Weight

[rellwill]

I have two bearded dragon one male one female, living in the one enclosure (very happy) three months ago transferred to a large corner tank 1.2m at it's widest they shed, eat heaps mainly fresh and pellets available at all time, crickets/skinks, swim, and are very active. My concern is that at 9months the female is only 13gms and the male 60gms is this normal?

 

[SunWuKong]

from everything I've read its always better to house them seperately. there is always gonna be a degree of dominance. But im no expert, so see what everyone else says =]

 

[misskatie]

I have heard it's better to house them separately as well but then I'll see breeders sometimes having like two or three of the same sex in one tank but 13g for a 9 month old seems extremely low maybe every lizard is different I don't know but mine is roughly that age and about 135g and I have a male that is younger he is 7 months and he's passed 250g

 

[rellwill]

Female is 17cm long and 27 for the male. She appears to be the dominant one and we've had no fighting at all. I just don't know how to get the weight up

 

[misskatie]

I would start by separating them even just a simple divider they may be ok now because they are little but once they get older the male is gonna want to breed and if the female doesn't want to it is going to stress her out and create more problems...you could try wax worms not a lot though they are like candy for bearded dragons also collard greens, kale, strawberries, blueberries fresh fruits and vegetables in general are good for bearded dragons but avoid spinach and lettuce. Lettuce has nothing to it just water and spinach takes out calcium instead of giving it. What exactly is your feeding routine? What do they get and do you dust their feeders? Are they given baths at all during the week what are your temperatures at in the tank?

 

[rellwill]

What are wax worms? They get crickets about once a week, sometimes not that often as we are an hour from the nearest pet shop. They get fresh food at least twice a day morning and late afternoon more if their food jar is empty. We dust our crickets but I must admit we rarely dust their other food. I'll start from today. We do feed them a lot of baby spinach and lettuce as they love it. What are collard greens? They get baths once a week. Temps 10cm from heater is about 32 degrees they can get close if they want more hear. The other side sits in the low 20's sometimes after a really cold night (rented house = no heating one heat lamp off) high teens. I do have the ability to separate the tank into two sections but am reluctant to do at this stage, the breeder we got them from has males and females with other lizards all in the one tank. Thanks for the advice so far!"

 

[misskatie]

wellll stop feeding them spinach and lettuce....like i said earlier spinach takes OUT calcium from their bones and does NOT put in calicum...lettuce is just all water no nutrition or anything in lettuce....breeders know their dragons it could even be for mating purposes I have seen it too where breeders will have multiple dragons in one tank but since you are having problems with weight that is one of the most simplest things you can do. As far as temperatures are they 32 degrees ferinheight or celsius?? the temperatures on the basking or hot side should be 110 roughly ferinheight and on the colder side mid 80s low 90s. For lighting you need either a strip light and 1 basking light to put on the "hot" side and a regular heat lamp from a pet store or online for the "cold" side. OR you can you a all in one light that provides the UVA and UVB and heat plus one regular heating light. That is one of the setups I have on my females tank. I have a 125 watt all in one light and a 150 watt regular blue heat light. On my males tank I have a strip light for UVA plus a basking light on the "hot" side and a regular heat lamp for the "cold" side. Here are some links for lighting on amazon so you can get an idea of what I am talking about.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=solar glo

http://www.amazon.com/Zilla-11840-1...408577031&sr=8-6&keywords=reptile+strip+light

Depending on the size of the tank the wattage may be higher or lower. I have a 40 gallon breeder tank for my female and a little bit bigger custom tank for my male

Here is a link about collard greens

http://www.thebeardeddragon.org/what-do-bearded-dragons-eat.php

they are fairly easy to find at any grocery store that would have fresh produce and they are fairly inexpensive

A wax worm is kinda like a mealworm but they are smaller, fatter and softer. They can also be used in like fishing. But like I said they are like candy for bearded dragons so do not feed them often. If you haven't looked into it check out mealworms and waxworms online maybe it would be worth ordering them online instead of driving an hour. Here are some links to get you started as far as feeders go.

http://www.lllreptile.com/store/catalog/

http://www.backwaterreptiles.com/feeder-insects-for-sale.html

http://www.joshsfrogs.com/live-insects-feeders.html

Also what do you use to dust their food when it is dusted???


Hope all this helps

 

[RaidenMarshall]

Wax worms are little worms that are extremely fatty, not a good staple, but certainly a good treat. They're pretty young it sounds, I would definitely feed them more than once a week, my boy is maybe 7 months and he has both insects and greens available daily.

Spinach is no good for a beardie. Lettuce is not good either as it doesn't do much nutritionally. Good greens to feed them are: collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens and sometimes kale etc. They can be found at the grocery store in the cheap section of the produce they practically give away for free. I would also bump up the heat so that its at least 40C.

As for housing them together, I would definitely separate them. You never know when one of them will just get snappy and you may end up with an injured baby. Also, keeping a male and female will result in eggs. Which if you do incubate will turn into baby beardies who will require a lot of insects everyday, which sounds pretty hard for you considering the nearest shop is an hour away. Beardies are solitary creatures, so don't feel bad about separating them

 

[julescoffman]

Are you feeding them skinks(small lizards) or is that something else? If you get a cricket keeper your crickets will last longer since your far from a pet store,get cricket food to gut load them for the dragons,they should be fed 3 times a day as babies /juveniles.and definitely separate them,they may get along now,but could go bad quickly,my friend housed 2 together and had no problem until one day the dominant one almost killed the other,I know you don't want that to happen..and if you order feeder bugs online,its cheaper..horn worms are great for them and will fatten them up! My guy quit eating and lost weight due to illness,been feeding him horn worms and phoenix worms and he's gained 50grams in 2 weeks,good luck..if all else fails..GOOGLE!

 

[rellwill]

When the skins are in season ie small they love them. I have decided to separate them as it's just a matter or sliding glass doors the tracks are already there. The sites for fresh food all seem to have mealworms are these ok? Can anyone recommend a good internet delivery site?

 

[misskatie]

yeah mealworms are good...they should have a variety of feeders available like crickets, all kinds of worms, roaches ect. If not let me know and I will try to track down some sites with more variety for you

 

[julescoffman]

I disagree with feeding your lizard a lizard! They have hard time digesting bones and skin,plus it just doesn't seem right,maybe its just me..not being mean at all but if you research feeding beardies skinks it is a bad idea.they may love them,but not healthy for them by any means..they need fresh greens,and bugs.there are many good sites that will list foods that are good and bad,I would do more research in feeding your guys,if you feed them correctly they will gain lots of weight and be much healthier,other lizards carry different parasites and illness's..hope this helps.

 

[RaidenMarshall]

Now...are these feeder skinks bred with the purpose of being fed to something? Or not? If its the second one, and you're catching and feeding them from outside I would stop that post haste. Personally I have no problem with feeding lizards lizards or snakes snakes granted that it is bred for the purpose of being a feeder and the receiving animal can handle it (which beardies can't). As for mealworms, I wouldn't feed them as a staple. Nutritionally they're just not as great for them as other bugs and have more chitin. Try googling some feeder companies that will deliver to you, I have no idea where you are so I cant exactly help you with finding a company.

 

[rellwill]

I've just ordered bulk crickets and a keeper for them, small batches as I don't know how they will go with to start. My son has changed all the fresh food from his normal routine. That's so much to you all you've been a great help!

 

[rellwill]

When I said small batches I forgot to mention these were woodies and mealworms to try not just the crickets!

 

[misskatie]

What's a woodie???

 

[Canicke]

Roach

 

[misskatie]

Oohh I have never heard them called that, thanks

 

[Canicke]

Australian term

 

[Melissa_White]

We called them Palmetto bugs or wood roaches.