Measuring Body Length without Tail?

[Mirrorakay]

I've been reading these forums on and off since I got my beardie 8 months ago. One thing that comes up over and over against is the length of the beardie from tip of the nose to the tip of the tail. This seems like pretty valuable information to have when it comes to what feeders are acceptable and how healthy your beardie's growth is. However, the one thing I've never been able to figure out is how do you get this measurement when your beardie is missing a good portion of their tail?

Zeke had a lot of his tail bitten off as baby and is left with a stubby little thing that is probably 2-3 inches long. He's about a year and half old and I still don't really know if he's a good size for his age, especially considering the poor care he recieved during his younger stages. Can anyone tell me what I'm supposed to do about this measuring dilemma?

 

[Dracosmommy]

Hi
I can't really help but I have the same problem and would like to know too. Draco is missing (I think) about 1 inch of tail that was bitten off before I got him and he is just over a year. So I understand your situation. I am so glad you asked this question. Sorry I couldn't be any help.

 

[rdoyle]

Pics would help

 

[Gail]

Pig is missing close to 2" off her tail and I generally add the missing inches when speaking of her size. For her growth records, I use her actual size.
If I had a dragon with most of the tail missing, I would only do snout to vent measurements. As far as judging if he is a proper size, try and get a picture of him next to something like a dollar bill.

 

[Mirrorakay]

Here's a picture of my boy next to a dollar bill. He's grouchy this morning so I'm actually surprised that he cooperated so well.

 

[Loganator]

You said he got him 8 months ago. Was he a baby when you got him? Because he sure looks older than 8 months to me. It looks as though he could be missing upwards of 4-6 inches of tail, just based on his body size. A shot from above so we can see the width of the tail at the base might help.

 

[Mirrorakay]

He was roughly 8 months old (the previous owner estimated he could even be two months older than that) when I got him and I've had him for 8 months, making him about a year and a half. The base of his tail is right at about 1" thick. I'll try and get a picture of it when I get home later today.

 

[Gail]

He looks to be a nice normal size. I measured my adult male, he is just under 19" but his snout to vent is only 8". What is your guys snout to vent?

 

[Mirrorakay]

Zeke doesn't like being held much without a towel, but I got a rough measurement of 8 1/2" from snout to vent. It's a little off though since was squirming and kept trying to snap at the ruler :lol:

 

[SoleSky]

That's about what my beardie looked like at 8-9 months tho, he's about 16 months now tho. He really started getting adult features around 6 months. His head is still growing as well as his girth. He is around 18" tip to tail but it looks like your guy is missing a really big portion of his tail. My beardies tail is about half of his length so he is about 9 inches from nose to vent and his tail is 9 inches. I'd say yours is missing about 4-5" of tail, so I guess add that to whatever he is now.

 

[Mirrorakay]

I'll see if I can get a good measurement of his entire body length tonight, after he starts cooling down a bit, and add 4 or so inches to that to get a rough idea where he stands.

 

[Mirrorakay]

Zeke is officially 1 foot from the tip of his snout to the end of what tail he has. That would make him somewhere between 16-19", which is about right for a 1.5 year old, right?

 

[Gail]

Yep, he is a proper sized dragon

 

[Mirrorakay]

Thank you all! This has been extremely helpful.

 

[Dracosmommy]

This is a picture with his tail missing. He measures around 8 1/2 to 9 inches from snout to end of tail. I think, and i could be wrong, but I think he could be missing up to 2 inches of tail. Such a wiggle worm! :mrgreen: He is 1 year and 1 month old.

LMK what you think?? Thanks
Oct 20 - I just remeasured him and he is 9 inches not counting the missing tail. Got him when he was sleepy. :mrgreen: Little monkey that he is!!! :roll: