I love going through old posts and seeing all the babies grow but you can't go back and measure a picture so I've been keeping track of my first dragon's growth. I've seen several people (including myself) asking if their dragon is too small/big so I thought it would help to have multiple records in one place.
Felix --- Red Tiger Male
Hatched August 12, 2011
00 Months: 08/12/11 --- 3-4" ---
04 months: 12/11/11 --- 10" ---
04 months: 12/31/11 --- 11" ---
05 months: 01/25/12 --- 12" ---
06 months: 02/12/12 --- 13" ---
07 months: 03/17/12 --- 14" --- 129 g
07 months: 03/19/12 --- --- --- 135 g
08 months: 04/03/12 --- --- --- 148 g
08 months: 04/14/12 --- 15" --- 158 g
08 months: 04/28/12 --- --- --- 188 g
09 months: 05/10/12 --- --- --- 213 g
09 months: 05/16/12 --- 16" --- 248 g
09 months: 05/22/12 --- --- --- 263 g
10 months: 06/03/12 --- 17" --- 300 g
10 months: 06/20/12 --- 18" --- 296 g <-- today
Not sure when they stop growing, my bet when I got Felix was that he'd make it to 21" though
There's no consistency for when and how often I weighed/measured him but it's time I get this off the note cards and onto the computer so I thought I'd share it with whoever is interested! It'd be great if anyone else would be willing to share their growth records, I'll collect the ones I've found through google and post them here as well.
The adults sometimes reach up to almost 2ft in length, with the average being 18 - 20 inches. Hatchlings are approximately 3 to 4 inches in length (head to tail) and usually are be 5-6 inches at the end of the first month. By the end of a dragons second month, they usually are at least 6-7 inches in length with considerable more body weight. We have found that with proper care and a little luck, dragons will reach 9 inches within 2 months, with the average being 8 inches. From 2 - 6 months, we have found the average growth rate to be approximately 1/2 inch a week, with some weeks being 1 inch or more to 1/4 inch or less.
2 years 525 grams 17 6/8 inches
3 years fluctuating adult weight 520-535 g 18 1/4 inches from nose tip to tail tip and 8.5 inches from nose tip to vent.
Unfortunately Emmalee's growth records were not consistently noted after 40 weeks/10 months as she went into brumation. She was a very early brumater and had stopped growing during this time, and had lost a significant amount of weight.
I've found that my dragons have grown a bit during their second year, then stopped. The growth depended on genetics, which I have no idea, as they were all rescues or adopted. They vary so much in length & some don't have a complete tail, so I've taken to measuring them from snout to vent:
Rubio, 4 yrs old, 10 1/2", with tail (has a nip) 22" long; 786g, rescued at 3 mo old & was 24g
Didi, 6 yrs, 7.5" long, with tail 17" long, 430g, adopted at 4 yrs old
Leo, 5 yrs (approx) 7.5" long, with tail 18" long 532g, rescue, no idea how old he really is
Lonzo, 9 yrs old 8.5" long, with tail 16" long but is missing 4" of tail, adopted at 5 yrs old
Gabriel, approx 2 yrs old (I've had him 2 mo now, rescue); 7" long, with tail 17 1/2" long; 296g
It would have been nice to have had them from babies so could keep track of their growth & I did keep records of Rubio but have lost them in a move. But it does show how different they all can be.
Maybe it's just the "scientist" in me but it's so interesting to see how differently members of the same species develop. There's defiantly a genetic factor but when it comes to our dragons it's incredible how much we can alter their growth/health both before and after hatching.
During the second and third month was unbelievable. He seemed to be shedding constantly. He was eating massive amount of protein.
He has leveled off now, and is eating more greens than protein.