How fast do they grow

[Beardielova]

I been having my Bearded Dragon for 4 mouths and she haven't grow that much. Do anybody know what I could be doing wrong? I have 36x18x18 cage and 160 powersun mercury vapor UVB bulb and temps are 100 on the basking side and 80 on the cool side. She eats 12 crickets a day and 1 mealworm a day. I don't know how old she is but when I got her she was about 8 inch long and now she is 11 inch long ???

 

[zebraflavencs]

She eats ONLY ? 12 crix a day ? Try tripling that amount... Also, raise your basking temps a tad, and is she by chance avoiding that MVB ?
Janie

 

[weewane]

yes she should be growing faster than that. My littleman when I got him he was 5 or 6 weeks old and 4.5 inchs long. now he is about 12-13 weeks old and is about 11-12 inchs long. he has tripled atleast in size since I got him if not more. there is one I saw maybee on here of a 4 month old that was close to 15 inchs long I think. So from what I know they tend to grow fast when young.

 

[wiiiroc]

It is suggested to feed your beardie as many crickets as they can handle within a 10 minute span.
Your pooper should be eating much, much more than 12!

 

[Beardielova]

no she isnt avoiding the MVB (is that mercury Bulb) I have a 160w powersun.... how do I increase the basking spot... she stays in the basking spot and never goes to the cool side... unless she is trying too chase a cricket or stump in the water bowl

 

[zebraflavencs]

give her something that is taller to climb up, and bask. I'd say since she isn't wanting to move from that area, she's colder than optimum.
Janie

 

[DragonMom]

:-X

 

[Beardielova]

She dosen't eat her veggies yes I and calcium to her food and I don't use a multivitamin. But I do have some.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Calcium 5 days a week on first "meal", vitamins 2 days a week on first "meal'. Do this up until dragon is 12 months old.. then reevaluate doses then.
Janie

 

[renich]

I would also stop feeding her the daily mealworm. They do not offer any nutritional value and have been known to cause impaction in beardies due tot heir hard outer shell.

Mercury vapor bulbs usually give off a lot of heat. What is your setup like? In other words, how do you have the bulb affixed?

As pointed out, daily salad should be offered. This can be a mixture of veggies (squash, peppers, sweet potato, to name a few) and greens (collard, mustard, parsley to name a few)..

Here's our basic caresheet. Give it a read. It goes over temps, lighting, food, housing, etc.
Bearded Dragon Care

 

[Beardielova]

this is her setup

 

[renich]

Sweet.

Couple of thoughts-
You may want to consider lowering your lights. This may help crank up the heat.

Also, just a note on sand. At least it looks like sand. It can harbor bacteria. If you plan to use it, make sure you replace it often and clean up the poop as soon as it lands. You may also want to consider feeding your beardie outside of the viv. This would eliminate the possible ingestion of sand, which can lead to impaction.

 

[weewane]

Dragonmom assassin is the exact dragon I was talking about. And wow 17ins allready that is huge. I can't wait to see what he looks like when full grown as I am sure same goes with you.

 

[DragonMom]

:-X