Stunted Growth

[miss4thofjuly]

Hello! Im new to this forum, and I have been looking around on all of these posts and havent been able to find an answer.

I have a 9mo old Bearded Dragon.

I got her when she was approximately 4 weeks old. When she was 4 months old, she contracted some parasites. We took her to the vet and got it all taken care of, and now she is parasite free! :mrgreen: But the 3 months that we were fighting the parasites, she was not growing. So from 4mo old to 7mo old, she didnt grow an inch. Now that she is healthy and eating normally, she is back to growing like crazy.

I am curious to know that seeing as she didnt grow for 3 months and 'lost' that time, will she catch up to what would be a normal size, or will she always be on the small side?

She is currently 11 inches long. About 9mo old. Shedding normally. Eating normally.

Mercury Vapor bulb. 70 gallon tank.

From talking to some people, they say she is on the small side? Yes, no?

Any info would be great!!! Thanks!

 

[Smid]

She is on the small side - but I wouldn't worry about her being undersize for life. I got Smid when she was 10 months old and she was only 10.5inches - now as she is ~20 months old she is just over 19inches long. For a time she grew almost an inch a week - it was crazy!!! Lots of crickets!!!

 

[peera]

It can go either way. I rescued Priss at 9 months, when she was 9 inches long and 40 grams. Despite perfect care in the last 9 months, I've only managed to coax her up to 15 inches & 206 grams. She is still growing, but veeeeeerrryyy slowly, and I really don't anticipate she'll ever be as big as my big kids (about 20 inches & 400+ grams each)

 

[SJM]

I agree with Peera, we can't be sure. She could start growing steadily, sky-rocket randomly, or stay a tiny lizard. Either way, she sounds perfectly healthy, so what does it matter if she's a little shorter than the rest?

 

[miss4thofjuly]

Thats a good point, I love the dang lizard anyway, I was just curious. Thanks guys!!!

 

[annieoakley123]

I had the same situation. I got Snuggles at less than 6 inches and we had to deal with a high infestation of worms and coccida. He almost died while on the meds, but I kept syringe feeding him and he was nursed back to health. He still was growing but very slowly. He was located in a high traffic area in our house. Snuggles was 7-8 months old when my boyfriend took him to his apt and he has grown so much since!!! About a half inch a week or more and now 13 inches long. He was probably stressed in my house and therefore did not grow much. So if yours is in a high traffic area I'd relocate him to a calmer spot and see if maybe he will grow at a faster pace. Just an idea to the situation?