New Mom to A beautiful Beardie named Freddy ♡

[FreddysMom]

Ok so I've had Freddy for almost 6 months. I was told he was about a year when I first got him. He was about 19 inches and very skinny. Now he's about 21 inches and nice and plump and healthy. I got him fairly cheap, I think the reptile store thought he was going to die when they sold him to me. But he seems to be pretty healthy. So the reason I'm writing on here is, I don't know anything really about bd's, I've done a lot of reading but I still have a few questions.

-Freddy has been very tame since I first bought him. Never bit, hissed, tried to run, nothing. Is that normal? I just wonder sometimes if he's sick or something because he's so incredibly tame.

He love to sleep in bed with me, is that ok? I have a heating pad (for humans) that I put him on and turn it on very low just to keep him warm, is that ok?

I have a 75g tank that he is in, the warm side has both his lamps above his little hammock that is about an inch off of the tank floor, the cool side has a hide, I have paper towel on the bottom of the entire tank. And that's all that is in there. Is that ok?

I give him water from a squirt bottle and just squirting water in his mouth. He used to eat every day but lately he eats about once a week. Any comments?

He used to go poo in his cage when I first got him but now he will only go when I give him a bath, about every three days. Comments?

Also he seems to have these little puffs by his two front legs, kinda just squishy. Is that normal?

Thanks

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, sounds like you're doing a good job with Freddy. He's gained a good bit of weight + length, and sounds like you've saved him from a neglectful situation. Can you post a pic of him [ his body from above ] + his set up ? The 2 " puffs " in between his front legs may be what some people call "beardie boobs "....just a little bit of a fatty area.

Oral hydration is fine, as long as it's done gently + slowly so he doesn't aspirate any fluid. A couple of baths a week can be beneficial as well.

As for his eating once a week, it may be just that beardies slow down this time of year. Are you offering greens, like turnip, mustard, collard ? Those are very nutritious, as well as yellow/butternut squash.

His being mellow is fine, but you should definitely not let him sleep on your bed with you. There was a thread last year where the poster was devastated....she had rolled on top of and killed her dragon. So please avoid that by all means !

As far as cage furniture, they do like to climb, so a nice big log and maybe a large flat rock [ that will wear his nails down + keep them trim ] could be added. You can collect them from outside [ bake the log in the oven at 250 for about an hour ] and wash the rock in hot soap + vinegar water, then rinse well. Or you can get these from a pet store if you don't mind paying for them. If you look at the ' enclosure " thread here, you can get some other ideas. By the way, can you list the exact brand + type of lights you're using ? Someone can help you if you need an adjustment there. Hopefully Freddie will be with you for a good long time !

 

[FreddysMom]

thanks for responding! Sorry I'm barely seeing it now, I didn't know you had to go to the actual post, I thought you just had to check your inbox jaha.

Beardie boobs, hahaha that's so funny cause that's what they look like!
Yeah when I give him water with the squirt bottle, I barely squirt a little and go very slow. Usually takes about 5 minutes.
I haven't gave him any of those greens but I do want to start, I just wasn't sure which ones and how to prepare them?
Awe that's so sad, and I definitely don't want to squish him so I will stop letting him sleep there.
I do want to get him more stuff for his cage, I looked at a couple videos on how to set it up so I have a pretty good idea now. The only thing that has changed from the picture is that his hammock is now under the light but about an inch off the tank floor.

There's also the picture that I posted of one side of him and it seems to be some kind of scar maybe and from a view up top, that side where the scar is always bulges out a lot and it's scary looking so I don't really know what that is? You can touch that whole area and he doesn't flinch so I'm not sure what's going on there.
Looking at him right now he is doing this thing when he sleeps and he kinda puffs out his eyes a little. Just wondering about that.
His UVB bulb is repti sun 10.0 and I'm not sure what the night heat lamp is and I can't find the box it came in but it was what was given to me by the guys at the reptile store. Thanks again and here's just some extra pics of him

 

[sue09]

The lights you are showing are no good for beardies,they dont like coils as they cause damage to their eyes and the red bulb is no good for night heating as beardies can see colour and will disturb his sleep. You need a tube bulb for UVB and a bright white or clear bulb for heat, hth .

 

[FreddysMom]

Ok thanks, do you know the exact brand and stuff I need?

 

[Tonja]

beautiful beardie! you need a reptisun 10.0 tube mounted inside the tank so he is 6-8 inches from it. Proper UVB is vital to them to utilize calcium supplements. I mounted mine with heavy duty Velcro and never had a problem. Also just use a bright white household bulb for his basking spot. For a 40 gallon I use a 75 watt clear bulb and for 2 years mine have done fine with that and I can maintain temps of 105 on the basking spot. Red lights if used at night disturb their sleep as they can see the red light spectrum. Use a thermometer with a probe on it and lay it directly on the basking spot to monitor temps as dial thermometers can be as much as 20 degrees off. Coils and compact uvb lights have to short a wavelength and can actually harm their eyes, and cause other health issues. Hope this helps

 

[FreddysMom]

Thank you very much, this did help a lot and I will definitely look into the right bulbs for him tomorrow.
And thank you, he's very beautiful