Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just bought a beardie not to long ago he is around 2 1/2 3 monts old and 6 inchs. People say thats to small but that is the size at the pet stores around here that have same ages. Should I worry? thx

6 inches is a bit on the small side for a beardie that age. Mine was 7 inches at 4 weeks old. Don't concern yourself with what the other pet stores' lizards look like. Pet stores are kind of notorious for not taking proper care of their reptiles and fibbing a little bit on age and sizes.

If you tell us all about your husbandry we may be able to help determine what may be causing your beardie to stay small. What size cage, what are you feeding, what temps are the basking spot and cool spot, what kind of substrate, what kind of suppliments... all that.
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

I have a 2 1/2 dragon that is 11 inches long. Most pet store dragons are not properly cared for and tend to be undersized because of that. Yours is young enough to easily rebound from any early undernourishment. make sure you are offering plenty of greens even if they are not being eaten. I don't offer crickets until well after noon just to make sure they start eating greens. They should be dusted ( I like the T-rex Dragon dust). Dust any crickets you feed also just to make sure theyare getting plenty of nourishment. Often, a dragon that is small will go through massive growth spurts when given the right diet. On May 1 my baby dragon was 6" long and 10 grams. In 4 weeks she has grown to 11 inches and 58 grams. I attribute that to two things: She is a hog and eats anything and the T-Rex dragon dust is a great product. If you choose to use it do not supplement with vitamins or calcium as it is a complete supplement.

Mike
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He acts fine eats few veggies but lots of crickets dose not look skinny. temps are 90-100 on hot and basking areas and 75-85 on cool side. he is in a 10 gallon right now I have a 50 but herd not to put them in to big of tanks to soon. thx for the messages tho

Babies tend to eat more crickets than veggies anyways, and that's fine. You're right that you shouldn't move him into a big tank too soon. I would say 10 gallon is small for a 2.5-3 month old, but if he's really 6 inches it should do maybe a little longer. You might want to get the basking spot a little bit warmer by upping the wattage of the lamp or raising the platform. 110-115 is more appropriate for the small ones.

How long ago did you get him? If it was only a week or so ago he may still be small due to the conditions he was in at the petstore. If you've had him a month or two now and haven't seen growth there may still be something wrong.

Are you using calcium and vitamin suppliments and a UVB light?
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Yes I use calicum stuff for crickets and have rep cal I have had him for about a month and the pet store said he was 2 months old when I got him. He looks good and looks to be growing and sheding now a little on his tail. I think I might get a higher watt blub for it but he looks like he is digesting fine 2 poops a day and eats about a dozon crickets and few greens a day. thx for the help

There is always the chance that the pet store lied about his age. Many pet stores I've seen sell them at rediculously young ages. He may have been just a few weeks old when they sold him to you, but they said he was older for... whatever reason. It's happened before. *shrug*

FYI, baby beardies can and should consume as many crickets as they can eat in a ten minute period, 2-3 times a day. This can be 60-100 small crickets a day. That may also be slowing his growth if he's only eating about 12 a day, they need all that protien. It's amazing but they really do pack em down.

Otherwise it sounds like you are doing everything right.
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

kephy thx for the info and help im thinking the pet store lied about his age tho. thats the only thing I can think of casue he acts normal.really 60-100 crikets a day well my crickets are like little bigger then 10 day old crickets but damn thats alot of crickets. I try to feed him more but thats all he eats. thx for all the help tho kephy

The crickets are fine as long as they're no bigger than the space between his eyes. I recommend buying them online in bulk. I buy 1000 online for about the same price I'd pay for 150 at a pet store. 1000 lasts about 2 weeks for me.

I'm glad to help out. A lot of my knowledge I got from here over the past few years, so it's a pleasure to continue sharing that with others.
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

When he gets bigger I will probley start ording online but right now he only eats around 5-7 dozon a week.Then if i bought like 1000 most would probley die or get 2 big for him to eat so cant wait till he gets bigger so I dont have to spend so much and traval to the pet store so much lol. O and can u tell me some vegies thats yours like to eat ? thx

I cycle through collard/mustard/turnip/dandelion greens, endive, escarole, yellow squash.... occasionally kale and mango. I also mix in some moistened Rep-Cal pellets.

The way I got my baby to eat salads was I'd put a piece on the tip of my finger and move it around in front of him. He'd get curious and taste it, and realize it was good food. Then I wouldn't offer crickets until 12 or 1pm, but he'd have the salad available all morning. It only took a few days for him to realize if he wanted to eat something in the morning he had to eat the salads. Now he loves em! You just gotta teach them that the stuff is edible.
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Here is a helpful link with a long list of foods and how good they are for your beardie. It helps you to learn a little bit about the different foods and give a healthy variety. I bookmarked it and use it all the time.
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/

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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)