Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I will be getting my second beardie shipped to me tomorrow from California. From what the owner has told me, this one is significantly smaller than its clutchmates. on 11/13 it was 3 months and 4 inches. It does have a stub-tail; not sure how much is missing. I would like to use fewer crickets than I did with my 4 month old and use more rep-cal pellets. Is this a good idea? It is used to silkies, and I am ordering some tonight, but until then should I still go with as many crickets as it can eat or try to get it to eat more rep-cal?

I would love to do it cricket-free, but I;m not sure how to transition it over especially since it is already smaller than most it's age.

Thanks!
Laura

so considering that, I would give this little one, all I possible can, crickets (about 2 week size) offer pellets, pleanty of greens. Once it is growing and established, then I would try and adjust its diet.

We have received several failure to thrive beardies and been able to get them all growing, some remarkably well.

We use pleanty of natural sun and if that is not available a good quality UVB light and as bright light intensity as we can get. We think that the the UVb, light intensity or BOTH play a role in the growth hormones.

Good luck with the new little one!
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www.reptilerooms.com

I'll do that. I thought that would be the general consensus. What I'm planning to do is feed crickets until I get my silkies to the right size. I stay at home and live in Central Florida, so I can give s/he plenty of outdoor time. I already do that with my 4 mo that's 13 1/2 inches. It's amazing that she is almost the exact same age as the one I'm getting. I read your article on your failure-to-thrive study and found it very interesting. I plan on providing plenty of bright light. I bought the daylight bulbs to use for heat instead of the plain incandescents. They seem to be brighter, and the colors inside the enclosure seem more vivid. Of course, I could be just seeing what I expect to see, but they were still only 50 cents each, so I don't feel like I wasted money on them.

With colder weather showing up even here, I have been putting the herps out in the sun only on days that are 70 deg. or higher. Is this a suitable cut-off temp for daytime?

Laura

but they still are getting plenty of UVB, the UVB measurements right now in Florida are still running about 4 times what the best light on the market is.

You will have to heat them up more before eating and for a few hours after.

We keep ours outside now during the high heat of the day and bring them in around 2 pm.
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www.reptilerooms.com