How large should he be?

[casioravine21]

Hey guys. I've had freddie since April, and I'm worried about his size.

Here's a few awful pics of Freddie the day I got him:

Here's 2 more awful pics of him now:

He's gone from about what I'd say 5-6 inches to 9 1/2 inches. Is this good, bad, what? Do I need to change his diet for him to grow more? I mean, I'm just worried to death.

 

[PeppersGirl]

He looks good
Beardies grow at different speeds, don't worry too much if he's not a giant just yet!

 

[Gail]

He was pretty thin when you got him, look like he has put on weight well. What and how much are you feeding him?

 

[Mistyck]

What lights are you using, and how close are they to him? How often and how much are you feeding?

 

[casioravine21]

He was pretty thin when you got him, look like he has put on weight well. What and how much are you feeding him?

I feed him Fluker's Freeze Dry Crickets. I leave a bowl full, and he devours all of them pretty quick. His lights are a 100W reptile basking light and a tube Reptisun 10.0.

 

[Mistyck]

I feed him Fluker's Freeze Dry Crickets. I leave a bowl full, and he devours all of them pretty quick. His lights are a 100W reptile basking light and a tube Reptisun 10.0.

He needs LIVE protein, not freeze dried. That's part of the reason he's not growing. He's not getting any nutrients from the freeze dried crud. Are you feeding any veggies at all?

How close can he get to the Reptisun 10.0? What are you using to measure his temps? What do you have for flooring in the tank?

 

[casioravine21]

I feed him Fluker's Freeze Dry Crickets. I leave a bowl full, and he devours all of them pretty quick. His lights are a 100W reptile basking light and a tube Reptisun 10.0.

He needs LIVE protein, not freeze dried. That's part of the reason he's not growing. He's not getting any nutrients from the freeze dried crud. Are you feeding any veggies at all?

How close can he get to the Reptisun 10.0? What are you using to measure his temps? What do you have for flooring in the tank?

He can get pretty close to the Reptisun 10.0. He has a little rise (bundled up underwear, lol((no stains))) And he gets about 12"-10" away. And thank you so much for letting me know the freeze dried is crap, I'll probably start buying live ones today or tomorrow. I am going to be giving him butternut squash, and I'll buy some dark leafy greens next, probably collards.

 

[casioravine21]

I'm feeling bad now that I know dryed is bad.

 

[casioravine21]

I'm feeling bad now that I know dryed is bad.

Crap, I forgot to add I feed him Phoenix worms sometimes too.

 

[Mistyck]

How often do you feed him the phoenix worms? He needs a lot of them to even get nutrients out of them... He needs to be fed live feeders 2-3 times a day, as many as he will eat in a 10 minute time period each time. Live feeders you can feed are:

crickets
phoenix worms
calci-worms/repti-worms
dubia roaches
hornworms

When he gets older, the menu can change to include superworms as well.

He needs to be about 6-9" away from the UVB...maybe a little more. What are you using to measure temps with?

You really need to go out and get him live feeders and fresh veggies asap. He needs to be eating the greens along with the squash, not just the squash one day, and greens the next...

You also need to be dusting his live food with calcium powder once a day 5x a week, and multivitamin powder once a day 2x a week.

 

[casioravine21]

How often do you feed him the phoenix worms? He needs a lot of them to even get nutrients out of them... He needs to be fed live feeders 2-3 times a day, as many as he will eat in a 10 minute time period each time. Live feeders you can feed are:

crickets
phoenix worms
calci-worms/repti-worms
dubia roaches
hornworms

When he gets older, the menu can change to include superworms as well.

He needs to be about 6-9" away from the UVB...maybe a little more. What are you using to measure temps with?

You really need to go out and get him live feeders and fresh veggies asap. He needs to be eating the greens along with the squash, not just the squash one day, and greens the next...

You also need to be dusting his live food with calcium powder once a day 5x a week, and multivitamin powder once a day 2x a week.

Will do all of this. Thanks! I just feel bad about not knowing this before. I'm just glad he's showing no signs of being upset.

 

[Mistyck]

Will do all of this. Thanks! I just feel bad about not knowing this before. I'm just glad he's showing no signs of being upset.

What are you using to measure your temps with?

That's good you're going to get stuff done...Better for the dragon.

 

[casioravine21]

Will do all of this. Thanks! I just feel bad about not knowing this before. I'm just glad he's showing no signs of being upset.

What are you using to measure your temps with?

That's good you're going to get stuff done...Better for the dragon.

Just a note here, the reason I don't have this stuff already is I'm 12. Hopefully that's not against the rules, but I practically live on here. Anyways, I use a digital thermometer from Zoo-Med with the probe, his hot side is about 105-110 and his cool side is about 75-80.

 

[Mistyck]

Just a note here, the reason I don't have this stuff already is I'm 12. Hopefully that's not against the rules, but I practically live on here. Anyways, I use a digital thermometer from Zoo-Med with the probe, his hot side is about 105-110 and his cool side is about 75-80.

The temps seem to be fine, so you're good there.

As for you being 12...That's up to your parents to get you what you absolutely need for your dragon. In my opinion, they should have done research on beardies as well, before getting one. Glad you're on here doing research and getting answers for your dragon though. That's a great start for someone so young. Hopefully they understand that as a living animal, it needs the best and best is live, not freeze dried.

 

[casioravine21]

Just a note here, the reason I don't have this stuff already is I'm 12. Hopefully that's not against the rules, but I practically live on here. Anyways, I use a digital thermometer from Zoo-Med with the probe, his hot side is about 105-110 and his cool side is about 75-80.

The temps seem to be fine, so you're good there.

As for you being 12...That's up to your parents to get you what you absolutely need for your dragon. In my opinion, they should have done research on beardies as well, before getting one. Glad you're on here doing research and getting answers for your dragon though. That's a great start for someone so young. Hopefully they understand that as a living animal, it needs the best and best is live, not freeze dried.

I'll go ahead and say, if I can get a decent job in a few years, I'll end up having multiple little beardies. I love them to death, and I'll do what it takes to keep it alive. I just find that my mom tends to have favoritism to the dog, as she spends all the money on him and almost none on Freddie. Oh well, at least he's getting the stuff he needs now.