Not growing??

[GatorGuy0127]

Hello all, been a while since I posted, had school and things going on.

Anyway it doesn't seem like my beardie Snickers is growing?
He or she appears to have been the same size for a while now and I haven't seen a full shed for a while either, though he/she does eat the shed skin when I have seen it.

Only shedding I have seen was on the tail this last week.

Any ideas? I can get measurments tomorrow and any other info needed.

I'm looking around for a reptile vet nearby also to have both my beardies checked out soon.

 

[PatsyB]

What kind of UVB and basking bulb are you using? How big is your tank? What are you feeding it?

 

[Sander Andrade]

Hello all, been a while since I posted, had school and things going on.

Anyway it doesn't seem like my beardie Snickers is growing?
He or she appears to have been the same size for a while now and I haven't seen a full shed for a while either, though he/she does eat the shed skin when I have seen it.

Only shedding I have seen was on the tail this last week.

Any ideas? I can get measurments tomorrow and any other info needed.

I'm looking around for a reptile vet nearby also to have both my beardies checked out soon.

Don't freak out he/she might just have a slow metabolism, or is playing with brumation.
1) If you haven't yet please determine the sex of your beardie, as it would also help with determining the issue. From what I've seen females usually don't grow as fast and males grow fast.
2) Also what kind of lighting is she/he having?
3) what are you feeding him/her?
4) Have you tried switching and experimenting with other foods? He/she might not like what you're feeding her/him.
5) Is he/she defecating? (Pooping)



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[GatorGuy0127]

Hello thank you for responses

Currently i am using incandescent light bulbs for heating, I have 2 basking areas, one reaches surface temps (measured with laser heat gun) of 105 degrees Fahrenheit and the other slightly cooler at 95 degrees. The rest of the tank stays around 80-85 degrees.

I also have a T5 reptisun uvb bulb that stretches the whole length of the tank, I have the 5.0 bulb currently, getting the 10.0 in the mail soon, and was using the 5.0 as it came with the hood and I figured I should get some use out of it.

Both my beardies are still young and I have trouble sexing them BUT I did just get back from the vet this morning and he looked and also probed them (said they were his first dragon probe but he has done iguanas and the like a lot) and based of what he saw and probed I have a boy and girl. The older one that I mentioned having not seem to have grown much, if at all recently, being the female.

Both dragons, and the one I'm more worried of in this post, poop regularly and also eat regularly and have good appetites. For the first few months they were on a mainly petco cricket diet with occasional super worms, roaches, and some wax worms a handful of times. Now however I have my own LARGE dubia roach colony and these will be the staple feeder for me. I always dust with calcium and once a week with multi vitamins. She also gets very excited when it's time to eat and sees me messing with the roach bins.

I am also waiting to hear back from the vet tomorrow on my fecal tests, both my dragons took a fresh poop this morning, and also in another week or 2 to hear back on some swab tests to check for anything else.

Dragon stats as of now
Snickers, my female, and older. Purchased from petco in June, assuming she was around a month old at minimum putting her at about 7 months old minimum. She weighed in at 84 grams and is 13 inches nose to tail.

Kit-kat, my male (as probed by vet) is younger. I got him from LLLreptile at about a month old also and have had him almost 2 months now, making him at least 3 months old. He weighed in at 22 grams and is 8.5 inches nose to tail.

 

[GatorGuy0127]

Update, vet office called back today on both my dragons fecal samples.

Snickers, my female who I started this post about with her growth (still not sure if she's normal size or not for a female her age?) came back with having, as the vet put it, "significant" parasites. She has coccidia and pin worms. Both at what the vet said is a 4 on their scale of 1-4.

My male, kit-kat, came back as just having coccidia. Again a 4 on their 1-4 scale. He will however also be treated for pinworms since they share an enclosure.

So Monday I pick up their medication to give for 2 weeks as well as cleaning out the tank and decor and then a follow up fecal test after medication rounds.

 

[Sander Andrade]

Update, vet office called back today on both my dragons fecal samples.

Snickers, my female who I started this post about with her growth (still not sure if she's normal size or not for a female her age?) came back with having, as the vet put it, "significant" parasites. She has coccidia and pin worms. Both at what the vet said is a 4 on their scale of 1-4.

My male, kit-kat, came back as just having coccidia. Again a 4 on their 1-4 scale. He will however also be treated for pinworms since they share an enclosure.

So Monday I pick up their medication to give for 2 weeks as well as cleaning out the tank and decor and then a follow up fecal test after medication rounds.

Yeah that would explain them eating alot but not growing. We all hope they turn out ok

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[PatsyB]

Parasites will slow her growth. I suggest separating them as soon as possible since his hormones are going to kick in. Considering she is on the small side, if he tries to mate with her over and over, he can hurt her. Coccidia is a pain in the ass. You have to clean the tank everday with an ammonia based cleaner or a steam cleaner. Investing in a good steam cleaner at this point would be a good idea. Beardeddragon.co has a great cleaner for Coccidia. Also, start giving them a probiotic. The antibiotic is going to wreck havoc on their system, the probiotic will help things. I know some people that treated for coccidia took all the decorations out of the tank during treatment and just put paper towel down for substrate to make it easy to switch out daily. You can also make temporary hides and what not using cardboard boxes that can me tossed away.