Picky Eater or Late Bloomer

[Kimmer76]

I purchased my BD December 16th 2016. He weighed in at a whole 10g. I weighed him this evening and he is currently at 19g. My concern is that he doesn't eat everyday, that I've noticed. I don't exactly watch him like a hawk. I have seen him eat and he is obviously growing, but I am not sure that he's growing as fast as he should be.

To tell you about the enclosure: 40gal fish tank, shelf liner flooring, under tank heater, 10.0 UVB 24" bulb, 100 watt basking bulb during the day and 100 watt ceramic heat emitter at night, drift wood to climb on, rocks from the pet store, a hammock, fresh water daily, baby beardie pellets, crickets and meal worms. Crickets and meal worms have been dusted with calcium powder.

I compared him with the dragons that were in the same cage as he was, just today, and they are practically monstrous compared to how little my guy is. The dragons in the pet store today are the very same that were with him in December. Why is my beardie not growing at the rate the others are?

Any advice would be most helpful.

 

[JessPets]

First off, stop the mealworms immediately. Secondly, how old is he? And can you post a pic of him? Here's how: https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to attach pics to your post.

 

[Kimmer76]

Why do I need to stop feeding the mealworms? The pet store is feeding theirs mealworms and they seem to be growing like weeds.

 

[JessPets]

Mealworms are absolutely HORRIBLE! Mealworms have a very hard chitinous shell that can cause impaction- which can be fatal. I would strongly suggest moving to a different feeder. Your baby is defiantly underweight. Try baby foods with no spices.

 

[Kimmer76]

What do you mean a "different feeder"?

 

[SHBailey]

Dubia roaches and crickets are fine -- just make sure they're smaller than the distance between his eyes. You can also try black soldier fly larvae (aka "Phoenix worms") or other soft bodied worms like silkworms or hornworms.

These are a few of the most common "different feeders" that are usually available.

 

[Kimmer76]

Great thank you!! Since I took the meal worms out he's wondering around his cage looking for the bowl. Lol..Weighed in this morning at 20g.

 

[SHBailey]

Might be a good opportunity to introduce him to fresh veggies by putting some in the meal worm bowl :wink: , but don't be disappointed if he doesn't eat them right away. He still needs lots of protein so he can keep growing.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there...if the mealworms were small and not fed in excess then that may not be the problem, especially since they are part of the diet at the store. If the mealworms were on the large side it could cause digestive trouble. Did you say he is pooing ?

One thing to check on....if she lays on the floor where the undertank heater and the ceramic heater are on at night it might be too hot [ some reptiles don't realize it when overheating, esp. babies ] and she might be dehydrated. Is the heater under the actual tank or under the shelf liner ? Offer some water dripped on her snout. Drip, stop, repeat to see if she'll drink. Check the temp. where she sleeps to be sure it's not too hot. The combo of the undertank and ceramic heater at night might be too hot.

 

[Kimmer76]

Yes he is pooing just fine. The under the tank heater is under the tank, not the shelf liner. It's actually stuck on the underside of the actual tank. The meal worms were small and gutload from the store in their container. Hot side stays above 100 during the day and cool side is around 75-80 during the day. At night the temp in the tank gets to about 80-85 on the hot side.

 

[SHBailey]

I've also noticed that glass can absorb a lot of heat from those undertank heaters and get hot enough to burn if there is nothing else between the reptile and the glass with the heater right under it, like AHBD says, so you'll need to watch the temperatures at the glass surface very carefully if you have that kind of a setup.

I discovered that myself when I was using a little square glass baking dish with just a small undertank heater to give my snake a warm bath when he was very little, but I noticed that the glass would get really hot if there was no water in it. Ever since then I've avoided undertank heaters and heated from above with lamps, figuring that's closer to what happens with the sun in a natural environment anyway, even though it's hard on the electric bill and even though I've been told by some people that the undertank heaters are actually more energy efficient than using heat lamps. :?

Bearded dragons and other reptiles are notorious for laying around on hot surfaces and not realizing that they're getting burned (also as AHBD says).

 

[Kimmer76]

He won't lay in that area anyway and I watched him eat crickets this morning. I think he is fixing to go through a shedding because he's starting to scrape his face on the driftwood. Much in the same way he shed his skin the first time. Apparently I am worried for nothing. ?