How to tell a Beardies Age??

[kbinder]

We recently adopted a bearded dragon from a rescue so we have no information on this guy or girl?? Tyler (my 6 year old named him/her) is 14” long. Anyway to tell approx age by their length?? I’m not positive if I can see the 2 bumps or not....if it would help I could post a picture of the underside of him above the vent. Any help would be appreciated so I can tell his insect to veggie ratio. He doesn’t much like veggies/fruits but seems to pick at mustard greens only. I will hide Phoenix worms in his salad to get him to eat some by “accident” He will however gobble up 30 crickets in less than 10 min time and then look at me and wait for more. Just want to make sure he’s getting what he needs.

 

[PatsyB]

I sorta addressed this on your other post. Unfortunately, we can't really tell their age without seeing them hatch. There are so many variables that go into their size. I've seen 2 year old dragons that look like they are 2 months old because they had improper lighting. Tyler looks like a real sweetheart. I would get a vet checkup on him to make sure that he is healthy. Since he's 14" I would treat him like a juvenile and adjust things as he grows. Looking at your pictures, there may be some MBD in his front legs and a previous injury to the base of his tail. Make sure that you are dusting his feeders with calcium. Since right now you are using a compact fluorescent, I would always use calcium with D3 for the time being until you get a better bulb.

I have a female that I rescued that is missing half her tail. When I brought her home I treated her like she was a baby and gave her a basking temp of 105 degrees and fed her 2x a day. As she got bigger I lowered her temp and the amount of food I was feeding her. She is the size of my 4 year old male so I'm thinking she's around the same age.

If you can, post a picture of his tail and we can help you figure out if he really is a boy.

 

[kbinder]

Thank you so much for the info. I joined a bearded dragon Facebook group yesterday and they also said it looked like he had some MBD and was malnourished due to sunken fat pads on his head. Since this is our first bearded dragon I wasn’t entirely sure if he needed a vet check but thankfully our dog vet is also a reptile vet so he’s got an appt at 4:30pm tomorrow. Our vet used to be our local zoo vet so he’s kind of a guru on all animals lol.

I’m letting him warm up right now and I’m going to bathe him in a bit so I will post better pictures of him all around to post soon.

I do dust his feeders but it’s a calcium without D3 so I will get some with D3 when I go get his worms. I’m waiting on a shipment from rainbow mealworms with a variety of feeder insects for him. I will also look for the uvb light you suggested.

Is MBD treatable and can it be cured? If he is a juvenile I should be feeding him at least 2x per day right? Sorry for all the questions....I’ve done tons of research but I know you all can help I hate that he wasn’t properly cared for before we adopted him but I know he’s gonna grow fat, Happy and healthy with us!

 

[Hdrydr31]

MBD is treatable but not curable..It can be stopped/slowed down with proper vet care and supportive care..Glad to see that this sweet one now has a good home and a better life ahead.. Yes he is malnourished so getting some good feeders and supplements and hydration will be important..looking forward to seeing how he does.

 

[kbinder]

MBD is treatable but not curable..It can be stopped/slowed down with proper vet care and supportive care..Glad to see that this sweet one now has a good home and a better life ahead.. Yes he is malnourished so getting some good feeders and supplements and hydration will be important..looking forward to seeing how he does.

Thank you! We are trying to get him on the right track. He loves crickets as well as Phoenix worms and I have Dubia roaches and a variety of worms on the way. He’s learning to eat his veggies lol. I’m getting the calcium with D3 today and a better UVB light. I’m also changing out his substrate today.

 

[kbinder]

I sorta addressed this on your other post. Unfortunately, we can't really tell their age without seeing them hatch. There are so many variables that go into their size. I've seen 2 year old dragons that look like they are 2 months old because they had improper lighting. Tyler looks like a real sweetheart. I would get a vet checkup on him to make sure that he is healthy. Since he's 14" I would treat him like a juvenile and adjust things as he grows. Looking at your pictures, there may be some MBD in his front legs and a previous injury to the base of his tail. Make sure that you are dusting his feeders with calcium. Since right now you are using a compact fluorescent, I would always use calcium with D3 for the time being until you get a better bulb.

I have a female that I rescued that is missing half her tail. When I brought her home I treated her like she was a baby and gave her a basking temp of 105 degrees and fed her 2x a day. As she got bigger I lowered her temp and the amount of food I was feeding her. She is the size of my 4 year old male so I'm thinking she's around the same age.

If you can, post a picture of his tail and we can help you figure out if he really is a boy.

Here are a few pics of him from his bath as well as under his tail. He took a big poop in the tub and it has white “pee” at the end so that’s a good sign Let me know what you think about gender.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Here are a few pics of him from his bath as well as under his tail. He took a big poop in the tub and it has white “pee” at the end so that’s a good sign Let me know what you think about gender.

Bless his heart and yes I say HIS you got a boy there..