Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm debating whether my baby is healthy or not.He was eating b4 over the past 2 days he ate 15 or so crix for canned crix.He is always basking and is very active his poop looks normal(no orangish urates and such).But he seems to be smaller(weight size) than my friends beardie who is mines brother or sister(we don't know the sexes yet the are both only 4 months old) Last time I went to the vet he/she was 16 grams and was 8 and 1/2 inches long.Yesterday I measured him/her and is still 8 and 1/2 and weighed and was around 20(I have a scale that only measures in 10s but I'm gonna soon invest in a better one)Arent babies suppose to grow like 1/2 inch every week or something?What can I do to make him/her grow faster.He/she is in a 50 gallon long with a 75 watt basking bulb and a 8.0 UVB made by Exo-Terra,is on paper towels has hide and lots of branches to get to close to UVB and basking bulb the warm side is 85 and cold is 80 and basking is 110.Also I tried to raise temps a little with a 100 watt but the basking spot became 140 within 2 minutes of me putting it in!
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My Leo's
1.0.0 Normal
0.1.0 Tremper Albino
My Beardie
0.0.1 Red x Gold

Beardies grow at different rates, so comparison is out. Even dragons in the same clutch are different as far as size and weight. Much depends on the amount of food they eat. It sounds like your husbandry is fine so that's not an issue. They often grow in spirts too.
The only thing that may be stopping growth would be parasites. You can have that checked by taking a stool sample to your vet.
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www.classylizard.com

I'm curious as to how you get that size tank to those temps with only those lights.. is there a solid cover over most or all of it?

I ask because I have a 55 gal. and it takes a 150w basking bulb, a 100w Dayglo, and a fluorescent strip - Desert Light 7% - to get the temps to a suitable range. I have 3 thermometers in the setup, and keep a very close eye on it. I thought I could get away with just the basking bulb and fluor. strip, but had to get yet another light 'hood' with the extra candescant to hold the heat in. All in all, with the 3 light fixtures covering the screen cover, there is about 1 1/2 - 2 sq. feet of open screen.

An added note: it takes a while for the basking temp to get to the right range, so I have a 3-level basking area - he usually starts at the top and moves down the through the day when needed (as the temp rises), but it never gets over 115-118 on the top level and that's with the 150w shining hard on the area.

We do have a 75w basking bulb and have used it in an emergency (one of the 150's went out, bad fixture), but it barely raised the basking area to 90'ish even with that much of the tank covered.

At any rate, I am just curious.. maybe the height of the tanks makes the huge difference...?

The Mom half,
Denise
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Denise (Mom) and/or Jared (son)
Take care!