recently rescued a beardie and need some help

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wolfgirl

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Just got a new beardie on the 6th of Feb. I've never had a Beardie before so I could use some advice. I've been doing a lot of research on my own of course but could use some more advice. There's a temperature gun and digital scale on their way to my house in the mail, but I haven't gotten them yet so the temps are approximate using the dial thermometers she came with. Everything unless it has an * next to it, she came with it.

Sex: Female (supposedly, I tried sexing myself but couldn't really tell, might post pics later)
Age: 2-3 years
Length: Approx. 12" (Missing chunk of tail)
Weight: Unknown, but visibly appears underweight/malnourished
Lights: 75w white exo terra basking light, 26w exo terra UVB 100 light, normal light bulb that gives off very little heat for tank visibility
Basking spot: ~100F
Ambient temps: ~90F (a little too hot I think?)
Hides: one log hide too small for her (not in tank), one shoebox hide*, one basking log (removed due to glass surfing issue)
Substrate: Repticarpet (Not really fond of this, thinking of something else?)
Tank: 18x18x36 exoterra
Diet: Came with a colony of dubia roaches

Problems:

-Glass surfing is a major problem. It's very violent, throwing herself at the glass and such, I had to take away most things except for one shoebox hide I made because she kept using them to springboard herself against the glass harder. I surrounded her tank with boards when she started glass surfing so that she could not see out of her tank, and after a few days of that I've been slowly removing one board at a time but it does not seem to be effective, as soon as she can see out of the tank a tiny bit she goes right back to glass surfing over the entire tank. She's perfectly fine if I keep her covered but it's just not practical to keep her tank covered forever. I had a water dish in there as well but she would shove her head into it and swim/dig against the corner of the bowl while glass surfing, almost like she was stuck and didnt know how to get out so I removed it immediately.

-Refusing veggies/fruit. I've tried a lot of things so far none of them have worked, smearing a mixture of fruit/veggies on dubia roaches, putting her dubias in the salad, beardie pellet food, etc etc... I'm going to buy a cat laser pointer and see if I can trick her into eating that way. I have fed her a couple of small pinkies without problem to help her put her weight back on but I know pinkies aren't good in large quantities so obviously I can't just feed her those forever. I don't think she's ever eaten anything but dubias

-Won't eat calcium dusted dubias. She absolutely refuses and only goes for ones that are undusted

-Disinterested in basking. She basks for a little while each day in the morning usually but not nearly as much as she should.

I think most if not all of these can be attributed to her having just moved homes so now she's stressed out, but it's been almost a week and I'm not sure at what point I should start getting worried. How long does it typically take beardies to get acclimated to their new homes and how can I make this easier on her? ): I'm afraid of her diet being really messed up from her past owners and not eating anything but undusted roaches, she's underweight as it is and the stress is going to make it worse, and she keeps hurting herself by leaping at the glass when I try to slowly remove the boards. Any advice would be appreciated.
 

destiny1998

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Hi. Sounds like she has a good owner. I'd get rid of the uvb she has and replace it with the reptisun 10.0 Tube. When you do get a good thermometer I'd definitely check those as it sounds like she may be to hot. That's why she might be glass surfing as shes trying to get away from the heat and that uvb might be bothering her. Have you tried giving her a bath to help hydrate her? What kinds of veggies are you feeding this is a site beautifuldragons.com that alot of us use. Fruit should only be a couple times a week. Pinkies should not be fed as beardies can't digest them very well and can cause impaction. Good feeders are crickets, hornworms, silk worms, Phoenix worms and butter worms. She might be tired of dubias. Its good to offer a variety. Phoenix worms are really good as you don't need to dust them with calcium. As for subtrate I use ceremic tiles they are easy to clean and look nice. Good luck with her :D
 

wolfgirl

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destiny1998":26wvs5pt said:
Hi. Sounds like she has a good owner. I'd get rid of the uvb she has and replace it with the reptisun 10.0 Tube. When you do get a good thermometer I'd definitely check those as it sounds like she may be to hot. That's why she might be glass surfing as shes trying to get away from the heat and that uvb might be bothering her. Have you tried giving her a bath to help hydrate her? What kinds of veggies are you feeding this is a site beautifuldragons.com that alot of us use. Fruit should only be a couple times a week. Pinkies should not be fed as beardies can't digest them very well and can cause impaction. Good feeders are crickets, hornworms, silk worms, Phoenix worms and butter worms. She might be tired of dubias. Its good to offer a variety. Phoenix worms are really good as you don't need to dust them with calcium. As for subtrate I use ceremic tiles they are easy to clean and look nice. Good luck with her :D

Haven't tried a bath yet, I thought about it but she's seems so stressed I thought it would be best to handle her as little as possible however I have misted her a couple of times the past week. When I tried to handle her her beard started getting very dark so I put her back as quickly as possible.

The salad recipe I use baby carrots, a couple of blueberries, and squash blended together (in a blender) I freeze this mix using an ice tray and served thawed on collard greens. I tried giving fresh food but she didn't take to that either.

I checked out the "Newbies Guide What to Buy" on the sidebar and I will definitely be buying one of those UVB bulbs and light fixtures instead!

edit: tried giving her a bath...total disaster. she was freaking out and clawing at me, breathing really labored. i put her back in asap. :oops:
 

destiny1998

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A good way to bond with her is when it starts getting close to bed time wrap her in a blanket like a buritto and hopefully she'll get use to you soon. Sometimes baths take a while for them to get use to. My oldest will puff out, hold his breath and stand very still its so funny. He use to fight to but now he just does that. You might want to put a washcloth at the bottom so he feels like he won't slip and slide.
 

wolfgirl

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Okay it's almost been another week so here are some updates on her habitat and behaviors. still havent gotten the temp gun and scale in the mail yet, should be in tomorrow:

Sex: Female (supposedly, I tried sexing myself but couldn't really tell, might post pics later)
Age: 2-3 years
Length: Approx. 12" (Missing chunk of tail)
Weight: Unknown, but visibly appears underweight/malnourished
Lights: 25w halogen exoterra basking light 2750K (highest at the pet store), reptiglow T8 10.0 UVB tube mounted on top of the tank, normal light bulb that gives off very little heat for tank visibility
Basking spot: ~90
Ambient temps: ~80F
Other: one shoebox hide, one basking log, one reptile hammock that she loves, foam rock bg (i forgot to mention this in my first post I think but it came with her)
Substrate: Repticarpet (Not really fond of this, thinking of something else?)
Tank: 18x18x36 exoterra (switching to a 40gal breeder soon hopefully)
Diet: See notes below

Lights: I know I need a higher K on the basking light but I don't know what wattage to get for the right temps when it comes to regular halogen flood lights for people, since the pet lights don't go high enough. Does anyone know of what brands/wattages have a high enough K while staying around 90 degrees? Or do I have to just buy a whole bunch and test the temps myself? If I really gotta do that I will but I would be really grateful if someone who has already done the testing themselves could give me some brands or pointers...

I also know that the UVB should be mounted inside the tank and I will get that done asap, just have to figure out how to drill a hole into the mesh so the power cord for the light can come out the top. I've never done that sort of thing before so trying to figure it out unless anyone has other ideas on how to deal with that.

Glass surfing: Taken care of, she's stopped doing that for the most part, maybe for a few seconds every other day she's done it but she quickly gets bored/stops

Substrate: Going to switch to tile is there any dangers I should be aware of or is any tile pretty much okay?

Foam rock background: I want to replace these with those magnetic floating rocks so I can mount the UVB light to the back of the tank, but she seems very attached to them and not sure if I should risk stressing her out all over again by changing things around. :( But however attached she is to it I don't think it's good for her or the tank, it takes up most of her tank room and is filthy and stained with feces and stuff that her previous owner never cleaned. It also is causing weird discolouration and stains on the glass bottom of the tank where it covers.

Diet: Easily the worst part... She is a horribly picky eater still. I try offering her salad with enticing treats (blueberries, blackberries, etc) but she only eats the treats and nothing else so I've stopped doing that and now she ignores it altogether. She's very lazy and will only eat them if I put them right in front of her face and even then it's hit and miss. She doesn't even seem that interested in eating dubias anymore either. I have phoenix worms on their way in the mail but she still needs more than just those worms. :banghead:

Now I know this is normal for beardies to be picky eaters or suddenly stop liking things they liked before etc but she's already really undernourished and underweight to begin with, I really need her to put on weight not potentially lose it. I'm at my wit's end here worrying about her health. ):
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there....I'll try to answer a couple of your Q's. I think you should just remove the dirty foam background, just put something there for her to perch on if she favors that area to lounge about. I know your'e concerned about her body condition [ weight ] Can you post a few pics of her ? There are instructions on posting pics at the top of the home page under " website comments ". It's really good that she has settled down from her glass surfing :) , so there's some progress. Hopefully her appetite will pick up, she may really like the Phoenix worms. I know she's only 12" because part of her tail was bitten off, but If she's an adult you can try superworms for her as well, also butterworms, hornworms and silkworms. Hopefully her appetite will improve.....keep trying the dubias and she may surprise you one day when you don't expect it.
 

wolfgirl

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AHBD":1yj56k7o said:
Hi there....I'll try to answer a couple of your Q's. I think you should just remove the dirty foam background, just put something there for her to perch on if she favors that area to lounge about. I know your'e concerned about her body condition [ weight ] Can you post a few pics of her ? There are instructions on posting pics at the top of the home page under " website comments ". It's really good that she has settled down from her glass surfing :) , so there's some progress. Hopefully her appetite will pick up, she may really like the Phoenix worms. I know she's only 12" because part of her tail was bitten off, but If she's an adult you can try superworms for her as well, also butterworms, hornworms and silkworms. Hopefully her appetite will improve.....keep trying the dubias and she may surprise you one day when you don't expect it.

Here's a few pictures.

http://i.imgur.com/m0z0d8j.png
http://i.imgur.com/mlwrWRZ.png
http://i.imgur.com/TaiNc6M.png

She's a little under 3" across at her widest point. You can also see in the second pic how nasty the foam wall makes her tank. (You can also see bits of food on her perch that I was trying to encourage her to eat)
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Although she's thin, at least she is bright eyed, active + alert. It's strange that she liked the pinkies but not the dubia....she's not so thin that she's against being a picky eater. :? Do you offer the dubia by hand or set them in a bowl ? Try a few different ways....you might even try smashing one so the guts come out and rubbing [ I know, gross ] it on her snout lightly. She is probably dehydrated, so rather than mist her, try dribbling water on her snout, or spray a light stream of water directly on her snout....spray for a couple secs, stop and repeat a few times but make sure the tank doesn't get soaked. She is probably still pretty stressed, so that will affect her eating. You might also try baby food chicken , squash and green beans just to get some nutrition in her. Hopefully when she settles down she'll develop an appetite and once she gains some weight you can have a fecal test done to see if she has parasites.
 

wolfgirl

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":2ci424tw said:
Although she's thin, at least she is bright eyed, active + alert. It's strange that she liked the pinkies but not the dubia....she's not so thin that she's against being a picky eater. :? Do you offer the dubia by hand or set them in a bowl ? Try a few different ways....you might even try smashing one so the guts come out and rubbing [ I know, gross ] it on her snout lightly. She is probably dehydrated, so rather than mist her, try dribbling water on her snout, or spray a light stream of water directly on her snout....spray for a couple secs, stop and repeat a few times but make sure the tank doesn't get soaked. She is probably still pretty stressed, so that will affect her eating. You might also try baby food chicken , squash and green beans just to get some nutrition in her. Hopefully when she settles down she'll develop an appetite and once she gains some weight you can have a fecal test done to see if she has parasites.

Feeding her dubias I have fed her in the tank, tried using tongs, letting them run around and let her hunt them, holding them for her, bowl on the ground, me holding the bowl. She hunted the dubias the first couple of days but stopped and now only takes them if I'm holding the bowl with the dubias in them, none of the other ones work. Her poops and urates seem normal (she had diarrhea for the first couple of days but that cleared up) but I'll try and keep her more hydrated, she at least seem to relax/appreciate whenever I lightly mist her so you may be right about that
 

wolfgirl

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Original Poster
wolfgirl":1wb7e5m4 said:
Lights: I know I need a higher K on the basking light but I don't know what wattage to get for the right temps when it comes to regular halogen flood lights for people, since the pet lights don't go high enough. Does anyone know of what brands/wattages have a high enough K while staying around 90 degrees? Or do I have to just buy a whole bunch and test the temps myself? If I really gotta do that I will but I would be really grateful if someone who has already done the testing themselves could give me some brands or pointers...

Can anyone help with this? I don't know anything about lightbulbs at all, trying to look through home depot website and getting so confused. And is 5000K too high or is it ideal? All the realy high K bulbs also have high wattages, is it possible to get a lower wattage with 5000K or do I need to buy some kind of clamp to change the height of the lamp from the tank until I find the right temp? If I do that is the distance from the bulb going to make any difference on the K?

And these "watt equivalents" are confusing too...if my dome needs a minimum wattage of 60, but I put in an equivalent of 60 but its actually, say, 23w...what'll happen?

edit: http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Reptile-Lamp-Stand/dp/B000255OUO anyone know if this is any good? I'm reading the reviews but would like to hear from you guys. I know there's clamp lamps but I have no idea what I would clamp it to...a stand would probably be better for my situation
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi again....actually, all you need is a bulb that gets the tank warm enough....it can be a regular old incandescent bulb or halogen. Don't worry about the specifics, just a bright white light. You can also get a dome clamp lamp for a better price at any Home Depot, Walmart, Tractor Supply or Lowe's. They are the aluminum ones, and they reflect heat + light into the tank better than the black dome ones and can be set on top of the screen.
 

wolfgirl

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":niflo7vs said:
Hi again....actually, all you need is a bulb that gets the tank warm enough....it can be a regular old incandescent bulb or halogen. Don't worry about the specifics, just a bright white light. You can also get a dome clamp lamp for a better price at any Home Depot, Walmart, Tractor Supply or Lowe's. They are the aluminum ones, and they reflect heat + light into the tank better than the black dome ones and can be set on top of the screen.

Alright, thanks. :? This is my first beardie so I feel like an overly worrying mom :lol: I just wanna have the best possible for her
 

wolfgirl

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Well I suffered my first bite today. :oops: I was holding her while my roommate cleaned the cage and she ran towards the edge of the bed. Didn't want her to fall off so I tried to scoop her back up and she got pissed and puffed and bit. Drew blood but wasn't too bad, didnt even hurt. Time to bring out the gloves for the next handling...
 

wolfgirl

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Original Poster
The good news though is that she started eating salad today. Left a whole plate of greens and other goods in there and she ate everything save for a couple of leaves. :)
 
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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

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