Hello my fellow Bearded Dragon friends!

Hello everyone,
This is a simple post to introduce myself and my new beardie.
I bought him last wednesday and he is doing extremly well. He is about 3 months old (8-9 inches long). He is almost finished his sheding (when i bought him he was sheding).
He is eating approx. 10 crickets a day. I tried more, but he did not want to eat anymore.
Today I fed him small mealworms for the first time. I ate about 12 of them. I was planing to alternate between small mealworms and crickets.
Also, he ate some collard greens right out of my hand this morning. Only a few pieces tho, but it is at least a good start.
He pooped thursday and today. Looked good color. No diarrhea. He is alert and very active. Not afraid to be picked up.

My setup is what came included with the zoo med bearded dragon starter kit 40 gallon (pictures below). The only addtion/difference, the basking temperature was only around 90 so I bought a 150 watt (same brand), and now it is around 100-110. And he seems to move around in his basking area, to regulate his temperature.

If you have any comments, I will be happy to hear them. I am new owner, but I did several days/weeks of research before buying.

Hello, and welcome to the forum!! There is a few things you are going to need to change in your husbandry though:

1) Is your UV light a coil/compact type? If so, immediately change it to a ReptiSun 10.0 t5 or t8.

2) Do you have a night light that emits color? If so, take it out (or at least don't turn it on)

3) Stop feeding mealworms ASAP!! Mealworms have a hard chitinous shell that can cause impaction, which can be fatal.

4) Is that stick on thermometer all you have to check temps? If so, you need a new one. Those stick-on ones can be off by as much as 10º-20º!! Get an IR temp gun. These can be purchased on Amazon for around $15.

JessPets":1v8v6v3d said:

Hello, and welcome to the forum!! There is a few things you are going to need to change in your husbandry though:

1) Is your UV light a coil/compact type? If so, immediately change it to a ReptiSun 10.0 t5 or t8.

2) Do you have a night light that emits color? If so, take it out (or at least don't turn it on)

3) Stop feeding mealworms ASAP!! Mealworms have a hard chitinous shell that can cause impaction, which can be fatal.

4) Is that stick on thermometer all you have to check temps? If so, you need a new one. Those stick-on ones can be off by as much as 10º-20º!! Get an IR temp gun. These can be purchased on Amazon for around $15.

Click to expand...

1) I have 2 UV ReptiSun 10.0 UVB 13 watt bulbs from zoo med. (One with the basking light on the left side and another on the right side of the tank).

2) I have no night light

3) I have only fed him mealworms since since i bought him. The information on the web is really 50/50 on rather I should feed him mealworms. I talked to someone who already owns a bearded dragon and he feeds his mealworms every second day. So that's why I bought him. Should I only feed him crickets then? Or if not, what other types of worms should I buy, he is only approx. 3 months. (8-9 inches).

4) No I have a probe temperature reader. In addition to the stick ons. The probe was saying 110 at the very top of his basking spot. But he rarely sits there, always a little to the side. The importance, there is plenty of room for him to move around to a cooler side, but still under the light.

Thank you for the reply. I appreciate any and all comments and suggestions.

Welcome to the wonderful world of bearded dragons, a mystical realm where things are often not as they seem. A world where, worry, patients, love and, mystery are all part of the average day. Just when you think you have control, guess again because you are now realizing it is not you that has control.... You have become a slave!
And as good slaves we communicate through this site for advice and reassurance. Yes we all have varying opinions on some aspects of care for our masters (aka.. Dragons)!!!
As Jess suggested, that coil type uvb is not a good source of uvb. We almost always recommend a long tube type uvb light as it covers more area in the viv and is always better for their eyes. In years past the coil type bulbs have caused many eye issues (infections and blindness) but, some say they have corrected this issue but, I don't buy into that. The Reptisun 10.0 t8 (dragon has to get within 8") or the 10.0 t5 ho (which is much stronger and best in my opinion) are the way to go. Without proper uvb they cannot absorb the calcium and other nutrients from their food which causes other problems. So in a nutshell I am saying the coil type screw in bulbs are not good for them.

Hi. I just wanted to say good feeders are crickets, silk worms, Phoenix worms and dubia roaches depending on where you are. Make sure the feeders are no bigger than the space between the eyes.