Ok so I have had Jojo since June 9 and Mojo since June 18. Mojo hasn’t even shed once. She doesn’t even look like she’s going to shed soon. Jojo has shed once but it wasn’t even a full shed. Why wouldn’t they be shedding? I know that I’ve only had them for about a month and 2 weeks respectively but I was under the impression that baby dragons shed pretty frequently. I bathe them every 2-3 days and let them stay in until they seem like they want to get out, usually about 5-10 minutes. Also, Jojo has had some shed stuck on her back for about two weeks that won’t come off, despite the baths. I just need to know if the lack of shedding is normal. I know the stuck shed isn’t normal but I don’t know what to do about it. I’m going to attach a picture of the stuck shed. It's not a great pic but the shed is circled in red.
Young beardies are usually in a constant state of shed, but they do go through their slow phases as well. Usually less frequent shedding is seen in the slower growing beardies--beardies that are under more stress than normal, or beardies that are not given proper temperatures and UVB lighting, etc. If I remember correctly, you got these gals (or at least one of them) from less than ideal conditions. They were also seemingly pretty stressed from being housed together and you were having issues getting them to eat a lot of bugs. I know you've worked on correcting all of these things, (Good job!) but it has only been a month since they found themselves in their improved conditions. They are probably still suffering some of the side effects of the stress from their previous conditions. It may take a while for them to get back on track, but if you keep doing what you are doing, I'm positive they will get there. Again, the biggest thing you can do to help their growth right now is to encourage them to eat more protein (bugs/worms) and make sure they have proper temps (basking site of 105-110 surface temp) and UVB lighting. (I know one has this and the burnt out one's replacement is on the way for the other.) Also, I think you were using a tube fluorescent UVB bulb--correct me if I'm wrong though. If you are, make sure your beardies are able to get within 6-10 inches of the bulb's surface. If they can't get close enough, the bulb will have little to no benefit for them. (I actually had a customer with a slow growing beardie. She had him in a tall tank with a tube UVB bulb. I suggested she either get a lower tank or get something that the beardie could climb up very high on. She came back a few months later and said that moving him to a lower tank where he could get close to the light had done the trick and he was growing like a weed. =D ) As long as you've still got all the right conditions and your beardies are alert, active, and eating, I would say just give it time. They probably just got off to a rough start and need some time to get back on their feet.
