RANKINS Dragon Not Eating Enough!!!!

[haileytaco]

Hello,

I have two female Rankins (not bearded) dragons. They are from the same clutch and are slightly older than 1 year. Sami is shedding, eating, growing, etc. great but her sister is not. Alli has only grown about an inch in the past 7 months that I have had her but Sami has grown at least 4+ inches. Alli is now 5 inches from nose to tip of tail and Sami is 7-8 inches. Alli acts fine and is in the exact same cage setting as Sami, (seperate cages but same temps, decor, etc.). Alli barely eats any greens and she will typically eat 1-3 mealworms a day or 2 small Dubia roaches (1/4 in.). Also, as far as weight, in the past 3 months Sami has gone up 20 grams for a total of 75 grams and Alli has gained 0 grams and is still at 30 grams. Please help. I want Alli to grow and be healthy.

Thank you for any suggestions.

 

[kingofnobbys]

You might have no option but to hand feed Alli to be sure she's eating enough and maybe get her onto something like HerpaBoost Suppliment to try to get her to grow more.

Mealworms are a bad choice for a staple feeder prey insect. They are at beast a very occasional treat.
If you can find someone local who is growing silkworms - I'd consider buying a couple hundred of these (range of sizes) + some silkworm chow or if you know of a big mulberry tree that you can raid on a regular basis that is not being sprayed collect fresh mulberry leafs every couple of days to feed to them. Silkworms are about the best feeder insect you give a lizard with near perfect Ca/P ratio and lots of beneficial enzymes in them.

Dragons are like people regarding a spread in sizes and body shapes, some are small and stout , some are long and lean , others are big and heavily built. I suspect Alli will never catch up size wize with her sibling , as she's lost a lot of the time needed to grow as big. This is OK, so long as she's healthy and happy.