Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey Everyone,

Got a quick question. Currently we own two bearded dragons...one we bought, one we adopted. The dragon we bought is probably 6-8 months old by now probably about eight inches from his nose to the tip of his tail. He is active, inqusitive and like most young dragons I've seen an eating machine. I'm a little worried that we are over feeding him..He gets a moderate amount of dusted veggies in the morning which he ususally has a good portion of..and he's been getting about 30 medium/small (about 1/3 an inch)every night and taking them down no problem. By the time he's done feeding he goes on his branch and his belly over hangs. Are we over feeding this little guy? If so any reccomendations?
AS for the other dragon..she's about 4 years old and adopted..and his been mistreated most of her life. Her set up isn't the best in the world and its a little small but its all we have right now. She also gets veggies every morning but doesn;t really eat much of them..and gets probably 2 dozen large crixs every other night and I ususally give her a bunch of waxworms on the weekend. Lately she's been really lathargic and hasn;t been eating much. We are a little concerned about her. The temp seems pretty good in the tank..but we have combo light on her tank and I'm not sure if she really has an ideal basking area as the light isn;t directed downwards. Any suggestions for this?

~Matthew

As far as the feeding for the little one goes. that is fine and is not over feeding. Just make sure it has enough time to digest its food before the lights go out at night.

For the adopted dragon try giving it a little pedialite. And I would suggest taking a fecal into a vet to get it checked for parisites.

peace,
nate

8 inches head to tail tip is quite small for a 6-8 month old dragon. It should be closer to 12-16" by that age. In the first year of life, bearded dragons should be able to eat all they can of insects for 5-10 minutes and have access to good healthy salads all day.

For a 6-8 month baby that sounds under sized, I would feed it insects twice a day, dusting one feeding once every other day. Keep offering the green daily as well. He should put on more weight and length this way.

After they are 12-14 months old, the majority of the dragon's growing is done, so feeding crickets once every other day is plenty along with daily salads.

As for your other dragon, the rescue, first thing you want to do is give him a complete vet inspection, if you haven't already done so as soon as you received him as a rescue. (not sure if you are the one who rescued you or you purchased him from a reptile/bearded dragon rescuer). Parasite loads can greatly reduce a dragon's ability to thrive.

Also what you can do right away, is use a digital thermometer with probe or temp gun to measure the exact basking temp. It should fall between 95-115F. You indicated you had a dual type light? I am assuming this is a mercury vapour bulb? These are the only bulbs I have heard of that produce heat and give off UVB rays of sufficient quantities to be good for dragons. However the intensity of the UVB of this kind of light typically requires them to be mounted much higher above a basking spot (18" min I beleive it is) in order not to harm your dragon (either by too high light intensity or the much higher UVB output). Because of this greater distance, it may not be giving enough heat to the basking spot. ALso, since the tank he is in is smaller than it should be, it may be very difficult to have the proper temperature gradient available in the cage. It may be better to switch to a 18-24" florscent fixture and UVB bulb and a separate basking light to ensure proper temps.

If the temps are cooler than they s hould be and even if they are 100% perfect, the rescued dragon could be going into brumation. Some do it whether we change light duration or temperatures. However, I would not just assume t his with a rescue, especially if you only recently aquired it and it has not be vet inspected. If the dragon is very under weight or loaded with parasites or otherwise sick, brumation signs are most likely sickness signs and if not treated, could lead to the death of the dragon.

So a ful vet inspection and fecal is what I recommend, especially if it has not seen a vet since it was removed from it's previous owner's inadequet care. If it has been seen by a vet since then, and if no fecal was given, or it has been several months, I would get it done again, to be on a safe side and get that fecal as well.
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PHLdyPayne

Thanks for the reply,

To get a little more accurate...we just measured our bought dragon. He's 10 1/2 inches from snout to tip, still a little uncertain about how old he is..but I suspect he was born in august and we bought him in October so that would make him probably closer to just six months as opposed to 8..since we've had him he's probably nearly doubled in size. I just redid the light fixture set up and we are(and have been) using a Trex active UV heat bulb, the self ballasted mercury vapor bulb elevated about six inches above the tank. I also just set up a 18 inch slim line fluroescent desert bulb that supposedly gives off UVA/UVB light..though it was added more to illuminate the cooler side of the tank. He gets fresh veggies every morning and he's been downing something like 25-30 smaller crickets a night..and looking for more most of the time. I just tried feeding him last night somewhat larger crickets and he downed them no problem and still was looking for more. His crickets get dusted with the Rep-Cal, Calcium and ViD3 powder every feeding and the Rep Cal Herptavite vitamins once a week..ususally wednesdays. He lives in a Forty breeder has plenty of climbing and hiding space and his basking spot probably cooks at about 100-110 depending on the overall temp in the apartment. Not exactly sure though, we don't have a digital thermometer. And as I said in my last post..he is bright, inqusitive, active and always looking to come out and play. This sound about right?

As for the rescue, a vet inspection has become a bit of a priortiy as I am actually starting to belive that she may have some internal parasites...one of the things I just found out was that he was feeding her out door insects. She hasn;t been defecating regualarly and when she does its not much. We just redid her cage tonight as well..and got another mercury vapor bulb also elevated above the tank six inches, added some rocks and more climbing stuff and got rid of the old combo fixture that really didn;t seem to get the temp or the light set up right. Her basking spot seems to be going at about 100 degrees, the cooler side at about 80 under her bark. We haven;t taken her to the vet..but I'm hoping her appitite returns with the new light fixture. Then I can get a decent stool sample.

~M