baby beardie tank ??

[zoemay]

okay so as some of you may know i currently have 13 eggs that are incubating and possibly more on the way...... and as my eggs all seem to be doing well in my home-made incubator and ive possibly already got homes for most of them i was hoping that someone could help me with setting up a small viv / container that the babies can be placed into once they have hatched

i know i have a 2ft fish tank down my garage that i could get my dad to build a mesh lid for..... would something like that be suitable ?? or will all the heat just escape out ??

any other suggestions would be apprieciated

 

[AHBD]

Hi Zoe....you can use a glass tank , and you don't even need a lid if you don't have any nosy pets that might get at the babies. [ like a cat ] But making a lid is fine, too. You want everything set up before they hatch so you can experiment with your heat , what wattage bulbs to use and getting the proper temperature. You can also buy a couple clear plastic storage bins, that way you can separate babies into smaller groups. These are also easy to carry outside for real sun early in the day before it's too hot. Babies raised with natural sun get a great deal of UVB, so even if your good UVB bulb burns out or gets old, the babies still get enough. If you can get them out 3-4 times a week for an hour or so, they will get enough UVB. For tank furniture, you can use cardboard egg crating [ I get alot of it with my cricket shipment ] Never use any kind of styrofoam, it breaks up easy and babies can swallow bits of it. The egg crating is good, but check to be sure that some shy babies don't hide all the time.You can also gather small sticks from outside, and clean them well with hot water and vineger. If your parents agree to it, you can put the sticks in the oven for about 1/2 hour or so at 225 degrees to kill any potential pesky bugs. The sticks can be criss crossed through the tank for multiple perches. You can find rocks outside and clean them the same way. Never stack rocks in any way that they could fall on the babies. So there are a few ideas for you.

 

[zoemay]

Thanks that's some great advice and depending on how many hatch I may get a couple of plastic containers to separate a few into each :lol:
I'm not sure about taking them outside as I live in the UK and it doesn't get very hot here even in the summer so would it work if I had one UVB strip bulb between a few tank and just moved it around so that they each got a few hours of uv per day ? Will each container need to have a heat source ?

Great ideas for furniture il take u up on them.... We have a lot of egg carton/trays here as we've got chickens lol

What's the best food for baby dragons ? I know I'm going to be going through a lot so I hoping to sort out a good regular source of food from one of the pet stores I work in by the time any babies start arriving :roll:

Thanks again for the advice

 

[hollowed454]

From everything I have read for newborn dragons some will eat straight out of their shell and some take awhile before they will eat. Anyways from what I read as newborns they need A LOT of crickets. I take mine and dust them all in repcal just to make sure they get enough calcium (for when they start eating). Also you can introduce greens to them from day one but like the crickets make sure they are in small enough bites. I've read that if you introduce greens from the very beginning it will help them out in making the transition to eating greens more often later in life

 

[zoemay]

thanks, im going to stock up on lots of dubia nymphs and crickets i think then and also will provide them with veg from day one i will have to order the uvb bulb and ceramic for them this week i think so i have it here ready i am quite excited now, just wish i didnt take soooo long for them to hatch lol

 

[AHBD]

Hi Zoe....babies usually will start eating the 2nd or 3rd day, but they will sart drinking on the 2nd day. Some babies will even act a little scared when the crickets come neer them. As for your lighting, the UVB is critical, but you also need a bright heat bulb, and that can even be a regular house bulb. Just experiment before the babies hatch to be sure you have the right wattage bulb to bring the heat up. Some people use a UVB strip bulb along with a ceramic heat emitter, but I find that this doesn't produce the nice bright environment that makes them more active. So the CHE can be used for night if temps. go below 65, but I'd use light bulbs for heating + lighting the tank. Beardies do better in a brightly lit enclosure.

 

[zoemay]

Hi Zoe....babies usually will start eating the 2nd or 3rd day, but they will sart drinking on the 2nd day. Some babies will even act a little scared when the crickets come neer them. As for your lighting, the UVB is critical, but you also need a bright heat bulb, and that can even be a regular house bulb. Just experiment before the babies hatch to be sure you have the right wattage bulb to bring the heat up. Some people use a UVB strip bulb along with a ceramic heat emitter, but I find that this doesn't produce the nice bright environment that makes them more active. So the CHE can be used for night if temps. go below 65, but I'd use light bulbs for heating + lighting the tank. Beardies do better in a brightly lit enclosure.

well i managed to find a 4ft lid that my dad had built from an old snake tank i had which already has a bulb fitting inside it so i was thinking that if he shortens it to a 2ft then it can fit on top of the tank i have for them and i will then just add another ceramic fitting in there for the nights and of course the uvb strip. still got a good few weeks to go as babies arent due to start hatching until at least june 30th

although thinking about it i could set it up and use it for when maggie is due to lay her second clutch, thats if i can get it done in time lol

thanks for the reply