Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i got my bearded dragon in september on the 9th, and they claimed that he was 4 weeks old, he was about 4 inches snout to vent. now its january, and he's 12 inches long. and im wondering if thats an ok size for a male his age? he's about 5 months.
i have a uva uvb light a heat lamp. he eats about 100 crickets every 3 days, he gets veggies like chard, collard, dandilion, squash, cucumber, carotte, wheat grass occasionally, lots of other stuff too, but im not going to type his whole menu down. he gets calcium dusted on his veggies, cause thats the only way he'll eat it. he wont take the crickets if they are dusted. and he gets vitamins every friday. just wondering if there is anything else i should be doing. his basking temp today was at around 90 in the morning to 112 at the highest. and the cool end is anyewhere from 78-85. He's in a pretty big enclosure that we made out of the bottom shelf of a bookcase.
is 12 inches really ok for 5 months?
what more could i do, i really want him to be healthy and grow properly.
fecal was normal last checked..

12 inches for a 5 month old is a fine size. Different bloodlines grow at different rates. But yours seems to be a healthy size. I wouldnt worry too much. It ussually takes a beardie about a year to reach adult hood, which is between 1 and 22 inches( some get larger)

peace,
nate

that good size.1 of my beardie reach 16 inch in 4 or 5 month. he about 2 feet and 3 inch long now so he pretty big. but your is fine to me.

yeah i heard that at six months some are at 16 inches. and i was worried that he wasnt getting something he needed. i want him to grow up big and strong

You mentioned he eats 100 crickets every three days? Are you feeding him crickets every day or just a large amount every three days? He should be fed crickets (or other healthy insect foods such as silkworms, butterworms, various species of roaches, etc) 1-2 times a day, as much as he wants to eat in a 5-10 minute period. Everything else about your setup and feeding is perfect.

12 inches (I am assuming snout to tail length) is not bad for a 5 month old dragon. As each dragon does grow at different rates, some are shorter at that age, others are longer. The only way to get an ideal of what is adult length should be, is to look at the parents. If they are over 20" than your dragon should reach that length after a year or so.
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PHLdyPayne

he eats 100 crickets every three days, not all at once.
he gets butterworms once a month, (about 15) and every week i feed him 50 waxworms. and i've never tried silk cause they are too expensive here. he has had a few pinkies but they worry me.