what is wrong with the beardie? : (

[sway]

Hey everyone,
I'm new to this forum but I joined because I have a concern. About a year ago my gf and I decided to both get bearded dragons. We bought them from the same person who owned both of them. They're over a year old now. She kept hers in her tank and I kept mine with me.
THE PROBLEM: my beardie is huge. He's actually growing. He loves to eat the dry pebble food and seems really healthy. Her beardie won't eat the pebble food so we constantly have to give her crickets which she sometimes eats and other times doesn't want. We feed her greens and we've followed everything we know to keep a beardie happy. She seems happy except she isn't growing. I mean after a year she seems to be the same size and not getting fat either. She is real skinny as well as shedding a lot. Any clue what to change to fix this?

 

[Josh]

Welcome to BDF, thank you for joining
It sounds like you keep them separate - is that the case?
Does the little one have UVB lighting and properly elevated temperatures? Have you tried other foods like dubia roaches? As dragons age they require less live foods but it sounds like the two you have are nearly the same age. Have you confirmed that with the person you got them from?

 

[sway]

I did confirm it with the person. They were both from the same mother. Same age and everything. He kept them both in the same tank while they were young but when i bought them i seperated them into their own tanks. Both have same type of UVB lighting and temp and everything is the same with both.Havent tried roaches. I will try roaches and see what happens. I'm just nervous that maybe the one she got has a defect from birth of some sort because mine is almost fully grown while hers looks smaller than the pic i have posted.

 

[Josh]

A photo to compare the two would be very helpful. Though it is pretty odd that they would differ so much in size...

 

[sway]

 

[sway]

not sure why it came on twice but that is mine now. Which is the same one as my little profile picture but the profile pic was when he was a lot younger. Compared to hers which is still smaller than my profile pic
Hers still looks like the ones that you get when you go to petsmart. Still a baby

 

[Josh]

Hmmmm - maybe Germ or some of our breeder experts can chime in here. I'm kind of at a loss if the difference is as great as you say.
Sometimes different animals will grow at different rates depending on their environment - but for one to basically not grow at all, despite eating and behaving normally, THAT is bizarre...

 

[sway]

yea that is why I was getting worried. I was going to take it to the vet but I wanted to see if you guys had an answer before I go spending the money.

 

[Josh]

Could it possibly be parasites? Do the feces of both dragons look pretty similar? They won't be identical if they are eating different foods but mucous or blood or anything abnormal with the little guy may be an indication...

 

[drgnfly2265]

How old are your beardies now? It is normal for beardies to grow at different rates, like Josh said. What age were they when you bought them? While they were housed together, the little one could have been dominated by others and not get enough food/heat. It is a critical time for them when they are small to get as much protien as they can eat for them to grow. One of my beardies wasn't feed properly by her previous owner for her first 4 months of age and she is stunted in size.

How long has the little one not been eating a lot? Has it been for the whole year since you've had them? If the little one has been eating so little for this whole time that can be a cause for the stunted growth.

And like Josh said, have you had her checked for parasites? That could be a cause for her acting that way as well.....

Do you have a picture of her beardie that you can show us?

 

[Germ]

I'm a little late here, but the others have pretty much covered it. It could possibly be the runt of the clutch, but by the sounds of your description they were the same size when you acquired them.

Having not increased in size over a years time, is definitely reason for a vet visit. Could be parasites, worms, any number of things. What size enclosures are they being kept in. Does your GF have it out of the enclosure a lot? Have the UVB bulbs been changed? Specific setup specs & pics of both the BDs & setups would be necessary to even hazard a guess. At least a fecal float would be in order, better yet a complete vet workup.

Sorry we can't be of much more help, but without all the info, not much we can speculate on.

Good Luck

 

[sway]

I am working on getting the pictures. been really busy but yes both beardies were of the same age. Hers is just small. She eats but very little. Doesn't show any signs of sickness or illnesses. Never had. Just doesn't grow. Won't really eat crickets nor the food from the store. She gives her mealworms and veggies but for some reason just doesn't like the crickets. Mine is a monster. Put a finger in front of him and hell probably tear it apart lol

 

[jynx stephens]

do you know the gender of the dragons?

 

[Erika aguilera]

So I'm super late with the pics but here they are and as you can see my beardie is an ant compared to my BFs. My setup is a 40 gal tank.

 

[Germ]

What are you using for a UVB bulb? Can't see one in the pics.

 

[Erika aguilera]

The one in the pic is the UVB bulb.

 

[Germ]

Then what are you using for heat. Or is it an MVB doesn't appear to be very bright in the pic.

 

[Erika aguilera]

It's an MVB .

 

[Germ]

Does it bask under it the better part of the daylight hours? I notice it is hiding in the pic. What brand & strength MVB?

 

[Erika aguilera]

Yea he loves to bask most of the day. It's a zoo med powersun 100 watt but I'm switching to two bulbs because those bulbs get expensive to replace.