Severely stunted.

[Pickles]

We recently bought a bearded dragon off of craigslist.

She came with a 10g tank, lid, water bowl, log cave and dry food. The owners said she was very tame but would nip after a couple of weeks without food.

We instantly upgraded her tank to 3ftx1ftx16inchs tall, not the best still for her (we also sexed her). She has been fed daily with crickets and mustard greens and has access to semi moist and dry bearded dragon food in the cage at all times, (refreshed at least once a day). She has been having daily or every other day poos which look normal as far as we can tell. We are bathing her every 2-3 days as she has some patches of skin that did not come off with her last shed. We have a heat lamp, and UV bulb on her tank now (don't think the previous owners had these on her tank!!) and we take her out side every warm day for a few hours so she can get some natural UV light (we made her a pen which she loves). We dust the crickets twice a week with reptical (??) for calcium.

We enquired from the previous owner as to how long he has had her, (we estimated her to be about 4 months old,) he had had her for about 13 months. We are a tad shocked as she is only 165g and about 14 inches long (will measure her exactly tomorrow). We know from research she is severely stunted Is there anything we can do to help her grow now? What type of diet should she be on what ratio of protein to veggies?

Here are some pictures of her,

Please help our little girl have a normal life after the bad start she has had.

 

[ses2682]

I just wanted to say I am so happy for her that she came home with you! I hope she is able to be happy now! It makes my blood boil that someone would say "she gets a little nippy after a couple weeks without food" OF COURSE ANYONE WOULD GET NIPPY SINCE THEY ARE STARVING!

 

[Pickles]

Anyone, have any ideas for her?

 

[BeardieNewbie15]

Hi Pickles! Although I am no expert I have had a similar experience.

I too bought a bearded dragon and tank off craigslist. Sheila came with a big enough tank though (55gallons) but she only had a UVB coil bulb and her tank was kept way to hot! Also, I believe she didn't get nearly enough calcium supplements when she was younger. When I got her she was a little twitchy, the tip of her tail looked burnt and she wasn't eating. She was just over a year old and measured 12" and about 107g. I made huge ajustments to the tank (including a tube UVB, getting rid of the infered bulb and giving her a shelter)her feeding scheduel, regular baths etc. and she has made amazing progress. She now measures 15.5"! She has grown about an inch a month since I've had her. I believe that if you continue to provide proper care for your beardie (correct UVB, lots of fresh veggies, dusted crickets) that she should grow. Also, when I first got Sheila I took her to my local HerpVet just to be sure nothing major was wrong. Don't know if you've done that already but thats a good start.

As far as food goes I would try switching the semi moist/dry food for squash. Butternut is a favorite. You can grate it or dice it VERY finely and maybe mix it with the moist/dry food, gradually going from a 50/50 mix to all squash. Be patient though! Mine was quite the stubborn picky eater.

And props to you for rescuing her! I wish you and your beardie all the best