miniature beardy

[Darren86]

Hi everyone,

I'm a litlle concerned about one of my bearded dragons (18 months old). I used to house 2 together (same age) until a marked size difference appeared, I assume as a result of dominance issues. I then separated the beardies hoping that the smaller one would begin to grow and put on some weight , but it has been almost 6 months now and neither seems to have happened.

Is there anything I can do to aid growth?, such as pinky's etc? They have uv, heat lights and calcium suppliments etc. they aren't good at eating vegies by themselves (i've tried lasers and mealies to try and entice then to no avail), and was wondering if that may be contributing to the problem.

should i wait until summer is over before i become to concerned, as i assume they will eat considerably more and be more likely to grow and put on weight in summer than winter.

any ideas would be helpful.

Darren

 

[Chris1]

is she eating insects well?

feed her up till she gets to a good size (on insects) and then u can start 'insisting' she eat her salad by holding off on insects.
one of mine loves beign put outside on a patch of clover, (well,t hey all do, but one in particular prefersto get her greens that way) i put a mesh cage upside down over her to semi protect her (but still need to watch/sit with her incase she gets under the mesh....

natural sunlight often helps improve their eating, its always worth a try,..

is the UVB light new? they shoudl be replaced every 6 months if thats what u rely n for UV,...

what are the basking temps?
that will also affect appetite/growth

 

[Darren86]

thanks Chris

its eating insects reasonably well, but not like the big one. eats crickets reasonably, doesn't eat woodies and loves grasshoppers which i have to catch a couple times a week.

basking temps are around 35-40 degrees and i use a Mercurt Vapour bulb for both heat and uv, they can regulate their basking spot temp due to different height branches. they also have an outdoor enclosure, which they haven't been in for a while due to shifting house , once settled i'll have them back out there in it. i was going to put grasshopper atractive plants inside the enclosure to give them food in there, but are there any plants i could grow in the outdoor enclosure that would be good for them to eat?? its only 4foot by 2 x 2.

thanx

 

[Chris1]

since teh temps/UV sound pretty good (i aim fro 43, but 40s not bad), i'd be looking into a possible worm/parasite problem,....

have u had a fecal done by a vet?
(should only be about $20, need fresh poo though)

stress often lets parasite numbers spiral out of control which could explain why one is doing better than teh other?

just a thought,...

 

[Darren86]

I have never had their faeces tested, i will get it done. thanks. now to find a vet in cairns that does it...

thanks for your help chris

 

[Darren86]

if it has parasites, how are they treated?

 

[CodeRed]

Ive seen this happen many times before and even was hoping that a UWS study on beardie behaviour addresses this issue. What I have notice is that once a beardie has been exposed to a more dominate animal for a long time it never seems to recover. Even when the dominant animal is removed the beardie doesnt improve. This may be a behavioral trait, or even an indication of some other reason why the beardie wasnt doing well.

I suggest that you keep the beardie seperated from all other beardies to try and minimise stress. Does this beardie still hide all the time?

In terms of feeding it up, yeap pinkies will help, but minimising stress is the key. Dont stuff around too much with veges until she's feeding and growing strongly unless she's taking them readily.

Also as Chris said, natural sunlight or changing the UV bulb may help to trigger this animal into normal behaviour.

 

[Chris1]

no worries Darren!

depending on the type of parasite (well, if thats what the problem is) the vet will know what to do,...

 

[Darren86]

the small beardy doesn't hide at all, it sits basking in the light for most of the day, seems to act pretty normally, it just doesn't want to grow. i'll try pinky's and see if it will take them. and will try and give it natural light in its outdoor enclosure at least for 10 hrs every two days and see if that helps. the small beardy is also in a completely different room with no other items to stress it out.

 

[eden roscoe]

one of my beardies is like that, its about three and thats all it will grow. i heard off a mate it is the result of beardy parents breeding when they are too old, like 5 or 6. my mate has one from the same breeder as the one i got mine from and its full grown and the same small size as mine.

 

[CodeRed]

the small beardy doesn't hide at all, it sits basking in the light for most of the day, seems to act pretty normally, it just doesn't want to grow. i'll try pinky's and see if it will take them. and will try and give it natural light in its outdoor enclosure at least for 10 hrs every two days and see if that helps. the small beardy is also in a completely different room with no other items to stress it out.

Then I'd be looking for a parasite problem. If you're unsure how to do this then go see a vet, but you can do it yourself with some of the commercial worming solutions, eg reptile science worm rid.

 

[Kirby]

if it is a parasite problem, most likely coccidia, get the vet to use Bactrim Sulfamethoxazole and Trimethoprim. it doesn't effect their good gut bacteria, but kills off all the nasties. its actually a human medication, that vets can prescribe to birds/reptiles. when you do commence treatment, you can also give non-dairy yogurt, as it has an abundance of good bacteria.

you may also want to get ahold of Womabaroo protein suppliment, RepCal calcium WITH D3, and RepCal multivitamin. also... Jumpstart, and accidopholis if you can find these supplements as well.

To me, it does sound like a parasite problem.

try make sure the dragon cant see, or really smell the other lizards, maybe try a different room.

what exactly are you feeding feeder wise? and how long is the dragon, this is important before we suggest feeding rodents.

another thought, substrate? what are you using?

hope we can start seeing some growth and development sometime soon. slow growers from hierarchies and such housing do take a long time to start growing again, and gain some length, trust me. I've had 11 month old dragons the size of hatchlings and over a few months have slowly caught up, by four to five full on months they have gained weight and size. its a slow process with 'rescues' and underdeveloped dragons but its worth it in the end.

at 18 months tho, the dragon should well and truly be full size. if they are very, very small individuals, they may not make it past 35cm~ or less, as there body begins to tell them to stop growing with adulthood.

 

[Darren86]

the reptile in q is completly isolated from the other beardy, they are a number of rooms apart. they were together for about a year before i separated them 6 mothns ago.

i'm housing them on sand, though they spend little time on it prefering the braches in the enclosures. i feed them mainly crickets and grasshoppers, they sometimes take vegies and fruit when hand fed. i occassionally feed them mealies as well.

the dragon is 300mm long total length. maybe i left it too late to separate them??

 

[Kirby]

the reptile in q is completly isolated from the other beardy, they are a number of rooms apart. they were together for about a year before i separated them 6 mothns ago.

i'm housing them on sand, though they spend little time on it prefering the braches in the enclosures. i feed them mainly crickets and grasshoppers, they sometimes take vegies and fruit when hand fed. i occassionally feed them mealies as well.

the dragon is 300mm long total length. maybe i left it too late to separate them??

she is small for her age, but i think she could make it at least to 40cm, if not full size (50cm)

call your vet for a fecal, and offer as much food (crickets, roaches, etc) as she will eat morning and afternoon. also greens. dusted etc.

 

[Ninjaette]

I recently bought this stuff called "jump start" by Zilla that's good for increasing the appetite of slow/finnicky eaters. I've been using it on my geckos and its great.

 

[Darren86]

hey thanks heaps ninjaette, i'll try pic some up from a local store if they stock them