Is sobek too small

[Jacobsherps]

Hello all. I was just curious but is my bd sobek too small. Ive raised him since he was 4 mo old and now hes somewhere around a year and a half old. I love him like a child so i want him to be as healthy as can be. Hes got big tank changed out uvb and eats salad and mealworms or crickets every 3 to 4 days. He weighs 212 grams but is a bit smaller than other adult beardies. He is just 16 inches and is still growing cuz last month he was still 15 inches. Also i have my other boy red who i frankly have no clue his age because we adopted him from my friend whos family faustered a child who came with red. I have no clue to how red was kept prior to being given to my friend exept that he was kept in a 40 gal with a red halogen dome and a uv light bulb. I know that he ate only mealworms at his old family and he had tried a blue berry for the first time from my friend who has kept beardies for a long time. For a dragon who ate his first greens at possibly 5 mo old (thats how old im assuming he was when we got him ) looks healthy. Hes possibly close to a year old and is close to 15 inches long and he weighs 130 grams. He has never been a fan of humans but actually has a soft spot for sobek the other dragon and they are best friends. (I dont keep them together fyi)

This is red tell me how he looks

And sobek

 

[KarrieRee]

Red is thin and needs more food - and hopefully there is no more red light in his tank - what kind of UVB are you using for them? If they are coils you need to replace them w/ a 24" fixture w/ a reflector - and a Reptisun 10.0 T 5 for a 40+ gallon tank -- here is a website for nutrition ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
Sobek looks good but Red needs more weight -- lighting in the tank is crucial -- they need good UVB's and a good bright white basking bulbs that keep temps 95-110-- NO colored lights and No yellowish off color white bulbs! Temps need to be taken w/a digital probe thermometer No stick ons they are inaccurate
Sobek and Red should not see each other especially if they are both males - they will fight --- and if one is a female unless you want babies I would keep them apart - and also disease and illness -- they can transfer from one to the other --
If you need websites for insects/ worms please ask and I will post --- a good variety of a staple feeder along w/ worms and salad is a good diet and from the way Red looks he needs it
Karrie

 

[Jacobsherps]

Ok wow i was actually not expecting that i was thinking that red was actually a little large. As far as uvb all our dragons are on reptisuns and they all just got changed last month. We have another beardie who ive posted here about before that has problems of his own mainly being he just hates his light that stays 100 every day. And yes 100 is still low for a dragon. That little guy sadley hasnt grown as much cuz he wont bask. Weve moved him all around and such. Other wise hes a healthy wheight for that size. Anyways im not posting about tango im posting about my big guys. But yea hes been off the red light and we just use the daylight white or what ever zilla calls it for there halogens. Im mainly worryed about sobek because red is a good eater but he needs a new schedule.sobek is also super good with eating but i have a friend that has a beardie a fea mo older than sobe and this dragon is literaly 26 inches long. I feel like sobek should be tooonnns bigger. Also about the feeders do you know anything about breeding supers meals crickets and roaches

 

[KarrieRee]

Check out the feeders board all kinds of info on that board- dragons grow at their own rate- if your giving him a good diet then he will grow- if red is not basking there is a issue w/ the temps or bulb or both- I am concerned about red- he needs a better diet-- sobek looks good--
Karrie

 

[Jacobsherps]

So actually red basks and he ate a nice bug salad yesterday. its my sisters dragon that has the problem. We are still working on fixing stuff up with him like changing where his tank is basking spot ect. Sometime he will bask like in the morning but ussualy he will sit and watch it from a distance. As i said the light is not to hot for a beardie its at 100 and we have even tried taking it down to 90s and he still wont use it.he is soo small and i feel bad knowing that he should be much bigger. We have litteraly tried every thing we and the forum can think of. One thing i have also noticed is he has grown agressive. Hel puff and open his mouth when i go in there to clean or feed. Anyways so you think that sobek is an ok size and wheight for a 20 mo old dragon.ive felt he should be bigger but you guys know what your talking about. And red should be no problem to fatten up a bit(not overweight though) because he eats everything

 

[KarrieRee]

Ok so what are you using for a basking light for Red ? If hes not basking there is something going on w/ that bulb--- please tell me what is Red using now for lighting
brand and bulb of UVB coil or tube where in the tank is it?
Basking bulb brand and wattage
temps how are you taking them ? NO stick ons - they are inaccurate --
Sobek is going to get however big he will grow - there earlier health like lighting and basking temps diet etc all contribute to the size they are going to get along w/ genetics -- so if every thing was good meaning he had good UVB NO coils at the 1st year of life and good diet w/ basking temps hes going to get however big his parents were -- an average dragon is 20 or 22 " I believe -- it may be 18" -- not completely sure of length - a good weight for a adult dragon is 300 grams + -- Hiccup is 20" long and weighs 450 grams my vet says hes over weight and wants him to 415 grams -- Hiccup is 2 1/2 yrs old
Karrie

 

[Jacobsherps]

red is on a zoomed reptisun long bar type light he is also on a 25 watt daylight color zilla halogen dome. his cage isnt as tall as the other dragons yet but that will change this fall because most of them (not tango) are outgrowing their 40 gals. when we got red he didn't have the same lighting that he has now. he had a red heat and a bulb and AAAAARRRRGGG a bulb uvb. we switched him off immediately to a long bulb uvb. we gave the bulb to my leopard gecko who enjoyed it for the next 8 mo it lasted.
red had a twisted childhood and he still reflects it with his aggression towards humans. he has calmed down tons since the last time i posted about him on the forum which was about a month after we got him. he still has it in some sort but now its freaking out and running when i pick him up off the floor and a lot of beard puffing. i have tried every tutorial on youtube and he wont tame like sobek is literaly a puppet who sits on my shoulder. (he still moves on his own) and same with the little guy who wont bask, he also has quite an additude

 

[Jacobsherps]

also alittle off topic but what are your thoughts on the infared heat guns and the lasers that tell the temp. ive been using that to check my temps because its quicker and ive found the little piece of metal actually absorbs heat wrong and will make it a few degrees less than it actually is because its reflecting bits of the light/heat back when we get them in there customs in fall they will be close to 4 ft long and 2 to 3 high with 2 long. they also will have the uv inside the tank ive just not had the space in there tanks to do that yet

 

[KarrieRee]

25 watt daylight color zilla halogen --- is this a colored bulb????????? If it is please get a bright white basking bulb-- you want to mimic the sun as much as possible--- No colored bulbs or off yellowish bulb and the UVB please look on the bulb and tell me brand and bulb please --- a T 5 or a T 8? there is a difference and you need proper distance for best placement and effect also how old is the UVB?
Karrie

 

[Jacobsherps]

nooo no no. we dont use colored lights they are just daylight white. we also just changed the bulbs. i will check back in a bit and aswer your question t5 t8 about the bulbs. i think its t 5 but i frankley have no clue they are reptisuns now. we used to use the zilla bulbs but you guys said that zoomed is better.

 

[Jacobsherps]

nom nom, sobek enjoying cucumbers and bell peppers

 

[KarrieRee]

Thats good hes eating veggies but air of caution too many peppers and cucumbers cause watery stools- and cucumbers have really no nutritional value- do you have the nutrition website?
Karrie

 

[Jacobsherps]

yes, i know that the cucumbers have lots of wateer wich is actually why i gave him it. we had our well chlorinated and we didnt realize how dangerous it is until it killed our tree frogs and water snake who drink alot. i dont want to buy 40 gal of water a week so ive been feeeding them more watery foods lately because i cant soak them. we also ran out of greens and berrys so typicaly a salad for my dargons will conclude of either dandelion greens sourced from the super market collards or kale mixed in with blue berrys strawberry tops or both and live meal worms. they are now getting this more often than they did so now like every 2 days vs every 3 days.

 

[KarrieRee]

Ok so you can get distilled water to rinse your greens and that will give moisture/ hydration- the T 5 can be on top of screen if the screen is wide holed like a dime if it's a fine screen like a screen door it needs to be inside the tank directly over the basking decor approx 12-15 inches-- top of screen 8-10 inches - if it's a T 8 inside tank 6-8 inches directly above the basking decor
Karrie

 

[Jacobsherps]

yes i rince the greens. i am not able to put the uv inside yet because reds tank is siply not tall enough to have it inside. i will put it inside of my other dragons tanks because they are taller. what would you attach it with, id think suction cups but im not sure and i dont want it to fall. the holes are not as small as screen but not as wide as a dime. i can probally make red a lid that can suffice that.
id put red in a taller tank but i like the front opening doors. they dont make him as scared when i go in from the side