is my dragon too small?

[ZED1]

hey everyone, first post here. I got a juvenile bearded dragon from a breeder a few days back. the breeder said he/she was born the last week of august so that makes him close to 4 months old. i measured him the other day and hes just a hair under 6" long nose to tip of tail. he was housed in a 10 gallon with close to 10 other juvenile bearded dragons, does this affect growth? they always had plenty of food so i don't think hes been food deprived. the juvenile food had vitamins, protein, calcium etc. the little guys doing well with me i have him in a 36x18x18 tank so he has plenty of room for now, uva/uvb and proper heat. hes eating regularly and a healthy amount along with vitamins and calcium periodically. do you think 6" is small for 4 months? ive read online that people with bearded dragons 4 months are close to 10" in length sometimes more. let me know what you think, thanks

 

[tweet0302]

Some beardies grow diff mine is about 4-5 months and is 10" long but every beardie is diff has it shedded yet

 

[ZED1]

he shed about a week ago

 

[tweet0302]

Ok cool. Do you feed it 2-3x a day

 

[ZED1]

yeah generally 3 times a day. with veggies in his enclosure daily. i might be going crazy but it looks like hes growing some and ive only had him a week. ultimately im just wondering if 5 inches is small for 4 months

 

[tweet0302]

It all depends cuz if you got him petsmart,petco they sometime don't feed their dragons like they suppose to butt l but if you got from breeder they normally feed correctly... but like i said before every dragon is different maybe he might be growing slow do you have all the proper lighting like reptisun 10.0 tube light and is your basking temp about 102-105 with 110 being the hottest and can your baby get 6-8 inc of uvb and is your uvb mounted in tank

 

[ZED1]

yeah i believe he has a correct set up, ive only had him for 4 or 5 days so only time will tell, thanks for your help

 

[tweet0302]

Can you check to see what type of uvb it is cuz that makes a big difference in his health

 

[ziggydoodles]

yeah i believe he has a correct set up, ive only had him for 4 or 5 days so only time will tell, thanks for your help

Can you describe your setup to us? What type of UVB are you using, how close can your beardie get to it? What are your basking & cool temps and what are you using to measure them? What kind of substrate are you using? All of these things affect your baby beardie's health and growth rate.

 

[ZED1]

well i was just concernd on the size when i got him a few days ago

 

[tweet0302]

You still need to tell us your setup to make sure it's correct just like the above post all that info will let us know so post you're setup so we can help you and try to be specific as possible.... thank you

 

[ZED1]

oh i gotcha thanks

-36L x 18W x 16.5H (building a 4x2x2 after holidays)
-paper towel substrate
-basking spot is 95-105 (using digital thermometer with probe)
-150 watt ceramic heat bulb
-repti glo 10 compact - a little under 10" from basking spot (local pet store has a 30" repti sun hood and 10.0 bulb on order for me)
-two hides one on each end of the tank
-water dish with a little water
- he always has veggies avalable but never eats them
-shredded carrot
- cut up seedless red grape
-dandelion greens
- sometimes kale
- eats 20-30 smal crickets a day
- i put flukers calcium w/ D3 on some food every other day

i also have a basking uva lamp should i use that or stick with the ceramic bulb and uvb?

i dont have an under tank heat pad should i get one?

 

[daner923]

Hi there! You are already getting the Reptisun 10.0 tube, so that's a great start to fixing your set up! Just a couple other things:

1) The basking spot should be bumped to 105-115F ( closer to 110 though) for his age. Babies/Juveniles need slightly higher temps. Can you also tell us what the hot and cool side temperatures are?
2) The carrot isn't really that great for them as it has a lot of vitamin A. Try to use it a bit more sparingly.
3) At his age, you should be dusting with calcium once a day, 5 days a week. The other two days you need to dust with a multivitamin (like Herptivite) at one feeding each day. This will also help him grow, especially once you get the right UVB bulb.
4) Your UVB bulb, once you get the Reptisun, should be 6 to 8 inches from the basking spot. It should also not be on top of a screen, but inside the tank.
5) You definitely should use the basking lamp, as just using a CHE does not provide nearly enough light. Beardies are desert animals, and as such really require a very bright light source. You should use the basking lamp during the day, and if night time temps drop below 65, you can use the CHE.
6) Don't get an under tank heat pad - beardies don't feel heat very well from below, and can get seriously burned by a UTH.

 

[ZED1]

awesome thanks for the pointers. but whenever the basking spot gets above 100 he goes to the cool side (75-80).i wont give him carrot anymore and will pick up the multi vitamin today

 

[daner923]

What are you taking temperatures with? If they are dials thermometers, they can be off by up to 20 degrees! Thus, even if it says 100, your basking spot maybe be waay to high.