Growth Rate

[ClydesGirl]

I'm a little concerned about my new baby, Stanley. He's going on 9 weeks old (hatched July 1) and he just hasn't been growing at the rate I'd expect for such a young beardie. Last week he weighed in at 15 grams and this week he was only about 16.5 (scale fluctuated between 16 and 17). Meanwhile my 8 month old is literally putting on 15-30 grams a week!

Stanley doesn't eat as much as I'd like, mainly because he's still completely terrified of me. I have him in a 20 gallon long tank, so I'm having to feed from above. He refuses to eat at all in a separate feeding bin. Since I'm feeding from above, he seems completely terrified of my hand. I can't put my hand down in the tank with him, I have to drop the crickets in one at a time, very near him. Then, when I go to fish out any he misses, he is completely overwhelmed bu my reaching down in there. Right now he's eating 1-3 horn worms a day (those he WILL eat from my hand) and between maybe 15 and 30 tiny crickets per day? I think he *would* eat more crickets if he wasn't always getting so scared and distracted. If I reach too far in there, move to fast, make some sort of noise, accidentally bump the screen lid.... anything like that, he gets scared and won't eat anymore. I think the most crickets I've gotten him to eat in one feeding is 32, but that's rare. It's usually about 15-20.

I've only seen him eat greens one time and haven't seen any evidence that he's been eating greens without. I watch him on the web cam a lot of the time and his food dish doesn't show any signs of disturbance or missing greens most days.

He's still pooping 2-3 times a day and he DOES eat. It's not like he's anorexic. I just don't know why he's not putting on more weight.

 

[Ozzybaby]

Perhaps you should get a fecal sample done to rule out parasites that may be affecting his appetite

 

[ClydesGirl]

Perhaps you should get a fecal sample done to rule out parasites that may be affecting his appetite

I'm going to talk to my vet about that this week. She has a policy where she won't run fecals unless she's met and examined the pet beforehand, but I am really afraid Stanley won't handle the stress of a vet trip. He is so nervous and skittish all the time and something like that would be super traumatic. I'm going to ask my vet if she'll do the fecal without seeing him first if I promise to bring him in once he's a bit older and less intimidated.

In other news, he's eaten some of his greens both of the last two days (he actually ate ALL of his greens on Saturday!) and he ate 38 small crickets yesterday plus 3 tiny horn worms (just got a new shipment in and they haven't had time to grow yet). So he does seem to be eating a bit more since I originally posted. And he's shedding quite a bit right now, so despite not putting on much weight, he's definitely growing,

Hopefully I'll know more after I talk to me vet on Wednesday.

 

[Ozzybaby]

Perhaps you should get a fecal sample done to rule out parasites that may be affecting his appetite

I'm going to talk to my vet about that this week. She has a policy where she won't run fecals unless she's met and examined the pet beforehand, but I am really afraid Stanley won't handle the stress of a vet trip. He is so nervous and skittish all the time and something like that would be super traumatic. I'm going to ask my vet if she'll do the fecal without seeing him first if I promise to bring him in once he's a bit older and less intimidated.

In other news, he's eaten some of his greens both of the last two days (he actually ate ALL of his greens on Saturday!) and he ate 38 small crickets yesterday plus 3 tiny horn worms (just got a new shipment in and they haven't had time to grow yet). So he does seem to be eating a bit more since I originally posted. And he's shedding quite a bit right now, so despite not putting on much weight, he's definitely growing,

Hopefully I'll know more after I talk to me vet on Wednesday.

How much do you know about your vets experience with reptiles? Demanding a visit before doing fecals seems a money gambit to me. A good vet would know how stressful a visit would be for a young dragon, and i think ruling out parasites should be the first concern before having to stress Stanley out. A fecal would be a completely stress free method of diagnosing any problems. I hope they will concede on this for you.

Glad to hear he is eating better and shedding

 

[ClydesGirl]

How much do you know about your vets experience with reptiles? Demanding a visit before doing fecals seems a money gambit to me. A good vet would know how stressful a visit would be for a young dragon, and i think ruling out parasites should be the first concern before having to stress Stanley out. A fecal would be a completely stress free method of diagnosing any problems. I hope they will concede on this for you.

Glad to hear he is eating better and shedding

The vet is great about beardies and other reptiles. I've taken Bert to her before. I just want to avoid the stress of a vet visit while Stanley's still so young and nervous. Hopefully when I talk to her on Wednesday, she'll agree and let me just get the fecal done.