Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My beardie is only about 9 inches and shes 5 1/2 months old...Is she small for her age?? What should i feed her to make her grow?

What light/heat sources are you using?

Read the posts I did just below yours a little bit that I wrote on UVA and UVB needs of bearded dragons. It could be that your dragon is not getting the proper UVB and this can affect the growth rate.

I will be glad to try to help you but just need to know a little more about what he/she is eating, what lighting/heating, how long it is getting exposed to the light/heat sources, etc
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www.georgiabeardeddragons.com

Just thought I'd thro in my info, my beardie is 9 weeks and 7.75 inches.

Well, my beardie is 5 1/2 months old, and 16" long (he is also a German Giant cross). Have you had him checked for parasites or anything? Do you know how big his parents are? Here is a pic of mine, this was taken about 1 1/2 months ago:

im using 2 reptisun bulbs, calcium supplement. I feed her romain, collard greens, sometimes kale, and i just started crickets.

ok maybe im not feeding her right..What do you guys feed your dragons?

Well, I feed Dino twice a day, as many crix as he will eat, and also leave some greens and moistened RepCal pellets in the enclosure all day. Now, I think because Dino comes from German Giant bloodlines, he may be a bit of an exception. I would still bring a fecal sample to your vet to test for parasites if you have not done so yet. Dino eats probably 50-75 3/4 inch crickets a day, I am trying to get him off crix and on to just pellets, but he is eating both now.

I would also recommend a vet check to check for any health problems. But it could also be from protein deficiency. A bearded dragons diet should be made up of 60% greens, veggies or fruit, and 40% protein such as crickets, superworms, waxworms or pinkies. The lack of an important necessity in their diet (protein) at such an important age of development could be the problem. Young newborn dragons are born with their hunting instincts to eat bugs within three days of hatching out of the egg. This sustains them as they are adjusting to the world and learning which greens they like or dislike and what vegetable matter they will eat. We start all our newborns on 1/8" crickets and at the age of two weeks we begin to introduce greens and veggies into their diet. Do not feed superworms , mealworms or wax worm to a tiny dragon as it can cause intestinal blockages. We usually wait untilt our dragons are 4-5 months old before beginning to introduce protein for a diet other than their crickets. Greens to feed are from the dark leafy family of greens, such as collards, mustards, turnip greens, small amounts of kale and spinach, veggies can be grated yellow squash, grated zuccinni squash and grated carrots. Fruits can be introduced in small quantities and tested to see what your dragon likes. Fruits they typically like are strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and any that are not highly acidic so as not to upset their stomach.

Our feeding routine is to serve a nicely mixed salad of greens and veggies in the morning and then protein meal in the later afternoon but careful not to overfeed with the bugs or worms. You do not want your dragon to be so full from protein dinner (crickets) that he is still full the next morning and does not show any interest in eathing their greens and veggies. We do not give them unlimited amounts of crickets because we want them to continue to feed well on their greens and veggies. Our dragons will usually go back and pick at their greens and veggies throughout the evening after having their crickets because their appetite gets stimulated by their limited cricket meal and this causes them to go back and eat their greens really well. Offering unlimited crickets at each feeding could lead to your dragon slowly withdrawing from eating the much needed greens and veggies and hold out for cricket feeding time and you don't want this to happen. There needs to be a nice balance of who is controling whom Because they are great little manipulators at getting what they want.
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www.georgiabeardeddragons.com