thoughts on outgrowing

[bearded confusion]

Hi, I have two bearded dragons. one normal beardie (female). one red beardie (male). I bought both of these at the same time and they were approx. the same size and age. both were about 7-8". Now it has been about 6 mo. The red male eats hesitantly and has doubled in size (barely). the regular female chows and has quadrupled in size. twice the size of the red (or more). Both have good bright color and appear healthy and active. The female is the dominant presence without a doubt. I'm fairly certain the female has been sizing the red for fit and taste (licking on the red). today after feeding the female about 20 crickets she bit the red's leg and tried to bite it on the back before i could seperate them. i put the female in a bowl lined with oats and put the crickets in the bowl. the male was laying outside but beside the feed bowl. of course im going to have to put them in seperate cages. Im interested in your thoughts on what is going on and why the red male has grown so slow in comparison to the normal female. any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi, I have two bearded dragons. one normal beardie (female). one red beardie (male). I bought both of these at the same time and they were approx. the same size and age. both were about 7-8". Now it has been about 6 mo. The red male eats hesitantly and has doubled in size (barely). the regular female chows and has quadrupled in size. twice the size of the red (or more). Both have good bright color and appear healthy and active. The female is the dominant presence without a doubt. I'm fairly certain the female has been sizing the red for fit and taste (licking on the red). today after feeding the female about 20 crickets she bit the red's leg and tried to bite it on the back before i could seperate them. i put the female in a bowl lined with oats and put the crickets in the bowl. the male was laying outside but beside the feed bowl. of course im going to have to put them in seperate cages. Im interested in your thoughts on what is going on and why the red male has grown so slow in comparison to the normal female. any thoughts would be appreciated.

Please keep them separated unless your trying to breed them they should NOT be kept together --- w/ her biting now its not going to stop and your going to have some serious damage done -- your going to need separate set ups for them and this is the reason why the male is not thriving --- please post a pic of his wounds you do NOT want them infected --- please keep her in a 20 gallon tote until you get the proper lighting -- you can use some raw unpasteurized honey on the wound this is going to kill any infection - please keep applying unless its really bad and the male needs to see a vet - if so I can post a website to find vet in your area or close to you -- what size tank are they in? Full size dragons need to be in a 75-120 gallon tank if you have a tank now that is that big you can partition it off till you get another set up- please go over the basking temps and how your taking them and your UVB -- please no coils they are inadequate
Please do not leave any crickets in the tank they will go straight for the leg w/ the honey and can cause more infection -

 

[bearded confusion]

Please keep them separated unless your trying to breed them they should NOT be kept together --- w/ her biting now its not going to stop and your going to have some serious damage done -- your going to need separate set ups for them and this is the reason why the male is not thriving --- please post a pic of his wounds you do NOT want them infected --- please keep her in a 20 gallon tote until you get the proper lighting -- you can use some raw unpasteurized honey on the wound this is going to kill any infection - please keep applying unless its really bad and the male needs to see a vet - if so I can post a website to find vet in your area or close to you -- what size tank are they in? Full size dragons need to be in a 75-120 gallon tank if you have a tank now that is that big you can partition it off till you get another set up- please go over the basking temps and how your taking them and your UVB -- please no coils they are inadequate
Please do not leave any crickets in the tank they will go straight for the leg w/ the honey and can cause more infection -

I've checked the male over, no open wounds or scarring that i can find. he's sitting on my laptop now. doesn't seem overly stressed. still curious and active. They have been seperated. I was keeping them in a 4' tall x 2 1/2' wide round face curio cabinet with 3 tiers and a driftwood log. For lighting i have a 2' florescent repti glo and a 75w uvb basking light. This makes the top of the cage about 115 and the bottom stays about 75. i only kept them together because they were juveniles. I had no idea that their growth differences would be so great. was wondering if it had anything to do with breed.

 

[bearded confusion]

I've checked the male over, no open wounds or scarring that i can find. he's sitting on my laptop now. doesn't seem overly stressed. still curious and active. They have been seperated. I was keeping them in a 4' tall x 2 1/2' wide round face curio cabinet with 3 tiers and a driftwood log. For lighting i have a 2' florescent repti glo and a 75w uvb basking light. This makes the top of the cage about 115 and the bottom stays about 75. i only kept them together because they were juveniles. I had no idea that their growth differences would be so great. was wondering if it had anything to do with breed.

btw, even when they were both 7-8" the female was the more aggressive eater and physically jumpier. The red male just seems (and has always) more laid back and relaxed.

 

[KarrieRee]

btw, even when they were both 7-8" the female was the more aggressive eater and physically jumpier. The red male just seems (and has always) more laid back and relaxed.

I would get your repti glo switched out to a reptisun 10.0 T 5 or a Arcadia 12% bulb- they cabinet has different basking temps - my suggestion is to get another tank 75-120 gallon set up w/ good uvb and basking temps set up for the male and try and get him up to par- w/ his growth/ weight- all bearded dragons should not be kept together doesn't matter the breed

 

[SPandS]

Genetics could be a factor as to why the male is growing slower but also the fact that he is living with someone who is more dominant is causing him issues. The light as karrie said may also have something to do with it. The repti glo isn't one of the best lights and depending on the distance you have it from their basking spot they may not be getting enough uvb.

 

[WinFam01]

I haven't heard of one color growing slower or faster than another, but I'm definitely not an expert. It does sound like a case of the dominant one causing the other one not to thrive. It will be interesting to see if the male's attitude toward food changes when he knows he's not going to get "in trouble" for going for it.
Also once he has his own uv and basking spot he may have a good growth spurt. She may have been taking the best spots for those things to, which also could have slowed his growth.