Reptile & Amphibian Forums

How are ya?
I have a question for you. I went to my local petland yesterday to look and a dragon that I would like to get I have done all the reasearch and have all the right stuff and I am running some temp. tests this weekend before I pick one up but. This he/she I am not sure yet is supposidally 1yr and a month old and it is only 10inch long. Is this right do they not have its age right. The dragon seemed very active and acertive looked very healthy the only problem I had was that if its that old why isnt it biggar also I watched them feed it 3-4 mealworms that were 1.5 inches long all while i was at the store getting some final prices on stuff. Cant that cause impaction. I guess what I would really like to know is can a dragon be that old and only that big or must they have nessed up somewhere because someone else in that store said he was much younger as well. I put him on hold untill I decide. I just wanted to make sure what I was doing as I cant find much on beardies in there adult years.
Thank You
Chris

It is possible that a dragon could be that age and only be that big. Many things can lead to that size icluding poor diet and supplementation, inbreeding, using smaller parents as breeders, etc. I would see no problems with getting this dragon as a pet. It would be unadvisable to ever use as a breeder unless its size really picked up. With proper care it could live a healthy life and provide you with plenty of enjoyment. If it is that small at that age it would be great to see it in an environment of being well cared for.

Mike

Its also possible he is a cross of a p. rankin and a p. vitticeps or another species of bearded dragons like a p. mitchelli or p. rankin and this would be the normal adult size of them.

If he is a p.vitticeps and that size he may still grow quite a lot with a good diet, proper heats/lights and general care. The important thing is that he is healthy now.

We've taken in a lot of non thriving dragons, and two that we took in last year were this age, weighting in the low 30 grams area and around that size. With proper care they took off growing. Although still what we consider small dragons, they reached 17 inches and 350 grams in six months. We will not breed the one we kept of these two, I don't think they ever should be as they had a hard start in life. But they do make wonderful pets.
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www.reptilerooms.com

Thank you guys so much I just found out that it is actully 8 months old and it is 12-14 inches. does that make it a little more normal. It was the runt of the litter I was told and about 2 months ago a dominant male that was in there with them was sold and since then she has growen lots so with the right light and food she could keep growing too a good length and weight right?
I am totally for helping it out but as it is my first I dont want to get a dragon that might have to many complications simply beacuse I have not owned one yet.
Thanx Chris

Be prepared for some physical problems down the road. It does not sound like this little one had a good begining. You might want to consider purchasing a dragon form one of our experienced breeeders where the health of the parents and hatchlings is known. If not you can get this one and know that you are giving a good home to an animal that would otherwise be deprived.