Reptile & Amphibian Forums

About a year ago I had a clutch of beardies hatch and hung onto three of them. They have been housed together the whole time and are all females. Now a year later two of them are about adult size, but one is smaller,a lot smaller. I'd say maybe 1/4 the size of the other two. I have never witnessed any aggression between them and watch them all eat. They all have equal access to food and water. They primarily eat BugCo dry food, but sometimes get veggies too. Any thoughts as to why one of them could be such a slow grower?
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Kevin Collison
Those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience-C.S. Lewis

From my understanding the biggest reason why they wouldn't grow would be because they do not get enough food, or acess to basking temps and uvb rays. Do you have enough basking spots for three beardies? Is one of the other dragons dominating this dragon so that it is not getting the amount of food it needs or the amount of basking light it needs? How big is your setup? Pictures will help along with temps.

They are all in a 30 gallon tank. (Where they have been since they were very small. probably time to upgrade, but I haven't yet) Their basking spot has a cholla log underneath of it and when they are basking the two larger ones will climb on the log and the smaller one will climb on top one of them. So I have always figured that she has good access to the light. I would take pics but will probably not be able to until tomorrow.
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Kevin Collison
Those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience-C.S. Lewis

That cage is too small for three dragons. They need a 30/40 gal tank (breeder) minimum EACH. There's a possibility the smaller one is getting picked on while you're not watching.

There's also a chance she's just small. But I doubt that's the reason. Does she act ok? How's her weight (for her size, of course) - is she skinny?

Just making sure, your 30g enclosure for them has the following dimensions: 36" long, 18" wide and 12" tall.
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0.1 American Bulldog - Maui Rose
0.1 Shiba Inu - Mako (Starlite's Shark Attack)
1.0 American Pit Bull Terrier - Magnum TT, CGC, TDI
2.0 White DSH Cats - Lucaya (Luke) & Fiji
1.1 Bearded Dragon - Orin & Sierra
1.0 Albino Leopard Gecko - Ed
1.0 Sunrise Corn Snake - Sunny Tequila
0.1 Irian Jaya Blue Tongue Skink - Zambuka
1.0 Mojave ball python - Mojo
0.1 Spider ball python - Arana
1.2 Pastel ball python - Dia & Gembi (females) & O'neill (male)
0.4 Normal ball python - Malia, Copper (2 unnamed)
0.1 Hypo boa - Cobra (she's mean)
1.0 Albino boa - Willie
1.0 Brazilian Rainbow Boa - unnamed

Like sugar said that is way too small. One adult beardie needs a larger tank than that. I would say if she is small that you should check her weight. Lizards don't show their weight loss or gain very well. So by that note you should also watch to make sure she is eating. I don't know much about the dry foods but adult dragons should be eating more veggies than anything else. Also if you beardies weight is low i would try to add some crickets to the meal of the little on and see how it reacts. Also what kind of lighting are you using and what is the temp of the basking area.

I'm not a believer in packaged food. Possibly 2 of the dragons are doing OK with it but on is not. All dragons are different even from the same clutch. Babies to the 1st 18 months should be fed mostly live food with a nutritious salad always available. I'd consider changing her main food to well gutloaded crickets.

The reason one of your dragons is not growing is your setup and feeding is insufficient for any of the three dragons. As you didn't give any sizes and weights on the dragons there is no way to know even if your larger ones are eating enough.

What I suggest, is separate all three dragons. The two larger ones should be housed in cages at least 4'x2' of floor space. The little could be alright in the 30 gallon til she starts to grow again (or till she is about 14" head to tail tip).

Make sure all setups have appropriate basking spot and UVB lights, keeping in mind ideal temperatures for the warm and hot end. Basking spot should have ranges between 95F to 120F with the hotter temp being the top or highest accessible part of the basking spot. The air temperature should be upper 80's lower 90's F and the cool side air temp should be around 75F and fall to room temperature at night (no lower than 65F).

Substrate for now can be just plain paper towel.

Get yourself a decent thermometer with probe and temp gun to measure temperatures accurately. Also buy a gram scale that can weight in 1 gram increments. You can find these at most kitchen supplies stores or department stores. Weigh and measure your dragons and keep track of this.

Next, get rid of the bugco stuff or use it to gutload your crickets. Pellet foods really should only be a topping to a wholesome salad for bearded dragons, not a staple. As at least one of your dragons is underweight and sized, I would start offering crickets of the appropriate sized (length of space between dragon's eyes or less) that are properly gutloaded (24 hours before feeding to your dragons) twice a day, all she can eat in a 10 min period or till she no longer shows interest. Have greens available all day.

If crickets are hard to find, or very expensive, try mail order in bulk instead of just buying a few at a pet store. Most places will sell 1000 crickets for $20 or less, some may even include shipping.

Also make sure your dragon is well hydrated as well. Weigh your dragons regularly, once or twice a week is good to monitor any weight gain or loss.

For a guideline on what are the best greens to use, check the nutrition chart here:

www.beautifuldragons.com
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PHLdyPayne