Hello! This is my first post. I have been browsing this forum for some time to get some assistance setting up my bearded dragon enclosure as well how to feed and take care of him. An introduction of me is I am posting this from beautiful British Columbia in Canada. North of Washington State for a sense of direction. I have owned a Leopard Gecko before so this is not my first time with a reptile or crickets, etc.
But this is a dragon forum, so to begin:
I got my 40 gal tank all set up with a heat lamp with a Daytime Exo Terra bulb reaching average 110F for basking and the cold side reaches about 85F. I have a tube 10.0 Reptisun and hood resting on the mesh lid and the distance is about 7 inches. My humidity is 32-40% in the day but at night it can go up to around 45%, due to the temp drop. I have two probes on either side of the tank, and I use an infrared gun to check spots as well.
I had the tank temps set up in the morning and early afternoon before going in the evening to acquire my bearded dragon, and named him Toothless after watching How to Train Your Dragon 1 and 2 with my fiance. He is about 7 or 8 inches long so assuming he is 1-2 months old then. He was bought from Petsmart (failed to find a breeder in the area over the google and when showing what exactly a bearded dragon looks like in person to my fiance, she fell in love with how cute and active he was).
I have had Toothless for exactly 10 days. The first day with him (assuming its a boy) I felt like his tank was a bit empty, so I had to add a cave, and the lizard lounge hammock, which he seems to love. I gave him his first bath after a week of having him. The temperature was about 90F.
He pooped regularly everyday, although the urate became more yellow which is most likely due to his lack of appetite from relocating (which I will get to and the real point of this post). Two days ago he had a very runny poop. So it was near diarrhea, but it was also his biggest eating day, as he ate 5 crickets that day (2 of them dusted with calcium to see if he will take them, the other 3 random test of appetite). He tried a piece of bell pepper and spat it out and just licked it. Just licked some kale.
He did not poop at all yesterday, and refused offerings of crickets, but he will drink if I drop water on his head. Other than that, he seems to move around his tank, occasionally he goes for his reflection and sometimes he is waving at them too. He likes to close his eyes while he is basking on his tree or sometimes on top of the cave or the lizard lounge. He occasionally explores. But I also feel like he should be more active? The location of the tank is in my office, and I am working from home currently but for the most part he only gets peeked at by my fiance every few hours and I usually just ignore him while I click away on keyboard and mouse.
Anyways, apologize for the long read. I am really worried that he wont make it and that it could be the pet store issue but I dont want to feel like I should return him and want to really give him a chance. There is a reptile vet nearby that I was planning on taking him soon, but if this is relocation stress, I am worried what that trip would do to him.
Any assistance or comments is appreciated.
But this is a dragon forum, so to begin:
I got my 40 gal tank all set up with a heat lamp with a Daytime Exo Terra bulb reaching average 110F for basking and the cold side reaches about 85F. I have a tube 10.0 Reptisun and hood resting on the mesh lid and the distance is about 7 inches. My humidity is 32-40% in the day but at night it can go up to around 45%, due to the temp drop. I have two probes on either side of the tank, and I use an infrared gun to check spots as well.
I had the tank temps set up in the morning and early afternoon before going in the evening to acquire my bearded dragon, and named him Toothless after watching How to Train Your Dragon 1 and 2 with my fiance. He is about 7 or 8 inches long so assuming he is 1-2 months old then. He was bought from Petsmart (failed to find a breeder in the area over the google and when showing what exactly a bearded dragon looks like in person to my fiance, she fell in love with how cute and active he was).
I have had Toothless for exactly 10 days. The first day with him (assuming its a boy) I felt like his tank was a bit empty, so I had to add a cave, and the lizard lounge hammock, which he seems to love. I gave him his first bath after a week of having him. The temperature was about 90F.
He pooped regularly everyday, although the urate became more yellow which is most likely due to his lack of appetite from relocating (which I will get to and the real point of this post). Two days ago he had a very runny poop. So it was near diarrhea, but it was also his biggest eating day, as he ate 5 crickets that day (2 of them dusted with calcium to see if he will take them, the other 3 random test of appetite). He tried a piece of bell pepper and spat it out and just licked it. Just licked some kale.
He did not poop at all yesterday, and refused offerings of crickets, but he will drink if I drop water on his head. Other than that, he seems to move around his tank, occasionally he goes for his reflection and sometimes he is waving at them too. He likes to close his eyes while he is basking on his tree or sometimes on top of the cave or the lizard lounge. He occasionally explores. But I also feel like he should be more active? The location of the tank is in my office, and I am working from home currently but for the most part he only gets peeked at by my fiance every few hours and I usually just ignore him while I click away on keyboard and mouse.
Anyways, apologize for the long read. I am really worried that he wont make it and that it could be the pet store issue but I dont want to feel like I should return him and want to really give him a chance. There is a reptile vet nearby that I was planning on taking him soon, but if this is relocation stress, I am worried what that trip would do to him.
Any assistance or comments is appreciated.