New here and questions.

Hi all, I'm new here but not too new to beardies. Had Buzz ***edited- the end of 98'-Feb 06' before he/she died. I've been out of the loop for a while and have some general questions. I've been on here reading for over a week but am still unsure about some things. My husband and I built a 4x2x2 cage this weekend based on the design from the viv threads. We have stained it but still need to coat it and put fixtures in. I bought a 24" Reptisun 10.0 and a fixture for it, also got one more fixture with a 75w flood light. Is this going to be enough for this size cage or should I consider getting one more light and with what kind of bulb? What bulb should go over the basking area? (When these burn out I will probably get a MVB, so then what other bulbs should I have? Don't want to over do it.) We are going to build a rock cave based on the thread from one of the members here. We will post pics when its done 100% and then again when our baby gets here.

Second I know that alot of you order feeders online was wondering if you could point me in the direction of the best place to order. And since we are getting a baby what would be the best thing to start with? I see that alot feed baby crickets @ about 20-50 per day for the babies..??

Also someone said its best to order some emergency medications just in case, was wondering the bestplace to order those as well.

Maybe there is a thread somewhere I'm missing with a list of online store.
Thanks to everyone for all your help.

~Kristin

Babies can put away 50 to 100 crickets per day...where you order them from depends on where you're located. I'm in the Southeast, and Ghann's is the cheapest place for me. I've also ordered from Premium Crickets. I get Phoenix Worms directly from the supplier at phoenixworm.com . I think that a lot of people underestimate what babies could/should eat. I spend more feeding Pudge than I do feeding my horse.

Sorry should of said I live in South, south Fl. There are no local reptile stores that I know of. So I was looking to order online in bulk. Thanks again.

OK got my answer to the feeding question. Going to do a mix of pw with crickets. The lighting question is all I have left and any other tips anyone can give me.Thanks again.

~Kristin

The lighting requirements will depend on how close your dragon can get to the light. You will have to measure temps from ambient on both sides to directly under the basking spot. You may need a larger wattage or an extra bulb for more heat.

Well we plan on building one of the rock cave things and it will go up half way probably. I know what the temps need to be. I was afraid the 24"-10.0 reptisun is too small for the size of the cage. So I was wondering if I need to put that and the heat lamp over the basking area or just the heat lamp, and the tube will be big enough for the cage. Thanks again.

~Kristin

that is wonderful that you had your previous beardie for 9 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i bet you have a lot of great memories.

the reptisun 10.0 is for uvb and is recommended to be the entire length of the viv. this way your beardie is getting uvb whereever he is in the viv. it is not part of the heat element for basking.

if you switch to the mvb, then your uvb and heat become the same bulb. personally, i like the idea of getting the uvb throughout the viv. but it is a personal choice.

you'll need to check the basking temp. as you are aware, your baby should be basking in 105-110F.

Yes thanks, I did have a lot of fond memories of Buzz. I wish I had found this site when I had him, would of had a lot of better ideas for him/her then. I used to frequent another site that has changed (kingsnake) and I dont feel its as helpful as I once did. I'll see later if I can find some pics of Buzz and post them later. Thanks for the answer about the lighting. I think I know how we are going to lay it out now.

I was also reading the feeder/feeding MB and am probably going to go with a dubia colony and pw's. Any tips on those for me. (Again wish I had know there was something out there other than crickets with buzz, poor guy. At least I knew enough to feed him greens with squash).


BTW....I've been hooked on this site for like a week. I Its pretty addicting!

yeah, it is a good site. very active too.

i'm afraid i can't help with your feeder questions. i ordered some phoenix worms via mail and was very disappointed. i haven't tried another vendor...

find those pics!

Krisymof2":b42d4 said:

I was also reading the feeder/feeding MB and am probably going to go with a dubia colony and pw's. Any tips on those for me. (Again wish I had know there was something out there other than crickets with buzz, poor guy. At least I knew enough to feed him greens with squash).


BTW....I've been hooked on this site for like a week. I Its pretty addicting!

Click to expand...

as you previously mentioned you are located in south Florida and I believe that roaches are not allowed to be shipped there due to the climate being tropical and any escapees would thrive. Too bad as I believe that dubia are easy to raise and are a good feeder. Out of Leesburg Fla. there is lucky lure cricket farm. I have placed a few orders with them and have had great service along with a great price.

Oh no! That really sux! There has to be a way around that somehow. Or there has to be something else that I could raise easily. I was thinking how well they would do in my garage. Anyone have any other ideas? Is the roachman around? Maybe he could tell me if for sure if he can ship them here.

~Kristin

I had another question....regarding vitamins....

If I have a MVB then I don't need calcium with d3 or is it the other way around?

Thanks again.