tips for new owner

CaramelBeet":34r2ilhb said:

At 37 grams, he is tiny and still a baby.
He needs a minimum of 2 feeds of insects a day (as many as he can eat in a 10-15 minute period), 3 is far preferable. He needs this every day, as he needs huge amount of protein a day (during a growth spurt he may eat up to 60 crickets a day)

Please don't give him mealworms, at this size he is way too small to eat them and you risk impaction. Suitable feeders include crickets, silkworms, dubia roaches, and black soldier fly larvae (depends where you are/what is avalible). Crickets/roaches should be dusted once a day, 5 times a week with calcium and twice with vitamins.

Kale is ok as a treat, but if he likes salady stuff (probably won't touch it at this age), better vegetables include collard greens, squash, endive and escarole. I'm on my phone so I can't link you to the place we normally suggest, but hopefully someone else will.

Can you please run us down on your setup:
-what are the temperatures at the basking spot? Cool side? What are they being taken with (stick on thermometers are useless, so if you're using on you need to get a probe thermometer or a temperature gun, or both)
-How big is his tank?
-What is on the floor? (If it's calcisand it needs to be removed immediately, and other loose substrate will also need to be taken out, newspaper, tile or paper towel is fine)
-Are you using a UV light? What brand? What wattage? What UV strength? Is it a tube, coil, or bulb (mercury vapour bulb)? Does it have a reflector or a dome? Is it above a screen? Does it have any plastic around it?
-Do you know how old he is?
I get the feeling there might be a few things we need to fix, but that's ok and not your fault; petstores, non reptile vets, and most keeper will give very bad information that is detrimental to your beardie, but we'll help you sort everything out.

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TristinBrown":24fgxnnr said:

Rundown of my setup:
-what are the temperatures at the basking spot? Cool side? What are they being taken with (stick on thermometers are useless, so if you're using on you need to get a probe thermometer or a temperature gun, or both) basking is usually 95-100 using a probe thermometer and in the cool side I'm using a stick on thermometer and it reads around 80-85 Basking spot should be a touch warmer for a baby (100 to 105f). Good to hear you have a probe thermometer.
It'd be good if you could get one for the cool side too; the stick on one will measure the temperature of the glass on the side, which won't be the same as the air temperature.
-How big is his tank? 40 gallon (the National geographic set from pet smart)40 gallon breeder should be ok (the minimum here is bigger, but I believe most American owners use a 40 gallon).
-What is on the floor? (If it's calcisand it needs to be removed immediately, and other loose substrate will also need to be taken out, newspaper, tile or paper towel is fine) carpet Good!
-Are you using a UV light? What brand? What wattage? What UV strength? Is it a tube, coil, or bulb (mercury vapour bulb)? Does it have a reflector or a dome? Is it above a screen? Does it have any plastic around it? A coil, it has a reflector dome, yes it has a screen, not that I know of
-Do you know how old he is? I read somewhere that for his length he should be around 3-4 months... The people at PetSmart didn't tell me.... At 37 grams he wouldn't be more than 2 months, ASSUMING he has no stunted growth (which is a big possibility, especially coming from a pet store). But even if he is a little underdeveloped, he'll still be a great beardie
I was going to post a photo of the terrarium but I couldn't upload it from my phone.... No sweat. It would be nice to see a picture of the setup, and (at least) one of him,
if you can. You can upload them at https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/

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CaramelBeet":122w5b2h said:

TristinBrown":122w5b2h said:

Rundown of my setup:
-what are the temperatures at the basking spot? Cool side? What are they being taken with (stick on thermometers are useless, so if you're using on you need to get a probe thermometer or a temperature gun, or both) basking is usually 95-100 using a probe thermometer and in the cool side I'm using a stick on thermometer and it reads around 80-85 Basking spot should be a touch warmer for a baby (100 to 105f). Good to hear you have a probe thermometer.
It'd be good if you could get one for the cool side too; the stick on one will measure the temperature of the glass on the side, which won't be the same as the air temperature.
-How big is his tank? 40 gallon (the National geographic set from pet smart)40 gallon breeder should be ok (the minimum here is bigger, but I believe most American owners use a 40 gallon).
-What is on the floor? (If it's calcisand it needs to be removed immediately, and other loose substrate will also need to be taken out, newspaper, tile or paper towel is fine) carpet Good!
-Are you using a UV light? What brand? What wattage? What UV strength? Is it a tube, coil, or bulb (mercury vapour bulb)? Does it have a reflector or a dome? Is it above a screen? Does it have any plastic around it? A coil, it has a reflector dome, yes it has a screen, not that I know of
-Do you know how old he is? I read somewhere that for his length he should be around 3-4 months... The people at PetSmart didn't tell me.... At 37 grams he wouldn't be more than 2 months, ASSUMING he has no stunted growth (which is a big possibility, especially coming from a pet store). But even if he is a little underdeveloped, he'll still be a great beardie
I was going to post a photo of the terrarium but I couldn't upload it from my phone.... No sweat. It would be nice to see a picture of the setup, and (at least) one of him,
if you can. You can upload them at https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/

Click to expand...

I can't find a national geographic kit from petsmart... Was it a zoomed one instead (like this http://www.petsmart.com/reptile/habitats-and-decor/terrariums/zoo-medandtrade-reptihabitat-bearded-dragon-40-gallon-terrarium-kit-15027.html ?)
Do you know the brand of the UV light? The strength?
Coil compacts don't really put out enough UVB (the beardie would have to be very, very close, with no screen in between), and have been known to cause eye and skin irritation too.
Your best option would be to buy either a Reptisun 10.0 T5 linear tube, with a reflector hood, or alternately an Arcadia 12% T5 D3 linear tube, with a reflector hood (depends what is available where you are). These lights put out plenty of UVB, UVA and natural light (the UVB is really critical for your beardie's health, and the other two are important for its happiness/morale). They can be a bit pricey, but they are well worth it (and without decent UVB, which I doubt the coil is providing, your beardie will end up dying from metabolic bone disease). They are strong enough to be mounted on top of a screen (if your tank has a screen lid).

Another thing that I forgot to say earlier, it's a good idea to regularly weigh your beardie (say, once a week?) so you can keep track of his growth.

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TristinBrown":lzcs0j2z said:

I put 20 crickets in there for him and left for school and when I came back all but 3 were still there... Then I looked around and found them just dead not eaten... And when I look at him on the sides of his belly he has 2 creases one on each side....
P.s I just weighed him and he's lost 5 g since yesterday...

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CaramelBeet":y2y8jcdr said:

TristinBrown":y2y8jcdr said:

I put 20 crickets in there for him and left for school and when I came back all but 3 were still there... Then I looked around and found them just dead not eaten... And when I look at him on the sides of his belly he has 2 creases one on each side....
P.s I just weighed him and he's lost 5 g since yesterday...

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That doesn't sound good. The creases may be dehydration (they get water from food, so he won't be getting much if he's not eating much). You can get an eyedropper and try dripping a little on his snout, see if he licks it up.

Can you try and post a picture of him?

I would suggest not leaving crickets in the tank, as they may stress him further, especially if he's not feeling well. Either hand feed them (you can hold by a back leg) or feed him I'm a separate tub so there aren't any crickets in his viv. Alternately, you can get some BSFL and leave them in a bowl for him.

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CaramelBeet":1g4uzpfd said:

TristinBrown":1g4uzpfd said:

I put 20 crickets in there for him and left for school and when I came back all but 3 were still there... Then I looked around and found them just dead not eaten... And when I look at him on the sides of his belly he has 2 creases one on each side....
P.s I just weighed him and he's lost 5 g since yesterday...

Click to expand...

That doesn't sound good. The creases may be dehydration (they get water from food, so he won't be getting much if he's not eating much). You can get an eyedropper and try dripping a little on his snout, see if he licks it up.

Can you try and post a picture of him?

I would suggest not leaving crickets in the tank, as they may stress him further, especially if he's not feeling well. Either hand feed them (you can hold by a back leg) or feed him I'm a separate tub so there aren't any crickets in his viv. Alternately, you can get some BSFL and leave them in a bowl for him.

Click to expand...