# Bearded dragon Weight



## Conn (May 20, 2008)

I've recently become worried about the weight of my bearded dragon.

Here are his stats:

Age - 1 year
Length - 12"
Weight - 100g

One of my friends had 2 babies from the same batch as mine and are 3-4 times as big. The research I have done on the internet indicates that on average, 1 year old beardies weigh approximately 300g+.

Does 100g sound like an underfed 1 year old dragon?

I've recently had trouble feeding him. He has never really touched his salad (which I ensure he always has a fresh bowl of), but has recently decided that crickets no longer interest him either. He's also recently refused to even look at mealworms.

This loss of appetite worries me that he has worms, but he's my first dragon so I'm no expert and wondered if I am right to worry about his weight and appetite.

Any suggestions?


Thanks in advance

Conn


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## luke123 (Apr 13, 2008)

urm, well how old was he when you got him? and how long have you had him? just that a 12 inch 1 year old dragon is pretty rare, they should be reaching teir full length by 12-14 months, and the average for an adlt is 18-22 inches, also i think he is SLIGHTLY underweight, try him with a tub of size 3 locusts, he should gobble them up like theres no tomorrow!!


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## AuntyLizard (Feb 7, 2007)

If you post some pics we can take a look and advise you more...

Does sound a little underweight but then we all vary in weight height etc.. if you post some pics of tail end, side view and underneath would be helpful.

Liz


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## Alice (Apr 30, 2007)

Yes he does sound very small
Could you please answer these questions as it will help determine what could be wrong; : victory:

What is your setup like;
What size vivarium have you got him in?
What are the temperatures in the vivarium, cool end, basking spot?
How do you measure these temperatures?
What uvb light do you use, how is it positioned in the viv & how long is it on for per day?
How do you heat his vivarium & how long is the heat on for per day?
Do you have your heat source on a thermostat?
What do you feed your beardie and how often?
Do you dust the livefood with calcium and vit powder?
Do you feed the livefood before you give it to him and if so what with?
What substrate do you have him on?
How do you give him water and how often?

I know it’s a lot of questions but it really does help.


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## Conn (May 20, 2008)

Thanks for your replies, although you are scaring me a bit!

Luke - 
He was 5 months when we got him. We've had him 7 months. His birthday was last week! I gave him some size 3 locusts last week and he did gobble them up to start with, but he started getting bored of them as I ran out and so I didn't get more.


Liz_n_mark - 
I can't post pics at the minute, but I'd appreciate it if you could give me your opinion in a couple of days when I am able to put some photos up.

Alice - 



> What size vivarium have you got him in?


We started him off in a 3'x1'x1' viv but he moved into a 3' high x 2' deep x 2' wide about a month ago.




> What are the temperatures in the vivarium, cool end, basking spot?





> How do you measure these temperatures?


The basking spot is 28 degrees C, cool end 22 degrees C. Heat lamp for basking spot and a heat mat (which is hardly ever on) under the cool end. Both are controlled by a double Habistat thermostat.



> What uvb light do you use, how is it positioned in the viv & how long is it on for per day?


Not sure what light off the top of my head. I can check tomorrow though. It's against the back wall, diagonally. I switch it on when I wake up and switch it off when I go to bed.




> How do you heat his vivarium & how long is the heat on for per day?


As I've mentioned above, it's heated with a heat lamp in one corner and a heat matt on the other side. Both are hooked up to a dual thermostat. The heat lamp is set at 28 degrees C during the day and roughly 23 during the night. The heat matt is set at 22 degrees C night and day.



> Do you have your heat source on a thermostat?


Yes, as above.



> What do you feed your beardie and how often?


He has a fresh salad bowl in the viv at all times. He never touches it though and I just end up replacing it every day.
For the first 4-5 months I had him, I fed him roughly 75% can'O'crickets and 25% live crickets, roughly 4 times a week which he seemed happy with and appeared to be growing well.
This summer though, he started to point blanck refuse can'O'crickets. So I started to use live crickets more and more instead. It seemed ok but soon he was refusing to acknowledge the live crickets I kept on putting in front of him every day. Days later, the crickets were still alive and jumping around the viv.
For his birthday week I gave him some locusts, which he gobbled up at first but grew less interested as they ran out. I've been advised not to feed him anything bigger than the width of his head since and so stopped as these locusts were a bit bigger.
Mealworms interest him sometimes and sometimes not at all.

With crickets/locusts/mealworms, I've been advised to give him as many as he can eat within a 10-15 minute period. During the last 3 months or so, I have been lucky to get him paying attention to the food, let alone eating for 10 minutes.




> Do you dust the livefood with calcium and vit powder?


Occasionally with calcium powder. Not sure on the actual product but could find out tomorrow.




> Do you feed the livefood before you give it to him and if so what with?


I put salad in with the crickets to bulk them up a bit. They eat it up, I just wish "bearded bearded" would.



> What substrate do you have him on?


He's on calci-sand, which I was advised to put him on by all the reptile shops I went to aswell as several internet sites. I have later realised this may have been a mistake, especially during his infancy. However, I have also been advised that to change from calci-sand now would be bad as his claws have developed to point downwards (to walk on sand).



> How do you give him water and how often?


He has always has a water bowl in the viv which is regularly filled. He seems to have trouble working out that it's his water bowl though and needs reminding.



Thanks to all of you for your replies. I am desperate to get him into good shape but I just can't get him to eat much at the minute.

Thanks
Conn


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## alnessman (Mar 8, 2008)

hi conn, i would take him to the vet for a check up, just to be sure, when was the last time you changed the uv tube they should changed every 6-9 months and be 10-12% and his he pooing regular


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## luke123 (Apr 13, 2008)

Conn said:


> Thanks for your replies, although you are scaring me a bit!
> 
> Luke -
> He was 5 months when we got him. We've had him 7 months. His birthday was last week! I gave him some size 3 locusts last week and he did gobble them up to start with, but he started getting bored of them as I ran out and so I didn't get more.


how many did he eat?




> Alice -
> 
> We started him off in a 3'x1'x1' viv but he moved into a 3' high x 2' deep x 2' wide about a month ago.


 they should have a minimum of a 4x2x2.




> The basking spot is 28 degrees C, cool end 22 degrees C. Heat lamp for basking spot and a heat mat (which is hardly ever on) under the cool end. Both are controlled by a double Habistat thermostat.


thats wayyyy too cold, thats about 90F, the basking spot should be 110F, the cool end 86F




> Not sure what light off the top of my head. I can check tomorrow though. It's against the back wall, diagonally. I switch it on when I wake up and switch it off when I go to bed.


when was it last replaced?






> As I've mentioned above, it's heated with a heat lamp in one corner and a heat matt on the other side. Both are hooked up to a dual thermostat. The heat lamp is set at 28 degrees C during the day and roughly 23 during the night. The heat matt is set at 22 degrees C night and day.


 ide advise you take the heatmat out, they dont need one. you need ONE thermostat probe in the cool end to control the whole temps of the viv.




> He has a fresh salad bowl in the viv at all times. He never touches it though and I just end up replacing it every day.
> For the first 4-5 months I had him, I fed him roughly 75% can'O'crickets and 25% live crickets, roughly 4 times a week which he seemed happy with and appeared to be growing well.
> This summer though, he started to point blanck refuse can'O'crickets. So I started to use live crickets more and more instead. It seemed ok but soon he was refusing to acknowledge the live crickets I kept on putting in front of him every day. Days later, the crickets were still alive and jumping around the viv.
> For his birthday week I gave him some locusts, which he gobbled up at first but grew less interested as they ran out. I've been advised not to feed him anything bigger than the width of his head since and so stopped as these locusts were a bit bigger.
> Mealworms interest him sometimes and sometimes not at all.


 locusts are fine, mine have them as a staple mealworms are bad for them, and are hard to digest. marioworms (look like big mealworms) are good for them and they love them.




> With crickets/locusts/mealworms, I've been advised to give him as many as he can eat within a 10-15 minute period. During the last 3 months or so, I have been lucky to get him paying attention to the food, let alone eating for 10 minutes.


 ide advise you keep trying with locusts.






> Occasionally with calcium powder. Not sure on the actual product but could find out tomorrow.


 you should dust every feed monday to friday with calcium and on saturday and sunday dust it with nutrobol (vitamins)






> I put salad in with the crickets to bulk them up a bit. They eat it up, I just wish "bearded bearded" would.


 this is good.





> He's on calci-sand, which I was advised to put him on by all the reptile shops I went to aswell as several internet sites. I have later realised this may have been a mistake, especially during his infancy. However, I have also been advised that to change from calci-sand now would be bad as his claws have developed to point downwards (to walk on sand).


 i would strongly advise you take him off the calcium sand, being as its made from calcium it encorages them to eat it and it cant be digested. you can use play sand, they dont like the taste of this so dont eat it like they would calcium sand, but a beardie that isnt eating and looks unwell may be impacted ide strongly advise you take him to the vets for an x-ray to check if he is or not.





> He has always has a water bowl in the viv which is regularly filled. He seems to have trouble working out that it's his water bowl though and needs reminding.


 mine never drink from it. i just like to think its there for them.


hope ive helped.


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## Alice (Apr 30, 2007)

Yep I agree with everything that Luke said above. I strongly advise that you read the caresheet on this site; Hades Dragons UK - Bearded Dragon Breeders 

Your dragon’s growth has probably been stunted due to a poor set up and he is probably refusing his food because he is too cold to digest it properly. That’s the unfortunate thing about pet shop advice. A lot of it can’t be trusted. Many shops only want to make a quick profit and don’t care about how the animal will be treated. It’s great that you’re on here asking though and trying to sort the problem. 

Many dragons don't recognise a water dish as water. Try dripping little droplets of water onto the very end of his nose and he should lick them off. You should offer him water everyday.

You can use this food chart to find the best types of food to give him. Nutrition Content

As for his substrate. I think that at the moment because he seems unwell, take him off sand completely and use paper towel or lino instead. If you put some large rough stones in his viv it should keep his nails short. They can get badly impacted even with play sand. 
Best of luck and if you have any questions just ask away. 
Also please keep us updated. 

Also this is a great site online to buy equipment from: http://www.livefoods.co.uk/


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## Alice (Apr 30, 2007)

sorry just read above again. Mario worms are not that good for beardies and shouldn't really be used as a staple. If you want to go for feeding worms, calcigrubs are best but hard to come by and expensive. Butter worms are also a good choice.


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## luke123 (Apr 13, 2008)

Alice said:


> sorry just read above again. Mario worms are not that good for beardies and shouldn't really be used as a staple. If you want to go for feeding worms, calcigrubs are best but hard to come by and expensive. Butter worms are also a good choice.


 mario worms are ok, just not as a staple, they ahve more meat than mealworms. oh and how you said put it on tiles from sand, this shouldnt be done because the ebardies pressure points on his feet will be ormed to cope with loose substrate and it can hurt a beardie if you change it to a solid substrate straight away after.


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## AuntyLizard (Feb 7, 2007)

Morio worms are ok but not part of a stable diet as stated... Crickets are good as long as you are gut loading them with veg even dandylion leaves. Mine get a mixture their live food diet consists of mainly Crix with a few hoppers.. They get morio worms as a treat and waxy's now and again especially if one of my females has laid...

Try to start off by getting your temps right. The heat mat is not needed really as house tempertures rarely fall low enough for it to be needed even in winter.. Perhaps you should concentrate on getting your basking spot temp up to 105f at least recommended 105 -110.. Perhaps use a dimming stat.

This is my male Noodles who is small but weight wise healthy for his size



This is my male fatty who is huge in comparrison..


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## Alice (Apr 30, 2007)

luke123 said:


> mario worms are ok, just not as a staple, they ahve more meat than mealworms. oh and how you said put it on tiles from sand, this shouldnt be done because the ebardies pressure points on his feet will be ormed to cope with loose substrate and it can hurt a beardie if you change it to a solid substrate straight away after.


He should be ok if they use a thick layer of kitchen towel to cusion the surface. I just think that this option is better than the beardie getting impacted. It may already be impacted or being so small and possibly ill at the mo, even the slighest impaction could be fatal. Reptile carpet would also be quite good as long as they watch to make sure their beardie isn't trying to eat it.


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