedDragon01]

My sister and I bought ourselves each bearded dragons. She has been in the
hospital and I've been caring for hers. We've had them for around 4 weeks. So
mine has grown a lot and looks very healthy. Hers is very small but eats well and gets good sleep, and is hydrated properly. Although I'm concerned he started to shed on his tail then stopped and hasn't in days. I know that her bearded dragon isn't impacted. The breeder said they were both male and we use calcium powder and herptivite regularly also. The food has been good quality such as small roaches (medium for my larger one) and crickets when we run out of roaches. Her bearded dragon is still the size of a hatchling and i'm very concerned. They are seperate S though

 

[Derz13]

Hello,

What kind of light set up do you have going on? Cage size? and are they together or separated?

Bearded dragons, unlike snakes and some other lizards shed in portions, so you may be noticing him shedding the tail portion first. If it seems like he can't get it off I would suggest giving him a warm bath for 10-15 minutes. Don't try to peel the shed skin off yourself!

How much and how often are you feeding them?

 

[HKzForDayz]

What kind of temps are you getting in the basking spots? How are you taking these temps? Are the temps the same in both of their enclosures?

Also, how often are you feeding them live feeders and how many do you feed per feeding?

 

[kingofnobbys]

Are they housed together in the same tank ?

If so - what you have is the bigger one is picking on the smaller one (need not be obvious but none-the-less this is likely what is happening will explain why one is thriving and the other is not, as the smaller one will not be getting it's share of insects and veg/salad/greens or access to the prime sleeping and basking spot and will be under continuous stress.

The solution is to separate the pair either by partitioning the tank into 2 halves (ensure they can't see each other) or to install the bigger boy in another tank (wont hurt him to have a little relocation stress due to the move) and the little boy will be happier and will likely be much better on the food and grow much more strongly after separation.

 

[HKzForDayz]

Yes two males together could be disastrous.

 

[kingofnobbys]

I only ask this as it is a very common mistake to have little hatchlings housed together and the usual result is one thrives the other doesn't.

 

[BeardedDragon01]

They are separated, I soak them weekly, and lighting is UVB. Temperatures are 86-94 during the day then 75-85 at night.

 

[kingofnobbys]

They are separated, I soak them weekly, and lighting is UVB. Temperatures are 86-94 during the day then 75-85 at night.

Weekly soaks are pointless for bearded dragons, they will only be hydrated in the bath IF THEY ACTUALLY DRINK some of the water, the only way to hydrate a bearded dragon is via it's mouth (via live insects, fresh salad and vegs, and by taking water (anyway you can get it to drink some)).

Is the UVB at least a 10% UVB ?
if not it's totally inadequate. Also important that the hatchling be able to get close enough to the UVB to get extremely high levels of UVA and UVB (ie a UVI of at least 14).

If the basking temperature is only 94oF , that's a tad low, the hatchlings will be able to metabolise and digest their food better if the BASKING SPOT temperature is 40-42oC.

How long each day are the lights and heat kept on ?
If the days are too short the hatchlings will not have sufficient time each day to bask , warmup and soak up UVA and UVB.
Recommend 15-16 hours per day of lights and heat on.

How old do you reckon each of the dragons are : are they tiny hatchlings only about 2 months old ?
If this is the case : the feeding schedule should be at least two live insect feeds per day (am and pm ,and I recommend offering grated veg and chopped greens with the pm feeding). Each live insect meal as many appropriate sized dusted and gut loaded insects as they will eat in say 20 mins (offered a few insects at a time). Three feeds per day at that age are better.

 

[HKzForDayz]

How are you taking those temps? If your basking surface temp is 94, that is too low. It needs to be 105-110.

What style of UVB are you using? What brand? What strength?

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....I'm sorry that your sister is in the hospital and I hope that she recuperates soon ! It's good that you mentioned that they are separate, so now the thing to do is figure out why one is thriving + growing and the other is not. It may be a number of things, including the fact that some babies can be runts. That doesn't mean that he can't grow with proper food + care. I agree the basking temp. should be higher, about 105 is fine [ I raised many babies ] Can you post pics of both of their set ups ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/
Then hit XIMG
Someone here may spot something that could be adjusted, and hopefully the little one will begin to improve.

 

[Derz13]

As others have mentioned, raising the temps to 105-110F would be the first thing to address. This can be done by simply raising the basking spot a little higher. Also, if you could reply with the type/brand/strength of your UVB light so we can see how far he should be from it, most recommended is between 6-8in. from the bulb but that does indeed depend on the brand and strength of it.

It is a good thing that he continues to have an appetite. Is he pooping regularly?

Hope your sister is doing alright!