Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my 4 month old dragon is only 6 inches long and very skinny. I got him checked for parasites and he doesnt have any. I offer him plenty of crickets, but he only eats about 5-7 per day. He wont eat veggies yet, so i feed him baby food squash. He eats a little bit of that. Why isnt he growing? Is there other things than parasites that can stump their growth and appetite? please help

Check the temperatures his basking spot should reach 105 to 110F If its not hot enough he cant digest food and will lose his appetite. Also make sure cage is large enough that he can reach a spot to cool off when he wants to the cool side should be in the lower 80's. Other than that ask a vet to check for damage to his organs.

Small parentage, though I don't think it would account for that much. He could have some sort of digestive problem or a growth problem. Maybe he is a rankins or has partial rankins blood.

what does rankins mean?

:

Hi
i would check baskingtemp 115-110 cool side round the 80.
you got uvb lightning ????
like a reptisun 5.0 ??
you dust with calsium the cricks ??
try to give him probiotics a good bacteria you can get in a healthstore for humand called achidophulus ,capsules whop contain miljoens bacteria who can help him digest beter.
put some powder of capsule in water and then give it to youre beardie !!
i also would try parazap.com it also have a apeteite stimulant in it and it wil also kill worms .
my first visit at the vet he also not saw i got pinworms and flagelates so i gues it whas a bad vet
byeeeeeeeee

There are quite a number of other things that could prompt this behavior. I agree with checking your temps to make sure they are accurate. You also need to make sure your enclosure is big enough for him. As dragons get bigger, there is more surface area that absorbs heat. If they are in a small enclosure and can't get away from that heat when they need to, they will essentially "bake" to death. Another thing to look at is the size of the crickets you are giving him. There is a point with dragons when the size ratio of the dragon to the prey is too great and they will ignore the prey because it is too much effort to catch something soo small. Also, what are you feeding your feeders and do you dust them? Dehydration is another thing that will cause dragons to stop eating. Make sure he is drinking water. Just a few things to look at.