Underweight?

[Zanna]

I'm so glad this site exists... After reading everything tho I'm pretty concerned about our little girl Lizzy. She's only eaten 6 crickets and minimal greens last couple days which... I don't recall reading anywhere they get moody bout eating when young.
I'm honestly not sure how old she is since my boy bought her as baby from Petsmart a few weeks ago but she's only twelve grams. ALL the heat and UVB are ideal and I bath her regularly with plain water. She looked skinny today ... Maybe my imagination.

Forgot to say: she's only 12 grams and from toe to tail tip about 7 inches. She had a nice barrel tummy that's gone now.

Below pic to see if anyone can tell me if that's her face changing as she ages or the start of the sunken eye problem.

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[AHBD]

Hi Zanna, she looks reasonably alert....I don't see anything out of the ordinary there. Can you post a few full body shots and some of her tank + the lighting set up ?

 

[Zanna]

Yes, soon as she's up and moving in the morning. I turn on her light at 7:30 when I wake her dad (my son) up for work. Feed her around 9-9:30 so that's a good time with the lighting in the room to see as well. I'm waiting for my digital thermometers to arrive this weekend, the ones I bought originally failed already. Surprise surprise. She loves this log you will see but I'm sure it's too close to her basking lamp.


Ok following are pics this morning she ate 6 dusted crickets then just stopped flat when I was dusting more. Took some water with cran juice from dropper but no collard greens.

 

[ofcourseilikepasta]

She looks fine to me Just a little baby with a lot more growing to do!

 

[AHBD]

Great pics ! The set up looks good ....is the uvb a Reptisun 10.0 ? Your baby looks pretty good, he's still adjusting and may start eating more in a short while. What size are the crickets ? They need to be smaller than the space between his eyes [ that rule can bend as they get older ] If the crix are a bit on the large side of small [ you definitely don't want large crix though ! ] he may be getting filled up faster, too. It's good that he's drinking water, plain water is best or if you add any juice be sure it's totally natural with no added sugar. But plain water is best.

So far he looks pretty good though.

 

[SpikeTheLizard]

looks fine- should chop up the veggies a little more thoughbut other than that he looks great

 

[Zanna]

Relief! Ty u all I thought Lizzy was closer to 3 months from what the pet store said but maybe they fib!

Thank u for the heads up on the chopping LOL ... Ill chop smaller.

The crickets we get can get on the larger side of small and I hadn't considered that .... Duh since its likely the difference between supersizing yr meal!

Here I'm going to admit to being a consumer who got bullied I think. I was told here to get the reptisun 10, I marched into reptile island after speaking with a gal there who honestly I think was very knowledgeable bout dragons. She sold ome the Zilla slimline desert fixture with 50 uvb t8 bulb 18 inch. She said its fine until such time til we upgrade from the 20 gal to 40 or 55,gal vivarium. I

 

[AHBD]

You're welcome. At 6-7" long beardies average age is about 6-8 weeks and the crickets you're using are probably fine for her. The Zilla desert 50 is an O.K bulb until you can get the Reptisun 10.0 [ get the t5 ] but check to be sure there is no plastic shield covering the bulb.

 

[Zanna]

I took the plastic shield off straight away!
It is, however, sitting atop the wire mesh. I've got the pressure on my son already about the repti sun bulb.
...... I thought the babies were to be minimum 8 weeks to be in pet stores but there you go. Thanks for your help.... Greatly, greatly appreciated.
One final note.... Lizzy lost a whole bunch of scales from her face and tail not a proper shed but I gather that means growth.... Hoorah!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Lizzy is sure a little cutie pie! The pet stores will sell them extremely young, too young if you ask me.
Her setup looks good to me. The Reptisun 10 tube bulb or the Arcadia D3 12% tube bulb either one are very good.
They will vary their eating from time to time so definitely just keep trying. As suggested, be sure to keep the crickets smaller than the space between her eyes.
It sounds like she is growing well right now.

Tracie

 

[Zanna]

Thanks Tracie,
While she's technically my sons pet, I feel she's mine mine mine now lol. If I feel the crickets are too big shall I just grab them and throw them in the yard?

On a none related note, I see on yr signature about Steve Irwin, are you an Aussie? I lived in Melbourne for 16 years and my son was born and raised there. Only back in California for a couple years which has made this particular breed of lizard quite special to him since he is an Aussie lol. Didn't have the heart to break it to him that they haven't exported wildlife since the 60s after all it's really all about the blood line right? Lol