What am I doing wrong?!

[Tammie]

I keep two beardies, a male nd a female in a 4 x 2 x 2 viv, it's thermostatically controlled, 100F in the basking area and around 85F at the other side (with a heatmat under substrate). Crix and locusts fed all with calcium powder.

My female doesn't seem to be growing, other than getting fatter, Her spikes on her sides aren't well developed, but she seems completely happy.
I don't know whats going on because my male (kobe) is growing perfectly normally.

It's worring me now she's reaching 7 moths old and still not gown significantly

any clues?

Kind regards,
Tammie

 

[jscott]

sometimes when keeping two dragons together, one will dominate the other. this basically entails laying on the other, biting them, bobbing agressively and getting a waving response from the female.

if these things are happening it could be a sign that your female is not flourishing because of a lack of UVB, food or both.

do you watch them eat? does the male seem to take all the ones the female was eyeing?

most people on this site(99%) dont keep theyre beardeds together for just that reason.

if you are not seeing those things happen, then she may have a parisite or some other hidden illness.

you say you have a heatmat(those are unnecessary if you have a heat lamp, id unplug it) under your "substrate". what exactly is your substrate?

if one of your dragons seems ill and not its room mate, and if your using a partical substrate(sand, dirt, eco-earth, pebbles, walnut shells, anything made up of alot of little things...) theres a chance that they may be impacted. that is a serious problem that can end tragically if not treated. i think there is some sort of massage you can do on their belly to see if they are impacted, i dont know how tho. ill try to find a moderator, but its pretty late. it might not be untill morning my time(PST) that you get a response.

you may consider being prepared to remove the substrate and replace it with tile, outdoor carpet, paper towel, or some combination of those three.

those are the only things i can think of right now that might be causing a problem in one dragon and not the other. since your saying its the female of the pair whos not doing so well, that leads me to believe the male is keep all the good basking spots and food from her. if that isnt the case then i may be impaction(which is more serious i think).

at any rate, id steer clear of heat pads, heat rocks or nighttime heat lights. if you really must warm the ground theyre walking on use a heatlamp during the day and a ceramic heat emmiter at night. nighttime heating is only necessary if the temps dip below 65. you dont want them to have a hot day and warm night; they need that cool down to stay healthy and normal. just make sure the nighttime temps are between 65-75 and your ok. any higher or lower is not beneficial.

have a good night, ill talk to you tomorrow :wink: .

 

[Tammie]

Hmmmmm to be honest they do lie on each other but often it's her sat on him lol!
They often sleep in seperate corners of the viv but from what I can make it it changes almost every night,
she seems fine in all other rspects.

I do keep them on sand (I will be changing soon to tile) but it's never been a issue.

As of now I am hand feeding them to ensure she gets an equal portion.

 

[jscott]

does she ever lick the sand? alot of BDs lick things either to tell how far away they are or what they consist of(hard, soft, stable, loose).

my dragon LG licks things all the time. if i take him outside, i have to sweep the patio otherwise hell act as a little vacuum cleaner, licking up any speck big enough to see :roll: .

if you have a licker then tile is right for you; just be sure its rough. if you scratch it with your fingernails, it should feel more like sandpaper than smooth. if your nails slide across it instead of grind then the tile should be rougher. this gives their nails traction and at the same time wears them down so you dont have freddy kruger beardies :twisted: .

i also really like the outdoor carpet i find a walmart. they are actually doormats with a rubber bottom(great for staying put agains the glass bottom and for when your dragon poops, it wont seep through). they come in pieces alittle bigger than the footprint of a 40gallon and they only cost 4 bucks each. a piece of "reptile carpet" that size will cost between 10 and 20 dollars and it doesnt even have a texture or rubberized bottom.

alot of people say you can soak them in bleach and water then rinse and dry them but if you get your beardie trained to poop in a tiled or paper towelled part of your cage, there will be no need for any of that.

ok, well there are no moderators on right now so i sent one a message. most of the mods live on the east coast so they should be up before me... hopefully we can get one of them to give you an answer to put your mind at ease.

see you tomorrow :wink: .