how do you prevent stunted growth for BD

[BEARDIE144]

my BD is about 3 months old and 11.5 inches is that to small and also how do you prevent it

 

[peera]

At 3 months, that's a perfectly fine length. You prevent stunted growth by proper care- feeding plenty (until one year, this means all the live feeders they'll eat in 15 minutes 2-3x a day and always having a salad availible.), proper UVB lighting (preferablly the ReptiSun 10.0 floresent tube), proper temps (100-110 basking spot, 75-80 cool side), a big enough tank (min 40gal breeder, pref 8 sq ft floor space), plenty of baths and lots of love.

 

[spikes14]

Hi, I'm new to these forums and to bearded dragons, just so you know.

I'm a bit worried about my bearded dragons size. This is my first bearded dragon so I'm new to everything, although i have done my research and made sure everything was perfect before I brought him home. My cousin had breaded about 12 dragons, and i was lucky enough to get one for free. I made a vivarium for him which is about 28-30 inches long, 18 inches wide and about 18 inches high. I have a UVB bulb 10x, and a heat bulb that is about 6 inches away from the nearest basking spot, and reaches to 90-110 F.

I got him when he was about 3 months old and had him for a month now, he looks healthy and is friendly. He has been eating fine until recently when he stopped eating like he used to, before he would eat all of the vegetables and i had to get more but now he only eats the carrot that i give him. I feed him 5 crickets a day as i was told, just after he poops, and he eats the crickets fine with no problems. Also i use Nutrobal every 2 days on the crickets.

I looked for a reason on these forums for why he might have stopped eating the lettis (not iceburg). But then i found this thread saying about their bearded dragon is 11 inches at 4 months old. Mine is 7 inches at 4 months old. He is shedding his skin fine, and pooping ok.

Is there something i am doing wrong? or am i getting worried over nothing?

sorry for the really long post, please reply.

thanks

 

[peera]

Hi, I'm new to these forums and to bearded dragons, just so you know.

I'm a bit worried about my bearded dragons size. This is my first bearded dragon so I'm new to everything, although i have done my research and made sure everything was perfect before I brought him home. My cousin had breaded about 12 dragons, and i was lucky enough to get one for free. I made a vivarium for him which is about 28-30 inches long, 18 inches wide and about 18 inches high. I have a UVB bulb 10x, and a heat bulb that is about 6 inches away from the nearest basking spot, and reaches to 90-110 F.

I got him when he was about 3 months old and had him for a month now, he looks healthy and is friendly. He has been eating fine until recently when he stopped eating like he used to, before he would eat all of the vegetables and i had to get more but now he only eats the carrot that i give him. I feed him 5 crickets a day as i was told, just after he poops, and he eats the crickets fine with no problems. Also i use Nutrobal every 2 days on the crickets.

I looked for a reason on these forums for why he might have stopped eating the lettis (not iceburg). But then i found this thread saying about their bearded dragon is 11 inches at 4 months old. Mine is 7 inches at 4 months old. He is shedding his skin fine, and pooping ok.

Is there something i am doing wrong? or am i getting worried over nothing?

sorry for the really long post, please reply.

thanks

See my post above. You need to be feeding him WAY more live feeders. (As many as he'll eat in 15 minutes 2-3x a day, which can be more than 50. It's a good idea to bulk order online for babies.) Babies require tons of protein to grow. (Crickets should be smaller than the space between the eyes) You shouldn't give carrot every day. http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html You can try other suggestions off this site to try and tempt him. Babies can be iffy about their greens, but that's ok because up until 1 year they need to be eating 80% live food, 20% salads.

I'm not sure what you mean by UVB 10x. What's the brand? Is it a compact/coil or tube?

That said, all dragons grow at different rates, so yours may not be overly small atm, but he's not going to grow properly unless you start feeding him a lot more live food.

 

[spikes14]

Thanks for the reply.

It's only been a month so i think i posted at the right time.

The bulb i said was Reptiglow 10.0 UVB Tube light, on the box it said 10x.

i was only feeding him that many a day because that's what i was told, Ill be feeding him more right away (now in fact)

Thanks again for the reply mate.

*EDIT*

You said as much as he can eat in 15 mins, 2-3 times a day. which can be more than 50.

Is that more than 50 within the 15 mins, or for the whole 2-3 times?

also, you said to bulk buy online, have you got any recommended sites?

cheers.

 

[peera]

Thanks for the reply.

It's only been a month so i think i posted at the right time.

The bulb i said was Reptiglow 10.0 UVB Tube light, on the box it said 10x.

i was only feeding him that many a day because that's what i was told, Ill be feeding him more right away (now in fact)

Thanks again for the reply mate.

*EDIT*

You said as much as he can eat in 15 mins, 2-3 times a day. which can be more than 50.

Is that more than 50 within the 15 mins, or for the whole 2-3 times?

also, you said to bulk buy online, have you got any recommended sites?

cheers.

The ReptiGlo 10.0 tube light isn't the optimal light, but it's better than the compact... It shouldn't hurt for now (although if you still have the reciept and can return it, I'd give it serious consideration), but when you replace it, replace it with the ReptiSUN 10.0 tube ($20 on http://www.petmountain.com).
It can go either way... He's not used to eating that many, so he may be slow to eat tons, it also depends if he's going through a growth spurt (he'll eat more) or shedding (most dragons eat less). Some dragons also just eat less than others. But it's always best to assume that he's going to be eating more than get caught with no feeders because you underestimated him. So for now, assume that once he gets the idea that all these crickets really are for him, that he'll be eating 50 per feeding.
I use http://www.lllreptile.com, but it depends where you live, you might be able to get better deals from someone else.

 

[spikes14]

thanks for the help.

the reptiglow is the only one in the shop i went to, ill check out the site but im in the UK so there might be annother site that will be better for me, ill take a look though.

your a big help

 

[spikes14]

thanks peera for the help, it seems that it will be quite expencive for me to get any crickets online, apparently there is a place that sells them real cheap close to where i live. ill be checking that place out later this week

great forums, ill be sure to use this site next time i need help in the future.

 

[spikes14]

found out something new today.

my bearded dragon had his tail bitten off when he was really small. living with his brothers and sisters, so my bearded dragons tail is about 2 inches shorter than ones in the shop.

that's why he seemed a lot smaller than what you guys were saying.

he is fine! woo

just wanted to post the good news! well, not that he had his tail bitten off, but how he isnt as small as i thought

dragons rock!

 

[BEARDIE144]

yayyy :mrgreen: