New Beardie!

Hey everyone! I rescued my first Bearded Dragon, Burrito, today. He's just your standard morph that you would find somewhere like Petco or Pet Smart. I ordered a shipment of Dubia roaches to start my own colony. The only reptiles I've had before are Crested Geckos and my baby Iggamus. Any tips for daily routines could be useful. Thanks!
~ Wri54Brenden

Welcome to the forum! How old is your new buddy? Is he healthy or did he come from a rough home? I'd love to see photos of him. You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button.

I suggest browsing the newbies guide and the lighting intro articles on the right side of the page for some general info about their care. I'll be glad to try and answer any specific questions you have though. What do you have in place as far as his setup and lighting goes? Starting a dubia colony is a really good idea. This article provides a pretty good overview on their care http://www.southtexasdragons.com/dubia-roaches.html They are pretty easy to take care of. They do a great job of eating scrap veges and leftover salads from my dragon.

He's about 1 1/2 to 2 years old. He came from a pretty rough home, and when I found the ad he was pretty malnutritioned. I have a reptile vet near my home that I took him to and they have him on a treatment for mites and a calcium supplement. He's probably going to stay there overnight, so I'll get some pictures of them tomorrow. Any recommendations for what vegetables to feed him?

OK I'm glad he's getting good care and will come to you and a good home. I'd go easy on food at first and make sure he's well hydrated. Offer drops of water on his nose and if he licks that up then offer some salad. This is a good list to reference when putting salads together. I usually go with 2-3 items per salad depending on what looks fresh at the store. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

If he wont' go after solid foods, you can try dripping some baby food on his nose and see if he licks that up. I've had good luck with squash and green beans. I keep some in the pantry for rescues.

If he has calcium issues and hasn't had proper UVB exposure, I'd make sure to get a good T5 UVB light to ensure he gets what he needs going forward. This is what I use and it's great. http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/

How do you feel about Merc. Vapor lamps? I was looking at the Solar-Glo 125w, for a 55 gallon terrarium. Mounted about 8-12 inches away from the top of the cage. I also have a screen top, any ideas on what top to use if screen isn't suitable.

He's home today, just ate most of his first salad, Collard Greens and Mustard greens. Right now I have him under a chicken heat lamp and a Reptisun 10.0 T5

That's a good salad. The chicken brooder lamps are a good value and usually provide plenty of heat. I use the brooder dome fixtures which cost around $6 vs the reptile fixtures. If you find that the chicken lamp is too fragile (mine would shatter sometimes) you can just swap it with a PAR38 halogen flood light in the same fixture. They are a bit more durable and still provide plenty of heat for not a lot of money.

If you have a T5 ReptiSun I'd stick with that. It should sit about 10-12'' above the basking area if it's shining through a screen. I prefer this because you have independent control of the UVB output and heat while with a MVB both are combined so you have to mount it based on UVB output and adjust the heat with a secondary lamp as needed. I use MVB for portable basking lights though. I'm not crazy about the Solar Glo bulbs because they had a rapid decay rate in some test results I've read. I use MegaRay bulbs (100w at 10-12'') as my portable basking lamps.