Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Today my son and I measured and put his Dragons on the scale. The male is 16" / 200 grams and the female is just over 13" and 140 grams. These Dragons are not skinny looking but there not really fat looking either.

We recently received these Drangons, we have had them less than 2 weeks .... the People we received them from said the Dragons were there son's and that there son had went off to college and left them to take care of them but it was just to much so thats why they decided to get rid of them.

I was told that 1 of the Dragons was around 2 years old and they couldnt remeber the age of the other. I was told that they were fed crickets once a week and greens "when they remembered"

At what age would a male Dragon normally be around 16" 200 grams and at what age would a female normally be around 13" 140 grams .... I am just trying to get a better idea of there age and if they were perhaps size stunted or not.

Thanks!

0.1.1 Siamese Crocodile
0.0.1 Nile Crocodile
1.0.0 Yacare x Spec Caiman (100% het albino)
0.0.1 Yacare x Spec Caiman
0.0.1 Dwarf Caiman
0.2.3 Dwarf Crocodile
1.2.0 Spec Caiman
1.0.0 Albino Ball Python (poss het pied)
0.3.0 Ball Python (100% het albino/poss het pied)
0.1.0 Ball Python (normal)
1.1.0 Beared Dragon
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
(the list above changes often)

I am the worst person to answer this question. I take meticulous care of my dragons so they are extremely fast growing. But anyway.

Female 13" 120 grams 2 months 10 days
16" 240 grams 3 months 16 days

Male 13" 125 grams 2 months 18 days
16" 280 grams 3 months 28 days

Female rescue. About 5 months old when I got her and 8 1/2" and 30 grams.

13" 140 grams at about 6 months
16" 300 grams at about 7 months

Yea so my Dragons are VERY under weight, just as I thought, they really dont look under weight though and I was amazed when I put them on the scale.

I will have to put them on the scale again tomorrow and double check, its a new scale but I think its set right.

ill also try and get some good pictures taken and posted.

I really hope these 2 Dragons are not really 1-2 years old like I was given the impression that they might be, there pets for my son but I was alos hoping to try and breed these at some point, if there growth has been stunted so much I think they might not ever get up to a suitable breeding size/weight.

I think you'll be surprised and they'll fill out and grow more. I would just treat them as juveniles and feed them live food dusted with calcium w/D3 twice a day. Replace one Calcium dusting a week with a multivitamin dusting. RepCal seems the best product for this in my opinion but as long as there is no Phosphorus or Vitamin A.

They need to be housed separately if they are not already since their sizes are so different.

It isn't easy to tell the age of a dragon by size and weight alone. All dragons grow at different rates, even ones that are all fed regularly and well. BDLvr's dragons grow fast but I wouldn't take them as being typical for dragons.

13" and 16" are sizes typically seen in juvenile dragons, no more than 6-8 months old with a few very slow growers being close to a year before passing the 16" mark.

However, if they weren't fed enough during their first year, dragons may not grow the full length they could have, with regular proper feeding and care. Genetics can also play a part in a dragon's adult size.

My suggestion, is get them on a regular feeding schedule with plenty of wholesome greens every day and some insects added as well. If they are able to grow more length wise, daily feedings will give them that opportunity. If they are over two years old, they may not grow much length wise, or very little but will definitely fill out more. Just make sure they don't get fat.

As for breeding them in the future...I don't recommend breeding them at all, especially if they don't get much bigger than they are now. Though smaller females can still produce eggs and have healthy young, if the smallness of size is due to genetics (ie maybe she isn't pure bearded dragon, (rankin's/inland dragon hybrid) 13-14" would be normal. However if her shortness is due to inbreeding or genetic defects...and if the male is related to her (they could very well be clutchmates....hard to tell without knowing the history of these two dragons and if they were bought from the same source at the same time or different sources completely, or at least different bloodlines).

I also don't recommend breeding even healthy unrelated dragons just for something to try out. Breeding bearded dragons is a responsibility not just a cool thing to try. Hatching out all the eggs and having babies to raise and find new homes takes a lot of time, money and space. Not to mention dedication. TO breed just one time, the cost to set up properly isn't worth it and you do have to find homes for these babies. Don't assume you can sell them all off to the nearest pet store as many won't take babies from anybody walking in with them.

If you just want your sons to experience what it is like to breed reptiles, get a couple leopard geckos or crested geckos. These are easy to care reptiles that are easy to breed and don't produce huge litters. It is much easier finding homes for about 8-12 babies than it is for 50 babies. Also, don't need as much space to house these babies till they find a new home. Nor do you need huge amounts of small crickets to feed them through those first couple months.
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PHLdyPayne