What species is Cosmo and How big should he grow?

[shawnie07]

I'm kinda confused as to how big Cosmo should grow as I saw another bearded dragon today and they said he was born in december and is at least twice the size of cosmo and half as old (so we think we have only had him for a couple of months and they said he was about 7 months at the time). I was wondering if anyone new what species he was and if so what size I should expect hime to grow to he is about 9 ish inchs now.

 

[AHBD]

At 7 months, 9" is extremely small. He was not fed enough for most of his life so far. Thankfully, he does not appear to have any major health issues [ like MBD ] He looks like some type of citrus, by the way. Your set up looks beautiful, but the sand should go It very easily will cause impaction. Feed him small crix twice daily, as many as he will eat, and order some Phoenix worms or repti worms for him. He looks slightly thin and dehydrated, spray water gently with a spray bottle slowly on the tip of his nose to get him to drink. Also, a soak may get him to drink....1" of lukewarm water, and drip some on his nose. He's a real cutie, though, I must say !

 

[Kaiser]

At 7 months, 9" is extremely small. He was not fed enough for most of his life so far. Thankfully, he does not appear to have any major health issues [ like MBD ] He looks like some type of citrus, by the way. Your set up looks beautiful, but the sand should go It very easily will cause impaction. Feed him small crix twice daily, as many as he will eat, and order some Phoenix worms or repti worms for him. He looks slightly thin and dehydrated, spray water gently with a spray bottle slowly on the tip of his nose to get him to drink. Also, a soak may get him to drink....1" of lukewarm water, and drip some on his nose. He's a real cutie, though, I must say !

Agreed. Replace the sand with a safer, non-particulate substrate, such as paper towels, newspapers, reptile carpet, non-adhesive shelf liner, tile, etc. Feed him as much as he will eat in ten to fifteen minutes (or as long as he'll eat, considering most bearded dragons will not overeat, and are perfectly capable of knowing when they're full and satisfied; the time frame is usually just for bearded dragons that may overeat and/or may be overweight). And I agree with the rest.

 

[shawnie07]

Thank you guys so much for the advice!!! When we got him, orginally I was feeding him as many crickets as he would eat ( as thats what i researched and found online), and then the pet store told me I was over feeding him and to only give him 7 or 8 crickets every other day with vegetables everyday!! I feel awful that we have continued to under feed him as the pet store was We gave him crickets last night, and again this morning. We are going to feed him crickets twice a day, and get him some phoenix worms as well. Thanks again for all the help, hopefully we will be able to get him back on track!!

 

[warnisha]

He is so cute!!!! Everyone's advice is great! Do you have a uv light? That really is important for them! He is just so adorable!

 

[shawnie07]

Thank you! Yes we do have a uv light for him. I just hope his growth has not been stunted becasue of this!

 

[Kaiser]

Thank you guys so much for the advice!!! When we got him, orginally I was feeding him as many crickets as he would eat ( as thats what i researched and found online), and then the pet store told me I was over feeding him and to only give him 7 or 8 crickets every other day with vegetables everyday!! I feel awful that we have continued to under feed him as the pet store was We gave him crickets last night, and again this morning. We are going to feed him crickets twice a day, and get him some phoenix worms as well. Thanks again for all the help, hopefully we will be able to get him back on track!!

You're welcome. And oftentimes, it's hard to get reliable information from pet stores, as in most cases, the staff are not quite as knowledgeable about reptiles as one would like them to be; that, or they are not properly trained. So always do research beforehand (which you did do, which is great), and feel free to ask around on these forums, as you will find there are a lot of experienced owners, veterinarians (and co-staff), breeders, as well as many others who have questions.

And no worries; I'm just glad you sought out help and are willing to make a change to improve your bearded dragon's life. And once again, I'd suggest replacing the sand with something safer, if you haven't already. Pet stores are also poorly informed about the safety of particulate type substrates, and will try to sell you that to begin with.

 

[ladybriann]

I'd like to suggest getting a gram scale and keep track of his weight, so you can see if he's gaining weight regularly. Also, feed him some wax worms to gain weight and or horn worms are very good for them, lots of calcium in them. My male, Soph, is 9 months old, 18 inches long and 475 grams. He gets horn worms on a regular basis along with his salad, and is under a Powersun lamp; it's done him well.