Posted by:
PHLdyPayne
at Tue Dec 20 14:47:18 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by PHLdyPayne ]
9" is deffinitely too small for a one year old dragon. Have you always been feeding it crickets once ever 2-3 days? Baby bearded dragons need to eat crickets 2-3 times a day during their first 4 months of age, and twice a day up to about 8 months of age. Between 8-14 months, crickets once every day then after that, 2-3 times a week is fine. Greens should be offered/available throughout the day for all age groups, though usually they only start eating it around 4-6 months of age, depending on the dragon, some eat earlier, some eat greens later.
Get rid of the reptilite, it's not digestable, no more than regular washed children's playsand and infact, neutralizes stomach acid, making it harder for your dragon to digest food. It also tends to clump up when wet, increasing the risk of impaction.
Though y our dragon is a year old now, I would feed it crickets every day, as much as it can eat in 5-10 minutes. Also, cu t down the size of the crickets. Adult sized crickets are too big for a dragon that size. They should be no larger than the space between the dragon's eyes. At 9 inches, half an inch should be the largest cricket size. Too large p rey items can cause rear leg paralysis, impactions and problems with digestion. Offer small silkworms, butterworms and small hornworms as an alternative to crickets, or inaddition to, as a variety of insects is just as good as a variety of greens.
I would get a fecal to a vet for this dragon as well.
ALso, do you house your dragon's separately or are they all in the same cage? If housed together, I would separate them into separate cages, this prevents any intimidation from larger dragons or even same size cage mates from preventing it access to basking spots and food.
The baskign temperature should be at least 95F, up to about 115F. The best thing is to have a range of temperatures accessible for dragons to bask in, depending on what they feel they need. WIth my dragon, I had a large piece of driftwood. Near the top of the driftwood teh temperature would reach 120F, along the middle area it was roughtly 110F and the edges of the wood, closer to 90-95F. The cage floor was 90F directly beside the driftwood. The other end of the cage was anywhere between 70-80F. I noticed my dragon would bask in the hottest range on the drift wood right after eating, right at lights on. During other times, she would move from the cool end of the tank, lower on the driftwood and sometimes just the floor of the cage near teh basking light. Dragons are very good at regulating their internal body temperatures when given the opportunity to do so.
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PHLdyPayne
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RE: Shouldn't a year old be bigger than this? She has not grown since I go - PHLdyPayne, Tue Dec 20 14:47:18 2005