My Male Bearded Dragon is 16 inches at 11 months old...will he keep growing?

[Asher3105]

My male bearded dragon turns 1 year old on the 27th of this July. Only 23 days away, And I have recently began to be a little worried about his size. He is barely 16 inches long, and compared to the few pictures I've seen of Sub adult bearded dragons, he still looks really juvenile. his head is tiny as well, as his entire body, from his head to the beginning of his tail is only about the length of my finger tips to wrist. his shedding slowed way down at around 10 months old, as he was shedding literally non stop for around the first 3 months i had him. Once he stopped shedding so much, he brumated for about a month shortly after. anyways I thought that Bearded dragons grew steadily until 18 months, but since I've started looking into it again, it sounds like at 12 months is when the stop growing? overall I'm just pretty confused, if anyone has any thoughts or anything.

thanks for your time!

 

[RangoRocky]

What the temps in the enclosure and what do you feed him? I purchased mines in October and he was 9in and now he’s 20in. Although he didn’t move from 19.5in for like 2mo. My baby was 4in when I got her in March and she is now 10in.

 

[KarrieRee]

My male bearded dragon turns 1 year old on the 27th of this July. Only 23 days away, And I have recently began to be a little worried about his size. He is barely 16 inches long, and compared to the few pictures I've seen of Sub adult bearded dragons, he still looks really juvenile. his head is tiny as well, as his entire body, from his head to the beginning of his tail is only about the length of my finger tips to wrist. his shedding slowed way down at around 10 months old, as he was shedding literally non stop for around the first 3 months i had him. Once he stopped shedding so much, he brumated for about a month shortly after. anyways I thought that Bearded dragons grew steadily until 18 months, but since I've started looking into it again, it sounds like at 12 months is when the stop growing? overall I'm just pretty confused, if anyone has any thoughts or anything.

thanks for your time!

Genetics - surface basking temps and uvb and diet all play a roll in growth- dragons should not brumate under a year old unless they are over 300 grams and closer to a year- brumation under a year old is a husbandry issue

 

[xp29]

How much protein are you feeding? Are you giving calcium and vitamins?
What uvb buld,its age, and his distance from it?
What basking bulb and the surface temp in his basking? All of this will effect his overall health and his growth rate.
For uvb you need a long tube type , no coil bulbs. Depending on enclosure you may need to place it inside.
Basking need to be a clear buld, absolutely no coloered light ever
His temp at surface needs to be measured with a digital probe, nothing else is accurate enough.
Protein give him as much as he will eat at least twice a day. Dust with calcium daily. If your uvb is good dont use d3 daily. If your uvb is not up to par use d3 until you get the uvb resolved. Vitamins 2 times per week.
Offer salad daily. Leafy greens collard,turnip,mustard for example.
Also keep him hydrated. If he won't drink on his on use an eye dropper or syringe to drop water on his nose. Be careful not to aspirate him if you use that method. If he still won't drink add just a little mone citrus fruit punch for flavor.
I hope this helps.
Also if you can post pics of your setup, it will help us to help you sort out any problems

 

[Asher3105]

What the temps in the enclosure and what do you feed him? I purchased mines in October and he was 9in and now he’s 20in. Although he didn’t move from 19.5in for like 2mo. My baby was 4in when I got her in March and she is now 10in.

hello! his temps are around 75 on the cool side and on the warm side has basking temps of around 90-95 degrees, but he mostly basks at like 85 degrees, i tried to give him a lot of gradient. for food I have been feeding a mix of dubias, crickets and giant mealworms for the entirety that I have had him. he hasn't had dubias in a while though, because of his brumation, and there was a shipping error at the same time. I will be ordering them again soon. as, in the time I've had him he has never really had any abnormal bowel movements, and also really loves his greens, vegetables and fruits.

I got him at 6 months old, and I would said he was about 10 inches? its really hard to say, but he was very small, and I know that he definitely has been growing over the time I've had him, since it really hasn't been a concern until I started to wonder about it.

thanks for your reply!

 

[Asher3105]

Genetics - surface basking temps and uvb and diet all play a roll in growth- dragons should not brumate under a year old unless they are over 300 grams and closer to a year- brumation under a year old is a husbandry issue

yeah, I had already asked this forum about his brumation, since I was actually really worried about it, and the people who replied said it was likely just a strange timing, or something. but he seems fine, he woke up on the 16 of June, and has really had a surge in energy since, glass surfing like the world is going to end, but nothing seems wrong, and from what I understand that it normal after brumation. he calms when I take him out and I have been letting run around, and explore, and today I switched up his enclosure and that has seemed to help as well. overall, the brumation seems to have gone fine. I did also periodically weigh him as well through out the brumation, and found he maintained his weight well (the scale I have maxes at 200 grams, so don't know the exact weight he was, but he definitely didn't loose any) so I just figured he was okay.

thanks for your reply!

 

[Asher3105]

How much protein are you feeding? Are you giving calcium and vitamins?
What uvb buld,its age, and his distance from it?
What basking bulb and the surface temp in his basking? All of this will effect his overall health and his growth rate.
For uvb you need a long tube type , no coil bulbs. Depending on enclosure you may need to place it inside.
Basking need to be a clear buld, absolutely no coloered light ever
His temp at surface needs to be measured with a digital probe, nothing else is accurate enough.
Protein give him as much as he will eat at least twice a day. Dust with calcium daily. If your uvb is good dont use d3 daily. If your uvb is not up to par use d3 until you get the uvb resolved. Vitamins 2 times per week.
Offer salad daily. Leafy greens collard,turnip,mustard for example.
Also keep him hydrated. If he won't drink on his on use an eye dropper or syringe to drop water on his nose. Be careful not to aspirate him if you use that method. If he still won't drink add just a little mone citrus fruit punch for flavor.
I hope this helps.
Also if you can post pics of your setup, it will help us to help you sort out any problems

Hello!

I feed him Dubias, crickets, and giant mealworms, as well as any beetles, or pupa that the mealworms form on occasion. (though most of them go into the enclosure for my bioactive set up) he gets calcium every three days, on one of the two feeding sittings.

i got a new UVB bulb, reptisun 10.0 t8 tube light, about a month ago, and the previous one was about 5 months old. his UVB does sit in the enclosure, and i am pretty sure it is at the closet maybe 9inches away from him, but he would have to be in a really particular spot on his stick for that to be the case. its hard to explain, but ill attach photos.

his temps are about 75 on the cool side, and has a really large basking range from like 85 to 105, since his log can let him get a lot of different temperatures. everything is probe, like you said, since I agree nothing else has really been accurate.

he does get salads, though, I have had to closely monitor him since he will eat the entire thing in a short amount of time and it has thrown off the presents of protein and plant matter they need. i also had plants in the enclosure he effectively destroyed, eating them.

he does drink well, in his baths, whatever i drip on his nose, I also soak his salads really well, especially if he has had calcium.

thanks for your reply and I will attach pictures below

this is an over veiw of the whole enclosure, its bioactive a 40 gallon

this is him from around 2ish weeks ago,

and this is him in my palm about 3 minutes ago

 

[KarrieRee]

yeah, I had already asked this forum about his brumation, since I was actually really worried about it, and the people who replied said it was likely just a strange timing, or something. but he seems fine, he woke up on the 16 of June, and has really had a surge in energy since, glass surfing like the world is going to end, but nothing seems wrong, and from what I understand that it normal after brumation. he calms when I take him out and I have been letting run around, and explore, and today I switched up his enclosure and that has seemed to help as well. overall, the brumation seems to have gone fine. I did also periodically weigh him as well through out the brumation, and found he maintained his weight well (the scale I have maxes at 200 grams, so don't know the exact weight he was, but he definitely didn't loose any) so I just figured he was okay.

thanks for your reply!

your uvb needs to be changed out in approx 6 months I recommend 5 - please make sure your basking decor is 6-8 inches underneath - I would look at upgrading his uvb to a T 5 for the size of your tank- you will need to get a different fixture a 24" would be good

 

[xp29]

He looks over all healthy. His fat pads are not deflated, the base of his tail looks nice and think, and got a bit of a belly. May just be like karrieree said and is genetics.
Are you absolutely sure he isn't a she? Females tend to be a bit smaller and just from the shape of his head he kindda looks female to me. But you can't always go by the shape of their heads. Just an observation

 

[Asher3105]

He looks over all healthy. His fat pads are not deflated, the base of his tail looks nice and think, and got a bit of a belly. May just be like karrieree said and is genetics.
Are you absolutely sure he isn't a she? Females tend to be a bit smaller and just from the shape of his head he kindda looks female to me. But you can't always go by the shape of their heads. Just an observation

Hello! sorry for such a late reply. I got him at a convention, and the breeder had a black light, flash light (the ones that shine purple? idk the name for them) and like...shined it there? I had never like...seen or heard of that way of telling before? but from what I can tell he is male but ill probably post a picture someday so someone can help me confirm, since I've kinda been wondering the same thing for awhile. Anyways, thanks for your reply!

edit: he was also 6 months old when I got him at the convention, so it should have been easier to tell the difference if that makes sense.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I agree, overall he looks to be in good physical condition. The tail base has great size also.
They will continue to grow & fill out well into their 2nd year so he can definitely put some more
size on.
We can help with determining male or female, if you need too.
Is he eating very well right now?

Tracie

 

[AHBD]

Your dragon looks great, please do post pics with the tail arched up high and we can tell you the gender. If he was 10 " long at 6 months old, the breeder was not taking good care of his beardies or they sold you a runt. That being said your dragon has thrived with you and looks the picture of health. Many beardies today are actually fed TOO much to grow too fast and some won't even eat salads. Your dragon is better off eating a lot of greens, they're full of nutrition. Insects are still important but your dragon looks like he's getting plenty.