Hi!
A month ago Pog finished his first (witnessed) shed. We have measured him before and after and the difference was a little more than 1 inch.
Since then he has grown almost a couple of inches and (more than) doubled his weight without shedding.

During this month, his behavior has been cycling between periods of ~4 days vivacious activity, healthy appetite and regular poops and other ~4 days of apparent discomfort, eating 60 to 80% less, more inactivity, less poop, etc.
During these low periods I always think he is going to shed but so far he has only shed the lower part of his head (jaw and cheekbones).
Due to this, we have doubled his misting/bathing times trying to help his "supposed" shed.

I always thought that their skin is not elastic enough to grow much more than an inch without shedding but Pog is proving me wrong.
From your past experiences, what do you think? Is this normal? Can he grow this much and more without shedding?

Thanks!
Ricardo

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Wish list: Blue Tongue Skinks and Uruplatus =)

Firstly, stop giving him increased baths - bearded dragons are a desert species and do not need so much water in their lives. The occasional bath will help hydrate them, keep them clean, and some of them really enjoy a swim! Also, misting babies encourages drinking, but do not do it for lengthy periods of time. It won't necessarily make shedding easier, as it does for snakes, and it won't bring a shed on.

If your dragon has shed its head it will be due to shed its body soon - as babies they will shed all of them at pretty much the same time but as they grow they will shed parts of their body at different times.

Ofcourse they can grow without shedding - your dragon has proved this to you,. Bearded Dragons don't seem to shed like snakes, on a regular and consistent basis. As babies they will shed frequently, but adults will only shed occasionally and take their time about it! There is no science to how much a Bearded Dragon can grow without shedding.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

It's also possible that the dragon may have been shedding without you knowing about it. Ours apparently tend to eat the shed. We occassionally get small peices around but hardly ever see any large sections such as you would expect from the body..

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

Yes Merlin, hehe, I have seen them occasionally eat parts of their skin - I keep telling them they're not leopard geckos!! rbl - bearded dragons don't eat their skin like Leopard Geckos do, but they have been known to, who knows maybe it contains some kind of goodness like leo skin does?? But usually they won't, although yes, it is possible it could have been shedding without you knowing, although I always notice some skin around the tank.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

Not possible. We rarely leave the house and when we do, never for more than a couple of hours. No way he can shed without we notice it. Also, there would be small scales on the enclosure and there are none.

The thing that strikes me is the many shed signs during this month but no shed at all. His head shed 15 days ago and nothing else happen.

Yesterday another strange thing happen. Pog woke with the most unusual coloration. The light parts of his body were very dark and the dark parts were very light (similar to the dark parts) and lacked detail. It's not the same coloration as when he's basking. It's a dull and bland coloration, almost like a dark sepia version of him.
It was bath day so right after we put in the water, he got almost back to normal within a few minutes. You can see the pictures here.
I've made a composite for easier comparison. It was taken a few minutes apart. This is his regular coloration.
Today he has the same color but it's not changing...

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Wish list: Blue Tongue Skinks and Uruplatus =)

I don't personally understand quite what you mean by "shed signs".. unlike our snakes, i have never ever notice our dragons go off food or behave differently when in shed.

The colour change is perfectly normal. Bearded Dragons will change colour for all sorts of reasons - temperature, time of day, UVB, environment, stress, mood.

I wouldn't be concerned or curious about the growth spurt - again it's perfectly normal, and there is no set time for a dragon to shed.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

Shed signs: appetite loss, inactivity, looking sad and upset, etc
The kind of signs we saw in his (first and) last shed and are (apparently) normal in Bearded Dragons from what I've read.

This coloration is not normal. It's like all colors were drained out of him.

Thanks Rachel and Merlin =)

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Wish list: Blue Tongue Skinks and Uruplatus =)

Although the colour may not be normal for his usual colours, the colour change is normal for Bearded Dragons. He may have been stressed (particular signs of stress are dark rings on the normally white belly), or had a change for any of the reasons in my post above. Or he may be going into shed - you said he has recently shed his head so his body is due a shed, and the colour often dulls right down, for instance our orange sandfire is usually bright yellow but when she's in shed her body is really dull and dark and you can't tell her normal colour at all.

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"If you know everything you may as well blow your brains out because the reason for existence is to learn more everyday." - Mark O'Shea, 2004

The difference in head coloration you showed there, looks like his head is going to shed, but you said his head already shed, lol that sounds weird (said, head, shed lol)the colour of skin like that... usually a sign that they are going to shed...

Dull color mystery solved! Pog started shedding a couple of hours ago. Tail first and the rest should come off in the next couple of days. =)

Phew! That was a relief! I was wondering if something else was wrong =)

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Wish list: Blue Tongue Skinks and Uruplatus =)