NEW BEARDIE OWNER

My name is Michelle and I just bought a beardie at a local pet store 3 days ago. I first saw beardies at Christmas when I was shopping for a betta. I went home and watched some YouTube videos and read some articles. I went back to the store 2 more times and just looked. Asked some questions. Then the next time I went I asked to hold one and he/she came right on my hand! Sold! To the woman in blue! I got the tank starter kit, my beardie (his/her name is Toothless) and some crickets and went home. Now I just found this forum and realized I should not have used the sand provided. I do have done tiles I can use if that would be better. I have put some wood pieces and an upside down small drawer in for a basking and hiding area. Any newbie tips and ideas will be very welcome! How often do I feed him? I have been cutting up fresh veggies (carrots, cucumbers, red bell pepper, lettuce) with a few of the beardie food pellets softened with water everyday. I have a waterbowl conditioned with the supplied conditioner and I put 3 live crickets coated in the supplied calcium powder in once a day in the evenings. I take out any he doesn't eat. He doesn't seem to touch the beautiful veggie platters i have prepared. I do put the crickets on top of the veggies and he gets them there. Anyway, everything I have read and seen here is awesome. I look forward to "bearding" with you.

Hi. Congratulations on the new addition First baby beardies need 80% protein diet and 20% salad. So 3 crickets is not nearly enough. He needs to be fed 2x a day as much as he'll eat in 10 mins. Now he may not for a couple more days as he might have relocation stress. Also if you go to beautiful dragons.com they have a chart on what to feed. Since you bought the kit I'd buy a reliable thermometer. Either a temp gun or a digital with a wire probe. What kind of lights do you have and how big is the enclosure?

Welcome!!

Congrats on your new beardie! Having a dragon is an amazing experience as they are wonderful and cuddly animals I'm sure you will love it! And you came to a great place, this website is amazing for information.

A good bottom for that cage is slate tile. It retains heat, and helps file down nails. As well, it isn't slippery like ceramic and the beardies can easily walk on it.

For lighting, a good Uvb tube bulb is best and a good basking bulb that maintains the hot side around 110 degrees will do wonders. Having a baby dragon can be a bit tricky so never hesitate to ask any questions you may need

My tank is a 40 gallon breeder. It has two slide in screens on top. The lighting supplied was a large dual dome with ceramic screw in bulb fixtures. One bulb is reptisun 10.0 compact uvb fluorescent and the other is a reptibasking spot lamp. I have a thermometer on the wall of the tank about a third of the way from the bottom and the temp gets up to about 95.

40b size will work for a while until (if) you get a bigger tank when he/she gets bigger.

I would like to make a few suggestions:
1. Ditch the compact UVB and buy a tube UVB.
2. Get a digital thermometer. Either Probe or gun. Temp guns are awesome.

Welcome to the beardie world. Good luck!

Thanks so much for the suggestions. Ordering tube uvb and temp gun. Changed substrate to tile. Thinking of ordering a ceramic heater as the tank temp seems low esp at night. Thoughts?

If your temps drop below 65*F at night you should. Otherwise you don't need any additional heat.

As someone else mentioned, he should eat mostly insects at this age. I think you'll find that you can save a lot of money by starting a Dubia colony or ordering insects online in bulk.