Dragon doesn't grow, no matter what!

[ThaJasper]

Hello. Im the proud owner of Jasper, my first bearded dragon. I bought him 10.12.11 at petsmart. He grew fast! But stopped. FASTER! He hasnt shedded more than once this year! And these past two weeks, hes being picky.. He will eat only a few crickets and wont touch his greens.. He only chooses meal worms. And Jasper is only 6 inches big! He has a hammock and sits right under his lights all day. And has UVB i just changed around 3 months ago. Hes bulb is 100 watts and hes in a 35 gallon tank. He use to eat crickets to fill himself up. But if it pokes him in the eye, hes done. And he use to love calcium powder, but now he doesnt want it.. It worries me a lot. Another problem is that im only 15 years old, so I can't afford everything all the time. I spent 50 dollars this week on lights and food and im broke! My parents refuse to pay too. Hes all under my care and I only want the best! I was told to buy some roaches, but they were..... So.. Expensive. If anyone could give some tips or correct me? He has like cocnut scratch as flooring and takes a bath every week and pooped yesterday.. Please help me get him bigger! Thank you!

 

[mgodfriaux]

Try getting some Chicken baby Food and garden vegetable baby food and put her vitamins and calcium in it and try to spoon feed her Now don't try to force her cuz I know my slim he will eat if you don't force him but if you try to force him he won't eat

 

[Bwalter]

Sounds like what I went through with my girl, at 6 months old she was only 6 1/2 inches long, now at 18 months she is 17". Have you gotten a fecal done on your baby yet? It could have worms or something else, and they won't grow as fast, as soon as I got my girl in to the vet and got her cleared of pinworms she had a growth spurt big time.

 

[ThaJasper]

Sounds like what I went through with my girl, at 6 months old she was only 6 1/2 inches long, now at 18 months she is 17". Have you gotten a fecal done on your baby yet? It could have worms or something else, and they won't grow as fast, as soon as I got my girl in to the vet and got her cleared of pinworms she had a growth spurt big time.

Wow.. No I havent.. How do I do that? Should I take him to the vet? That just worries me with the cost.

 

[Kristen623]

Oh my. He's 6 months old & 6 1/2 inches long? My boy is 7 months old & about 16 inches long already! Yikes! I've been feeding him Phoenix worms & Silkworms. He loves them!

 

[Bwalter]

find a vet that deals with beardies, and get a visit with them. All vets at different places charge different prices, for me in AZ I paid $78 for the whole visit including the wormer. It is well worth it to have them checked.

 

[Kalyn876]

I have fecals dones on my boys anually just in case, they can get parasites from their feeders so its always a good idea to check. A tip for the fecal, not all vets will need to see the dragon to do the fecal. If anything is found in the fecal then you would have to bring him in for dosing. Also try to get as fresh of a sample as possible and keep it in a ziploc in the fridge until you leave Best wishes!