Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have three clutches of baby beardies and was wondering when their first shed will be. The oldest clutch where born around April 20th. They should show great color after the shed as they are from a redXnormal father and a snow mother.
Thanx
-Ben

Your oldest clutch (hatched April 20) has not shed yet??? That's seems rather unusual. That would make them almost 3 months old by now. I'm not a breeder, but I've heard of baby beardies shedding as early as a few weeks after being born, maybe even sooner than that. Of course, the faster they grow they more often they will shed.

Are your babies getting plenty of UVB, calcium, and protein. Those are three of the main building blocks that help baby beardies develop and grow.

I am hoping that someone that breeds beardies will also reply to your question. I don't feel that I have given you a very good answer. Sorry, just thought I'd try...

Veronica
Beautiful Dragons

Normally they start shedding at about 2 weeks (mine did anyway). I don't understand how they could not have shed yet either. How long are they?
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TheClassyLizard

That is really strange that at least some of the dragons haven't shed yet. The snows that I bred earlier were a little slow growing and some didn't even shed until they were around 2 1/2 months old but it was always only 2 or 3 from the clutch. The rest shed at around 5-6 weeks. What I did was fed them dusted crickets first thing in the morning then gave them some lettuce to pick at during the day. Then would feed them at least twice more with crickets that day. Vicki Dachiu told me to do that and they started growing much faster than they were. I was trying to feed them lettuce in the morning and crickets in the evening and they just weren't getting enough protein and calcium to grow at optimal levels. I also dusted with vitamin supplament twice a week on one of the feedings. Hope this helps.

Robert

Those babies are nearly 12 weeks old! Mine all shed out for the first time between 3 and 4 weeks. I have some 8 week olds that have shed 3 times already. Maybe they shed and you didn't notice?
D K REPTILE

I don't know what's wrong then. They are about 4 to 5 inches long. I put about 30 crickets in each tank before I go to work and then give them roman lettuce when I get back from work. I probubly need to dust the crickets more often. I only dust them about 1 or 2 times a week because I'm usually in a hurry to get to work. Is there anything I can give them to help them grow?
-Ben

In the pic you posted, I counted 7 and a half babies. How many are in each tank? If there are eight babies per tank, and you give 30 crickets per day, that's only 3-4 crickets per dragon per day! Generally people allow the babies to eat as much as they can in about 15 minutes, removing the leftovers at that time. You should have a pretty high 1/4" cricket bill with 3 clutches of babies.....they can really pound down those crickets!
If all other conditions are correct, I would guess that they have not shed because they are not getting enough protein/food. What else are you feeding them? Also, what is your substrate....looks like bran or sand? Generally babies are kept on paper towels.
I would increase their cricket consumption and you should soon see some growth.
Best of luck with them!
Sharla

I keep all newborns on papertowels but as they get older(usually around 1-2 months of age) I switch them to sand. I keep them in three separte tanks which are big rubbermade tubs, probubly forty of fifty gallons maybe more. I keep no more than 12 babies in each. At one time I had five rubbermaide tubs. I know all about what happens if you dont feed them enough, as my first clutch bit each others tails off. Now I know they need a ton space and food for this not to happen. What kind of food should I feed them other than what I do already?
Thanks for all of the help.
-Ben

Crickets crickets and more crickets. You are giving them 30 crickets for everyone. They could probably eat almost 30 crickets "EACH". Romaine isn't all that great for them. Try some chopped collard greens. I fed mine as much as they wanted 2-3x a day. At 2 months, they were 11" long...
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TheClassyLizard