MY BEARDED DRAGONS ARE REALLY UNDERSIZED!!!!!

[mazais]

i have 2 bearded dragons, and they are 7 months old, and 9 inches! go to http.//www.anitasmazbalts.weebly.com.com to see pics.

 

[mazais]

setup: 40 gallon tank, repti-glo 10.0 uvb bulb, infrared heat lamp during the day. i feed them 5 mealworms a day, and spring greens every day. dust with calcuim. why are they so small?

 

[Momomo]

you are underfeeding them.

Also: In an another thread someone already told you that you need to replace your red bulb with a clear/white light bulb. Could be a household bulb. This is crucial.

 

[w0554096]

Hello again,
I think that we sufficiently covered what changes should be made in your other thread, but just in case it was confusing, I'll repost our reccomendations here.
1. Seperating them will help both of them grow into much happier, healthier dragons.
2. Switching your Reptiglow bulb for a ReptiSUN mounted inside of the tank, within 6-8 inches of the basking spot.
3. Switching your red bulb for a bright white bulb.
4. Switching your alfalfa pellet substrate for any non particle substrate such as; newspaper, paper towel, tile, non adhesive shelf liner.
5. Discontinue the use of mealworms. Feed them as many of the crickets/dubia that you purchased as they can eat within 10-15 minutes, 2 times per day.
6. Swithching spring greens to nutritional greens such as collar greens, dandilion greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, etc. This is the nutritional website. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
7. Switching your analog thermometer for a digital thermometer with a wire probe or infrared temp gun. You can order them online, as I know that your walmart is quite a distance from you.
8. Adding a multivitamin to their dusting schedual 2 days a week.

I guarentee that if you make these changes you will see improvement in both of your dragons.

Since it's difficult for you to get to the stores, I've includes some links where you can purchase these items.
For the reptisun bulb : http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiSun%C2%AE-Fluorescent-24-Inch/dp/B0009YHSWK
You can also get them slightly cheaper from here:
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/11442-504983/reptisun-10-0-uvb-bulb.html
For the thermometer : http://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-00888A2-Outdoor-Digital-Thermometer/dp/B000PAQ32O
For the multivitamin : http://www.amazon.com/HERPTIVITE-Multivitamin-reptiles-amphibians-Bottle/dp/B00076HT3S
For the lightbulb : http://www.amazon.com/41036-100-Watt-Soft-White-4-Pack/dp/B000U7Q7PK/ref=zg_bs_322525011_9

Best of luck.

 

[drakedragon]

setup: 40 gallon tank, repti-glo 10.0 uvb bulb, infrared heat lamp during the day. i feed them 5 mealworms a day, and spring greens every day. dust with calcuim. why are they so small?

like someone else said you are underfeeding them.

5 mealworms a day is no where near enough for them, and mealworms arent the best feeder for them.

depending on her appetite my 4.5 month old bearded dragon (who is around 11", 12" if she had all her tail) can eat over 100 large calci worms, 30 small dubia roaches and 20 crickets a day.

so start feeding them more. try giving them crickets, phoenix worms (calci worms) dubia roaches, silkworms

 

[mazais]

so today i went to the guy who has 36 years of experience with reptiles, and i asked him about the average size of juvenile beardies, and he said 11 inches is a good size, mine are almost 9 inches, so they are just a bit undersized. he said that the people who have 15-16 inch beardies at this age are giving them too much food. also, i DID all those things you guys told me, i just asked about the OLD care. i'm now feeding them 8-10 mealies a day, and crix. im also feeding them 2 calcis a day, since they only come in 25 ct on the website i order on, which is annoying.

 

[allisonm]

You should stop feeding them mealworms right away. They aren't good for your dragon, due to the chitlin (hard outer shell), and because of nutritional content. How many crickets are you feeding? And are you feeding 2x a day. There are people who have been handling reptiles for a very long time that have wrong information. One thing that is important is to not underfeed. I have a rescue that wasn't fed adequately and now that he is older his health is going downhill due to underfeeding. Please for the sake and healtof your dragons. If you are feeding atleast 20 crickets 2x a day so 40 crickets a day for EACH dragon along with the calci worms. But don't ilmit them to only 2 worms. Give them as many as they will eat in 10 min or so. That way you know they are eating til they are full and they aren't still be hungry. I hope this helps. And just so you know I have a girl who's a year and a half and she is 15in.

 

[w0554096]

Hello,
Is suppose I was confused based on the information you had posted in your other thread.
Just to clarify, other than the live food order that you got in, have you been able to make any changes to their tank? (Ie, digital thermometer, Red bulb, Alfalfa meal, etc)

In your other thread you posted that you would start feeding them some days as many crickets as they can eat in 10 minutes, and some days give them 8-10 mealworms and dubia as treats.
Is this what you are doing now?

As far as the experienced breeder goes, there are alot of them around, and they all use and reccomend different practices. Some good, some not so good.
As far as his comment on overfeeding..
Unless you've got an obese young beardie (which I've actually never seen), it's exceedingly difficult to over feed if you're giving them 2 meals a day and as many as they can eat in 10-15 minutes. They will stop when they're full, and for a growing beardie, the extra protein at that stage in their life can be paramount.
It can also be extremely difficult to assume an average size at that age, as all dragons grow very differently.
Some juvenile dragons will be 11 inches at that age, even with excellent husbandry and optimal condition, and others can be 17 inches at that age. It does depend on the dragon, the genetics, and the husbandry.

Where did you order your feeders from?
If you are in the US, there's some really good feeder websites with some awesome prices. They also sometimes do deals and promotions where you can either get a variety pack of bugs, or a large amount for cheaper prices.
If you look on the For Sale section of the forum you may be able to find some deals.
Feeding two young babies can become expensive, but there are always bargains out there.

 

[allisonm]

W05440496- I totally agree with your comment. All dragons gorw at different rates. As far as feeders, if your in the US, lindasgonebuggie.com has a variety of worms and crickets. She also will make substitutions to her value packs. You can get 5 or 6 different type of worms for $20. It is a GREAT place to buy feeders. I recommend her. She also has a posting in the for sale section of this forum. If you live outside the US I'm sure you can find a good place that will sell crickets and worms so your beardies can eat til their full and eat the recommended staples- which for a juvenile of their size are: crickets, dubias, and calci-worms (phoenix worms). As a treat you can feed: silk worms, wax worms, hornworms, butterworms. When they get a little bigger you can also feed Superworms pretty regularly as well. I hope this helps and you don't need to go buy a specific white light, all you need is a regular household bulb. Personally I use a 60 watt. But you may have tp mess around with wattage to get the right temps. Also, get rid of the aspen bedding ASAP. Even if you don't have any substrate specific to beardies (reptile carpet) use paper towels temporarily or permanately. I use shelf liner, the NON adhesive. The glue can melt from the heat and give off fumes. At wal mart they have a lot of options just don't get the shelf liner with the little holes, their claws will get stuck. I hope you can change these things right away and give your dragons a better chance of being healthy and living a long life.

 

[mazais]

yes, i changed all that. but i cant feed them more calcis then a few a day because they only come in boxes with 25 calcis per box, for 4 dollars!!!!!! Also, can beardies eat fruit flies?

 

[allisonm]

Are you in the US? You can get 100 for $5 at lindasgonebuggie.com I think its 100 either way she has very good prices. I would check them out and try to find a better deal if your not in the US. I know you can get them cheaper elsewhere

 

[XiDiS]

yes, i changed all that. but i cant feed them more calcis then a few a day because they only come in boxes with 25 calcis per box, for 4 dollars!!!!!! Also, can beardies eat fruit flies?

Juvies are expensive to feed... ordering feeders online will save you alot in the long run. Its not fair to your beardie to only feed him a couple a day though. They need MUCH more than that.

 

[w0554096]

What type of fruit flies are you talking about?
Flightless fruit flies are okay to feed, but rather pointless. They're about the size of pinhead crickets, and can be fairly expensive.

 

[mazais]

ok, i was talking about flightless, but i guess if theyre pointless i wont feed them to my beardies.

 

[w0554096]

You can certainly try them if you want to, but I wouldn't reccomend it. There are some bad reviews on the starter cups, and one of your babies could probably go through 40-100 flies in one sitting.
Your much better off finding a cheap supplies for phoenix or silkworms. As a previous poster mentionned, lindasgonebuggie has some awesome deals if you're in the US.