Juvenile not growing??

[ZeeC]

Hey all! So i feel my beardie isn't growing like most bearded dragons on here are growing... I've had Charlie for two months, and she is 10.5 inches long and weighs 74g. Is this normal?

Charlie's facts, enclosure and pictures:


How old is your dragon? Was told by pet store guy she was 4-5 months old (this was two months ago), so that would make her 6-7 months old

How long have you had your dragon? Two months

How long is your dragon? 10.5 inches

What is the sex of your dragon? Female

What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 40 breeder

What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Construction paper

Do you use UVB lights? Yes

If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Fluorescent tube

What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Reptisun T8 10.0

How old is your UVB bulb? A month

How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 8-10 inches away

Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? Yes, a white indoor/outdoor PAR30L flood light 75W and an ecosmart 100w incandescent bulb for cool side

What are the basking temps? 100-108F

What is the cool side temp? 80-85F

Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? An infrared digital thermometer

Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? On basking branch for basking side and on accessories on the cool side

Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? Neither

What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. Small crickets from petco dusted with rep-cal calcium with vitamin d and phosphorus free every day and rep-cal herptivite 2-3 times a week. Mustard greens as last meal

How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? 3 times a day - 11am, 2pm, 6-8pm

Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Yes, with flukers orange cube and mustard greens

Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? Yes, rep-cal

How many days a week do you use each of them? Calcium- everyday -- vitamins-2 times a week

Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Yes

Do you bath your dragon? How often? Yes, every two-three days

Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Yes

Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? Yes

Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No

 

[ZeeC]

Update: from reading and researching a couple websites, the pet store that I got my beardie from said Charlie was about 5 months old, which was two months ago.... however, maybe Charlie might be younger than that??

 

[CooperDragon]

Based on those photos, he looks nice and healthy to me. Muscles are well developed and his body is filled out for his size. He is still small though so my guess is that you're right in that he wasn't as old as the shop said he was. He looks to be only 3-4 months old now. A juvenile anyway. I would expect him to have a few more good growth spurts in him. It's hard to say when and how much because they all grow at their own rate.

 

[ZeeC]

Based on those photos, he looks nice and healthy to me. Muscles are well developed and his body is filled out for his size. He is still small though so my guess is that you're right in that he wasn't as old as the shop said he was. He looks to be only 3-4 months old now. A juvenile anyway. I would expect him to have a few more good growth spurts in him. It's hard to say when and how much because they all grow at their own rate.

Thanks for the reply, Coop! Yeah, I've been worried that I was doing something wrong, but I'm guessing the age I was told was off. Only time can tell now lol

 

[JessW]

Do you measure or weigh him regularly? That's the best way to gauge his growth.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Was thinking perhaps a Rankins (who are a mini - version of beardies but who's heads look a bit different) , but I can tell from your photos that he's definitely a central.

He looks happy, alert and really great , nice solid base of tail and good fat pads on his head. he's a credit to you IMO.

If he's about 4 months old , he is an OK weight , comparing with my gang at a similar age

Puff (M) 105.2g
Rex (F) 128.1g
Peppa (F) 119g
Toothless (M) 91.1g

At 5 months old
Peppa 191g
Toothless 137g
Puff 145g
Rex 182g

I was lizard sitting a friend's girl (Puff and Rex's sibling) and she was 63g on the same day I weighed Puff and Rex , and she was with us for a month and left us at 83g at 5 months old.
She was like a force of nature !!! and ate like a her stomach was a bottomless pit .... I think she simply burned all the food up with running about and headnodding like crazy at everyone in sight LOL , thinking back , she would make my current little lifewire Toothless look positively sedate and laid back.

Looking over your setup and temps , looks fine to me for now .... I think you have a good quality UV source so that's probably not the issue , unless perhaps it's too far away , only suggestion I can make is maybe consider giving him a higher basking spot so he can get closer the UV source so he can get more UVA and UVB.

EDIT > just noticed you have your basking spot about 8 -10 inches from the basking spot , for a T8 10% uvb tube might be a too far see http://www.arcadia-reptile.com/example/, especially if the reflector hood is sitting on top a mesh lid (these block about 25% of the light emitted) http://www.uvguide.co.uk/fluorescenttubemeshtests.htm. , your tube is giving about 100 microwatts UVB / sq-cm at the distance you indicate ... I try with my beardies to get about 160 microwatts UVB / sq-cm , the UVA will be similarly a little low.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, what size was your dragon 2 months ago when you got her ? I agree that she may be a bit younger than what the clerk told you, and I also agree that she looks pretty healthy.

 

[ZeeC]

Do you measure or weigh him regularly? That's the best way to gauge his growth.

I just started weighing her, but the last vet visit she was 31 g now she's 74, so that's something ... but the size has been relatable the same, maybe growing a half inch since the vet visit in April

 

[ZeeC]

Was thinking perhaps a Rankins (who are a mini - version of beardies but who's heads look a bit different) , but I can tell from your photos that he's definitely a central.

He looks happy, alert and really great , nice solid base of tail and good fat pads on his head. he's a credit to you IMO.

If he's about 4 months old , he is an OK weight , comparing with my gang at a similar age

Puff (M) 105.2g
Rex (F) 128.1g
Peppa (F) 119g
Toothless (M) 91.1g

At 5 months old
Peppa 191g
Toothless 137g
Puff 145g
Rex 182g

I was lizard sitting a friend's girl (Puff and Rex's sibling) and she was 63g on the same day I weighed Puff and Rex , and she was with us for a month and left us at 83g at 5 months old.
She was like a force of nature !!! and ate like a her stomach was a bottomless pit .... I think she simply burned all the food up with running about and headnodding like crazy at everyone in sight LOL , thinking back , she would make my current little lifewire Toothless look positively sedate and laid back.

Looking over your setup and temps , looks fine to me for now .... I think you have a good quality UV source so that's probably not the issue , unless perhaps it's too far away , only suggestion I can make is maybe consider giving him a higher basking spot so he can get closer the UV source so he can get more UVA and UVB.

EDIT > just noticed you have your basking spot about 8 -10 inches from the basking spot , for a T8 10% uvb tube might be a too far see http://www.arcadia-reptile.com/example/, especially if the reflector hood is sitting on top a mesh lid (these block about 25% of the light emitted) http://www.uvguide.co.uk/fluorescenttubemeshtests.htm. , your tube is giving about 100 microwatts UVB / sq-cm at the distance you indicate ... I try with my beardies to get about 160 microwatts UVB / sq-cm , the UVA will be similarly a little low.

Thanks for the reply!
I'm trying to find a perch that reaches optimal length towards the uvb. It's been sunny in NY lately, so I've been getting her sun for about 20-30 mins so I turn off the uvb afterwards for a little. Also, the UVB is not blocked by the mesh, it's lying on top full force lol ...

 

[ZeeC]

Hi there, what size was your dragon 2 months ago when you got her ? I agree that she may be a bit younger than what the clerk told you, and I also agree that she looks pretty healthy.

Thanks! And she was about 10 inches when I first got her.