New dragon mom

I recently took in a bearded dragon as a rescue. I have other lizzards but this is my first interaction with a beardie. He is so sweet but scared of everything. I have no way of knowing his age so not sure what to feed him to correctly give him the nutrition he needs. He is scared to death of crickets so feed him super worms but he doesn't seem to care for them very often. He loves blueberries and baby kale but is that enough? I have tried green peppers and raw sweet potatoes and also apples with no luck.

Hi you want to feed collard, dandelion greens and squash as staples. Kale is a calcium binder which means that much needed calcium cannot be used by the beardie, so avoid kale or feed once weekly at most. Do not feed spinach for same reason.

Perhaps print off a list of foods that can be fed daily (some squashes and greens) weekly (most fruit, veg, herbs) and those to definitely avoid.

If you post a picture and give the size and weight people can judge the age and give advice.

As for now, make sure insects are no bigger than the space between the eyes and offer insects and greens daily.

I hope this helps. As reference my adult beardies have approx 50% leafy greens, approx 20% fruit, veg, herbs and 30% insects. Juveniles need more insects. Like 80%.

Also I'm not trying to worry you but its a bit concerning when you describe beardie of being 'scared of everything'. Yes beardies get stressed from relocation but beardies are also generally curious, especially if it could be food.

Re the crickets, maybe put the tub somewhere in view prior to feeding so beardie can get used to them and maybe get curious. What's happening when you try to feed them as live food?

Here's a good list.
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

Welcome to the wonderful world of bearded dragons a land of mystery, enchantment, cuddles and, worry! A magical realm where things always seem to change in an instant and, the moment you think you have it all figured out, the rules change! You think you own your dragon?, guess again.....you are now a slave, lol!

It can sometimes take a week or two for them to get over their relocation stress, it can be a trying time to say the least but, it will pass.
Can you go over his setup for us?
Lighting, substrate, temps...ect.....

Thank you everyone. I am happy to have all the advice. He came from a home where he was starving and kept in a container smaller then a shoe box. So hopefully he comes out of his shell and is happy

He has a 55 gallon tank and has 2 75 watt uvb lights and one 150 watt heat lamp and a 75 watt basking light. Also has the red lights for at night. He has logs for playing and climbing and a basket he has taken over he sleeps in and climbs on. He has a towel in it to sleep on

His favorite this is baskets. He loves them he climbs in them on them no matter where in the house they are he finds them. His 2nd favorite thing is my poodle. He follows her around cuddles with her she is very good with him and seems to think he is her baby. I keep his in tank temps about 100 and between 100 and 115 in his basking area. His tank is a work in progress as I have no clue what I am doing yet. We named him squishy due to how much weight he has gained sense I got him. He puffs his beard out and turns it all black when crickets get near him. He eats the super worms but only when I hand feed them to him.

Angelique":vod0ra34 said:

He has a 55 gallon tank and has 2 75 watt uvb lights and one 150 watt heat lamp and a 75 watt basking light. Also has the red lights for at night. He has logs for playing and climbing and a basket he has taken over he sleeps in and climbs on. He has a towel in it to sleep on

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Welcome to the forum!
It sounds like you got him out of a bad living situation, so hopefully he will learn he's ok now and come out of his shell a bit!

I quoted this chunk of text because I'm a little confused why you have so many lights going. I'll see if I can save you a bit on your electric bill :lol:

Firstly, I want to recommend no lights at night. The red bulb is unnecessary and the color it puts off can disturb his sleep. If your home gets under 65 degrees at night, we definitely recommend a CHE, or ceramic heat emitter. This puts out heat but no light, so it will keep them sleeping soundly without being disturbed.

What are you using to take temperature of the enclosure? If it's a dial stick on one or strips, those are known to be inaccurate and we recommend a temp gun or a digital probe.
With all the bulbs you have going it sounds like a 55g would get too warm. You will want the basking spot to maintain around 100-110 surface temperature, whether it be a stone, log, etc that he basks on. The cooler side of the tank should be right around 75 degrees.

Can you also confirm the brand/bulb of the UVB lights? From your description it sounds as though it's a mercury vapor bulb which also is putting off heat, however I may be incorrect with this presumption. If not already, you will want 1 UVB tube style light, preferably an Arcadia bulb (http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/) or a Reptisun T8 10.0 at the minimum. Coils or compacts would be insufficient with the size of the enclosure as their optimal output is only about 6" from the bulb and diminishes sharply after.

I really hope this is all is not too overwhelming, and of course we are here to help and get you in the right direction so you and your beardie can have a happy life!

Hello. I use my husband's heat gun to check temps. Not all the lights are on his tank. I let him run in the house. He loves my poodle and likes to hang out with her so I have warming stations around the house for him. Iol. In his tank I have his zilla tube style uvb lights and his basking lamp. His tank is between 110 and 115 on basking side and about 85 on shadded side.

AngeliqueG":2ketyg2u said:

Hello. I use my husband's heat gun to check temps. Not all the lights are on his tank. I let him run in the house. He loves my poodle and likes to hang out with her so I have warming stations around the house for him. Iol. In his tank I have his zilla tube style uvb lights and his basking lamp. His tank is between 110 and 115 on basking side and about 85 on shadded side.

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That explains it!
I was like wow that enclosure is practically a robot :lol: Well I'm very glad to hear he has such a happy new life!

I am so thankful for this site I have learned so much. He is my first interaction with a bearded dragon. He has definitely taken over my heart. He likes to watch my daughter's hamster move about her tank. I told her he thinks it's lunch lol. He is very curious about my other lizards also. He shows no aggressive behavior towards them, but they never are out of their tanks. He seems to be very animal friendly. Is this a normal behavior?

I definitely agree about this site. My first dragon I got almost 2 years ago now and I used this site for so much information to correct the errors taught to me by pet stores.
It wasn't until I got my second dragon that I finally made an account and have started to lend the advice I've learned back to others. I've also personally decided to donate a very small amount to make sure this forum stays up and running to help others.

Regarding animal friendliness, it could be a few different things going on.

As much as many people would advise against it, I introduced my dragons to my cat at an early age. It's difficult to hold a dragon so often with a curious cat and not have interaction :lol: and they get along perfectly fine and I 100% trust them together, but it really depends on the dragon and the demeanor of the other pet. Not all animals get along.
Cats are of course predators by nature and normally a squiggly little dragon = play thing for a cat, but my cat appears to lack a hunt drive and goes just as far as "tapping" an item she is hunting (she'll even follow and just tap the loose crickets, easy way to tell she found one and get it back into the keeper.) She does not tap my dragons, and generally appears disinterested in them. My dragons I wouldn't say love my cat, but they are not afraid of her and will approach her, lay with her, and generally tolerate her with no ill results.
It's obvious your new buddy does not see your dog as a predator, and the hamster probably piques his curiosity more than anything, along with any other animals in the house. It doesn't necessarily mean he loves them, but is curious about them ("are you friend or foe?!")
There is also a snake in our house that the dragons will watch veerrrryyyy intently. In this case they do view him as a predator and are keeping their eye on it. I did want to disclose that the by no means does the snake free-roam and have access to the dragons. On occasion when the snake is held, it's in the same room as the enclosures but on the completely opposite side of the room.

Sorry that my response was so long. I just wanted to make sure to clarify that I in no way advocate introducing all animals in a house if it is not necessary. Every animal has a different personality, and just like people, not all of those personalities/instincts match.