my dragon does not seem like hes growing

[tierra88]

my dragon does not seem like hes growing because he hasn't sheeded for like 2 months hes about 6 months old and my other dragon is like 16 inches long and shes even younger then him hes like 8-9 inches long. please help.

 

[sunkist]

I may get dinged for recommending this but increase his food maybe?? I just increased the amount I offered my dragon and he's grown like 1.5 inches in 3 weeks.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

What type of UVB are you using, is it a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light? How close is the light to him? What type of basking light are you using, is it a bright white light or a colored light?
Are you supplementing with calcium? If so, how often are you doing so?
A baby needs to eat 2-3 times per day, if at all possible. What are you feeding, & how often are you feeding your baby?
What are your temps, & how do you measure the temps?


Tracie

 

[diamc]

Please answer Tracie's questions and I wanted to know if they are housed together or in view of each other?

 

[tierra88]

Spike
How old is your dragon? 6 months
How long have you had your dragon? 4 months
How long is your dragon? 8 1/2 inches
What is the sex of your dragon? Male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?3 x2x2 but building enclosure in november witch will be 4x2x2
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? reptile carpet
Do you use UVB lights? yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? floresent tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? repi glo 10.0 Desert Terrarium Lamp
How old is your UVB bulb?4 months
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? about 6 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? yes 75 watt i think
What are the basking temps?90-98
What is the cool side temp?75-85
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? digital thermometer
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? up were the sit in the sun
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? heat pad underneath the cage with rock sitting over it inside (not heat rock) I turned it off for 1 month
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. i feed the 15-25 crix a day occasionally more and 2 salads
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? morning=salad noon=crix night(6 oclock)=salad
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? i feed the crix alot of food(gutload)
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? it has them bolth combined zoo med's reptivite reptile vitamins and i put some on salad and i put crix in a bag with reptivite and shake it up
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? it poop alot
Do you bath your dragon? How often? i bath it once every week sometimes spray with bottle
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? i spray them sometimes
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? no
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? no
this should answeer most of your questions if not all of them

 

[tierra88]

Yes, my dragons can view each other.

 

[diamc]

Hi, thanks for answering the questions, that is a big help. :wink: Is this the same beardie that had the injured tail from a bite from your other beardie? If so, some of the growing problem may be stress from being able to view the beardie that injured him. I would suggest that you put something up so that they can't see each other. Did the tail heal ok?

He is indeed small for a 6 mo old. That's good that you're using reptile carpet, so an issue of impaction from a loose substrate certainly isn't a concern. There have unfortunately been some problems with the Repti-Glo 10.0 fluorescent which you can read about here. [ Invalid URL Removed / p= t=68333 f=34 ] This is at least half of what you would pay at a petstore. In the meantime, the safest way to use the Repti-Glo is to have it 10" away from your beardie and right alongside a bright white basking bulb.

Is your digital thermometer the type that you stick on the side of the tank or does it have a long wire & probe end? If it does have the probe end, you might want to try raising one part of the basking area up a little higher to see if you can get the basking temp up to about 100 or just a little higher. But, make sure the area right under the Repti-Glo is at the 10" distance.

He really isn't eating very many crickets and should be offered live food 2 to 3 times a day and all he wants to eat each time in about a 10 to 15 min timeframe. They have their largest appetite in the mornings, is he only wanting to eat 15 to 25 at noon?

Since a 6 month old should have calcium with D3 but phosphorus-free 5 days a wk, 1 feeding a day and vitamins the other 2 days a wk, 1 feeding a day, it's really impossible to give the right amount of supplements when they are mixed together. Most of us use Rep-Cal calcium and vitamins that you can read about here: http://www.petmountain.com/product/supplements/105551/rep-cal-ultrafine-calcium-with-vitamin-d3.html

Increasing the bathing to 3 to 4 times a wk might be helpful too and a lot of times that will increase their appetites. When you mist, make sure you are doing it outside of the tank as otherwise it might raise the humidity too much. Not sure what greens you're feeding, but here's a good site that shows the daily staple foods in green print: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Hopefully making these changes will make a difference. Please fill us in on the details of the thermometer as I mentioned above. We really want to help your little guy to do some growing to keep you from worrying about him.

 

[tierra88]

And yes, this is the same beardie that was ingured and loss 1 inch off his tail, but he still should be bigger than he is.

 

[diamc]

I agree that he should be bigger. :wink: I also think that if you could block the views of each other, it may help to make a difference as well as the other suggestions I made. We only want to help. How did his tail heal up?

 

[tierra88]

is very normal looking, there just some places were like the scales never grew back but they should eventually grow back.....hopefully.

 

[diamc]

That's good that it healed well and hopefully the scales will grow back. Did you have any questions about the suggestions? Could you fill us in on the thermometer you're using, does it have a probe end?

 

[tierra88]

well its digital so it sticks on the cage glass on the outside, i put it up near the basking area so it reads up there properly.

 

[diamc]

Does the thermometer have a long wire with a probe on the end? If not, then you're not getting an accurate reading. The only 2 ways to get a good reading are with either a temperature gun or the digital with a probe end. The probe has to actually be laying right on the basking surface for about 45 min until the temp stops rising in order to get a good reading. Walmart has the probe type for as little as $8.00, if you need a picture of one, let me know.

 

[tierra88]

yes, please i do not have good idea of what it looks like.

 

[diamc]

Hi, here's a picture of the AcuRite brand that I got at Walmart for $12.00. This one gives the basking & cool side temp as well as the humidity level.

With this one, you lay the probe end right on the basking surface with the thermometer part on the cool side, wait about 45 min for the temp to stop rising, the "out" reading is for the basking side & the "in" reading for the cool side. You can get a cheaper one for $8.00 but you would only get one reading at a time and would have to wait about 45 min for the final reading for each side.
These thermometers are in the area where the outdoor plastic thermometers are sold.