Bearded Dragon not growing...

I'm wondering if anyone will have any reason why Uther, the tiny Beardie, won't grow

So, back in Febuaray, I got my boyfriend a Bearded Dragon (after quite a few months of talking about it), since he's grown a bit, but not much, he was a baby when we got him, still is, and is around 6.5 to 7months old maybe? We didn't get his exact hatch date, but when we got him, he was the largest in his clutch... Now he's about 3 inches with his body size (not indcluding head and tail... so we'll add abt 4inches, since I haven't seen him since May 20th). He had gotten bigger since I babysat back in April for a week, since my bf was leaving town, and I am, and was, only one Uther would let hold, and eat from on a regular basis.

Now, like I said, between the month I babysat him, and the last time I saw him, he has gotten bigger, just... not length wise... We took him to the vet when we first noticed he wasn't growing like we thought he should, and that was begining of April, from the end of Feb. he had gained 1/3 of his body weight in Feb. We're going to get my new Ball Python :D checked out after he eats and has his first shed, and bringing Uther with us for a follow up weight check (BTW- our Herp vet is AMAZING! Free appt for Uther last time :D)

He recently got moved to his big terrarium, from a ten gallon, to a 40(?) its 36''x15.5''. Could a small habitat have inhibited his growth? Or could he be a Rankin's Dragon? Or just have dwarfism? (Which the petstore offered to take him back for a replacement Dragon if that was the case, we said no ty, we love him even if he won't grow :) )

Additonal Info:

-We don't plan on breeding him
-His diet consists of small crickets daily, as many as he'll eat in a 10-15 min period, and collard greens, every other day, the crickets are dusted (well, about 3/4 of them) daily, and once a week, he gets them dusted in vitamin dust, instead of calcium...
-He was impacted the weekend before Memorial Day, cause unknown, so he's getting Reptile Carpet and then we're done with mealworms til he's bigger, if we can, we're switching to silkworms (BTW Impaction was cleared with several warm baths and tummy rubs in two days... he didn't sit still long enough apparently to have a nice long one til his business was done. And has been happy since ^_^
-Temps and humidity kept where they should be, my bf is very... whats the word.. well he always checks so a bit of a very watchful Daddy


I'd post a pic, but none have worked for me yet...Though there is one in my gallery of him.

Do you have UVB/UVA lighting?

What are the temps and how are you measuring them?

I do not believe the tank would have inhibited him from growing.

There is an old saying a reptile will grow to its cage.

But if you put a crocodile in a 10 gallon tank, its not going to stay tiny! :P

Yes, he has the UVB/UVA lighting, and his temp atm I'm not 100% sure on as I'm not there to check :P but every time I'm there, the temps are about 85-90 in the hotspot, measured with a digital fluker hygrometer/thermometer, while he was here, his temps also stayed in the 85-90 range.

Babies should have about 105-110ºF basking spot.

Although I don't know if that would stop him from growing...hmmm...

>< Darnit.. Ment hot SIDE... I'm very excited atm... so not speak/typing correctly, new Ball Python is very friendly and has no issues being handled :D

But, next time I'm over there, I'll try and determine his hot SPOT and if it's low, we'll upgrade the bulb and see if we can't find other ways to get temps up... But he's active, very very much a piglet :rolleyes: though is only keen on me actually pickin him up... OH! It isn't 100% if he is actually a he too... We haven't (including his vet) been able to sex him... We're assuming he though.. "He" just looks it :P

What kind of UVB do you have? As not all UVB's are good, some are rather useless. :mad:
Hotspot should be around 41°C, low heat also contributes to them not growing properly, as is lack or too little nutrition (food items).
Salads should be given everyday, and if beardie is a young one insects should be given everyday too.
Hope he's ok otherwise.:please:
Good luck with the little guy! :oops:

when my hatchlings would become juvies I would put them in a 20 gal long. I would feed, endive, collard, dandelion, bok choy, squash, even fruit as a treat such as grapes and strawberries again given in moderation. I also would start feeding pellets right out of the egg. As far as temps go, mine liked it around 125 in the hot spot and around 80 in the cool. Make sure you are giving plenty of water. Here is a site to sex dragons its pretty easy.

http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/sexing/

He's in a terrarium measuring 36x16 now, which is just slightly bigger than what my Ball is in (he's in a 36x12x). And unless he gets longer than the width (not sure if he will at this point since he's growin so slowly) he'll stay there.

He's offered water frequently (everytime he's held pretty much, since he knows how to drink from the spray bottle) and his terrarium is misted at least once or twice a day. He has two water dishes (one is kept dry... he sleeps in it EVERY night..) and the other is a low dish so he has water, except when he's fed his crickets.

Unfortunately, our herp vet is out of town for 3wks :mad: so he won't be seen until he gets back. And he's the only qualified/certified herp vet in our area. We have one thats about 2hrs away, but my boyfriend and I agreed, that if our vet is out of town, then that's our emergency vet if any issues come up.


He has grown since I saw him around 5/19. He's still tiny for his age we feel though, so now I'm startin to think he's just one of the slow growers, even though he was the largest in his clutch when we got him...

Also, on sexing him, we would have tried already, but again, he's still young, and fiesty, so he won't sit still, so waiting until he's older and (hopefully) calmed down, isn't an issue... And apparently, he's getting "aggressive" :confused: though I'm thinkin its more he's scared...

Probably somethin like this

*Reach hand in terrarium to hold Uther*
Uther: :O OMG! IT'S GONNA EAT ME!!!!!!!

instead of:

*Reach hand in terrarium to hold Uther*
Uther: :rage: :taz: GET OUT!!! OR I'LL BITE YA!

My bearded Dragon is genuinely aggressive and territorial most of the time. He hit puberty and breeding age and now is out for blood when anything goes into his terrarium. He wants a woman, and I can't provide for one. So he is in an almost perpetual state of head bobbing, and fighting for his territory. :rolleyes:

Sexing is fairly easy. You can lift up the back of his tail and look for two bulges. Males also usually have pores\ type things along the inside of their back legs. They look like larger circle scales.

Grab a picture if you can or do you have one to post? I think that would
Make the world of difference in trying to help you. At least that way we can establish whether you've got a Rankins or an actual baby beard.

My babies grow fast! They start out as little Tiny things and within a month they are almost 6 inches snout to vent. If he is a little beardy I'd look at some sort of nutritional thing because of a perhaps a bad UVB light. Thats generally the cause for poor growth. Some are absolute crap. What type of UVB is it? Coil/ tube/ brand/ output density? Like is it 2.0/ 5.0/10.0? How close can the baby get to it. Generally they usually need to get within 12 inches of it.
Hopefully if you get some pics and specs up here we all can help.



Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

I don't have any current pics of him at the moment... Didn't even think about getting pics last time I saw him... And he's always been able to get within 12'' of his UVB light. I *think* it's Fluker's light. I can't remember right now...

He's been moved into a larger enclosure now (36''x16''x18'') but don't know specifically if the height is right... Just looks about 18'' (granted, my estimation of measurements is always terrible...)

Next time I'm over there, I'll try and hold him... Tried last time, he ran and hid in the corner until he saw Daddy with the cup (he uses same cup to dust crickets with) then he got excited and ran to his piece of wood. :rolleyes: He's a piggy, but does look a bit bigger since I saw him in the middle of May, when I said that, I got looked at like I was crazy. Apparently my bf didn't notice the growth, but then again, he sees him daily, unlike me, who sees him about every 2wks, to a month.

I still need a gram scale for my Ball, so I'll try getting my bf to get one for Uther too, since that seems like it'd be better to keep track of his growth...Or at least I'd think that, since the vet dosen't use measuring tape, he uses a scale :P

I'll have him later in the year (around August, but don't know for sure yet) since my bf is going to Basic Training, and I'll have him for about a year afterwards, and I'll try weighing him weekly just to keep track of him

Weighing is an excellent way to keep track of growth!


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

So, good news!

I went over to my bf's house the other day, and they little guy has grown quite a bit since the the last time I saw him :D

And I told my bf he should look into getting a gram scale for the little guy ASAP. He said he'll do just that.

And, apparently the little guy hates being held :rolleyes: I think he hates being held if he isn't given a minute to adjust...

Guess who got to hold him for 5 minutes with no freaking out? All I did was give him a bit of water from his spray bottle, and offer him some greens, lay my hand in front of him for a bit so he could smell, and see it as something that ISN'T a threat... Then slowly slid my hand under his tummy to lift him...

But, here's a couple pics from around Easter, when he stayed with me for a week

That mirror is just slightly bigger than a quarter

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0042.jpg

http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0039.jpg

And here was the other day.
That's a bottle cap, specifically a smartwater bottle cap, that I put in because it's again, close to a quarter size. This pic makes it hard to tell the size change I think
http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0267.jpg
I'm not sure of the the size of the water dish... But, it no longer gets filled with water since Uther has decided it's his new bed... :rolleyes: instead my bf uses his spare veggie bowl for his water.
http://i1081.photobucket.com/albums/...r/IMAG0269.jpg

Are you sure his UVB IS UVB? How much did it cost?, and please do dust his crickets with calcium. Bearded dragons need almost all of their crickets dusted with calcium powder. UVB is also very essential, because it is good for their bones and coloring. Bearded dragons can from a bone disease very easily if you do not provide calcium (UVB and calcium powder). Your BD needs his bones to grow and expand... GIVE HIM CALCIUM. :)

He does get calcium. EVERY time he eats.

I can't remember how much the UVB light cost, as one, I didn't buy it, my bf did, and two, it was back in Feb. that it was bought. I was actually going to tell him we should get a new one in the next couple months (probably even Monday when he picks him up), since we just had to replace his heat bulb the other day (don't know if it just went out, or was some how damaged on the trip to my house for pet sitting, we put my Ball Python's bulb in his cage since he was going to the vet to get a general check up, and picked up a new bulb for my python on the way home)


I'd also like to point out, he has gotten bigger since I had him around Easter. I even posted about it
http://ball-pythons.net/forums/showt...Uther-s-growth

Since he has grown, we're not as concerned as before, yes we still are a bit concerned, and watch his growth carefully (easier for me than my bf, who hardly notices his growth, I notice some at least every week)

Now we're working on his temperment, since he still dosen't like to be handled (We're doing this by putting him in a beanie hat at night when he's fallen asleep, after its been on my or my bf's bed all day, and having him sleep on us for about 30min at a time before putting him back in his cage, and now hand feeding his crickets only, unless we don't have the time)

All that aside, thanks everyone for your help :D

Oh lord don't get that cutie started on hand feeding. Babies are The worst for getting spoiled and never going back to eating on their own. Adults will also do it. They get used to the spoiling. And then one day when mom or dad don't want or can't hand feed. He won't eat. That becomes a very frustrating process. I've learned that lesson the hard way and now I guess I only spoil with love and attention. But all 10 of my beardies eat everything that's Put in front of them including the giant brood of over 100 babies. With out mommy sitting there and hand feeding veggies, or insects and i tell you those babies are so Cute. That gets very time consuming. Even if every once in a while they become used to what they like. And whom doesn't like their food hand fed to them. Hey I like cabana men fanning me and feeding me grapes while I'm at the beach! Lol. Ok anyways take it from me and especially with the food let that baby work to get it. A treat handfed every now and then is fine but I stay away from their staple food like that.
With helping him get accustomed to handling. He's young so it'll take him a little time. But try not to come from the top. You look like a giant trying to eat him. As well as you could bring your hand a little in front or behind him and bring it sideways and almost scoop him up rather from his level than from the top.
Either way he may pitch a couple fits but their alright he'll come around quickly.
Hope this helps! Glad he's growing. Keep an eye on that though. And I would get a different UVB. Just in case you may have gotten a faulty one. As a baby he should be growing pretty quickly.

Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

I like cabana men fanning me and feeding me grapes while I'm at the beach!

---

HA ha ha ha - love the mental picture! LOL! :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Homegrownscales

He's young so it'll take him a little time. But try not to come from the top. You look like a giant trying to eat him.

---

Geez, this sounds SO familiar...

I have no clue why...

Wait, yes, I told this to my bf when we first got him. And I'm guessing that my bf dosen't go from the side when he's trying to hold him, since he seems to think Uther loves me more :rolleyes:

But since putting the beanie hat in his cage nightly, and holding him a few minutes while he's sleeping in the hat, he hasn't been running as much when we put our hand in his cage, but actually giving an curious look.

As I type this hes running the legnth of his tank, looking at me, standing on his back legs and scratching the glass, no black beard either... So I'm gonna attempt holding him when he's not sleepy after I post this :D