New Owner Here! =)

Hey there! I just got a bearded dragon from a church friend who could no longer give him the care he deserves (she has 2 toddlers and a baby on the way the poor gal). I'm not too sure what I'm doing lol, so any help would be greatly appreciated. His name is Jericho. I don't know how old he is but he's 16 inches long. (I'd put in a picture but I'm not really sure how to do that...)

His tank is 55 gallons I believe (it's about 4 feet x 1 foot x 20 inches) though that seems a bit small to me as there's no room for him to run around if he wants to, but I don't know if that's even a thing bearded dragons do.
When I got him there was a log in his hide that left him no room to get in, so I took it out and he's been much happier. He also has what I think is a basking rock, a branch that he can get up on, and a fake plant that he kept trying to eat at first lol. I definitely want to get him a little hammock; what else would y'all suggest?
There's currently sand substrate, but I plan to change that due to my asthma; any suggestions on what I should use?

For lighting he has a coil UV bulb and a day/night heater which I plan to change as soon possible. I want a tube UV bulb (I'm thinking Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 HO T5 UVB Lamp) and an under tank heater (haven't looking into that yet, any suggestions?). I'm not sure how much of the tank they should take up though...

His old owner fed him crickets, mealworms, and roaches once a week (yikes! When I got him he hadn't been fed in a week and there was still a live cricket in there as well as a bunch of dead ones; poor baby). It seems like he's so used to catching them whenever he wants that I have to hold them in front of his face for him to eat them. I've fed him crickets and mealworms so far, but I've heard mealworms are hard on their tummies, and crickets are hard for me to hold, so I'm not sure what I'll be feeding him in the future.
My mom has a bunch of worm composts, so I would like to feed him those as they're free, but he's not able to grip them with his tongue. I'm going to pick up some calcium powder and try rolling them in that to see it that makes them a bit easier for him to grab.

I've also been providing him with a salad made of turnip greens, mango, sweet potato, and acorn squash, but he doesn't seem too interested in it. I've even tried putting the mealworms on top of it but he won't eat them. (And if I try to point them out he tries to eat my finger lol!) His previous owner fed him lettuce and carrots, so I'll pick up some carrots, see if he's more interested in those.

I'm planning to go to Repticon next weekend and I've heard you can get stuff pretty cheap there, so hopefully I'll get to pick up some cool new stuff for Jericho then!

Welcome to the forum. You will get a lot of responses. Definetly get rid of the sand, ASAP. A lot of people use tile, some use paper towels, I use the non adhesive shelf liner, which I like. It's easy to wipe up and bugs can't get under it. You can get that at Walmart or Bed bath & beyond. Here is a good list of veggies you can feed them.
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
No tank is ever big enough, I let mine roam around this level of the house. He likes finding new dark places to hide. Here's one at Christmas when I lost him in about 5 minutes.

That tank is too narrow. He will probably have trouble even turning around in that unfortunately. Your best bet is probably to build your own if you have the resources to do so. This is a popular build https://beardies.dreamwidth.org/2145.html Look for something that is at least 4'x2'x2' if not a bit taller or built with an open top.

Getting a T5 tube is a very good idea. I suggest this one http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/ but the ReptiSun 10 is also a good option. I wouldn't bother with an under tank heater. What do you have for a basking light and thermometers to monitor temperatures?

Getting rid of the sand is a good idea too. Go with something solid as mentioned. Anything from non adhesive shelf liner to ceramic or slate tile should do nicely. If you find the solid surface is a bit too much you can add some fleece scraps to dig in or a fleece blanket to walk on. They are loopless so they don't get caught up on nails and they are easy to clean.

Thanks Terry15! I've taken the sand out and put in an old bath towel until I get some shelf liner.
He loves being out of his cage but we keep the house pretty cold so I don't want him to be out for too long. And that picture is absolutely adorable!!



He does have some trouble turning around in that cage, CooperDragon. I definitely want to build him a bigger cage but I'm not sure I have enough money to do so yet. I'll look into it; thanks for that tutorial.

The light you suggested is WAY too expensive for me lol. And as I said he has a day/night light bulb heater. I've heard that those lights are bad for their eyes and Jericho always closes eyes when under it (I figure he's not just relaxing because if the light's only shining on half of his face he'll only close that one eye). The red night bulb burned out yesterday so I'll either need to get another one or something different. (And it would be nice to sleep without a bright light on lol.)

For thermometers I have one of those crappy ones stuck to the side of the glass on his basking side and I'll occasionally check the temp with a digital cooking thermometer I have.

Also the basking side isn't getting as warm as I'd like (it seems it can only get to around 87°F with both bulbs on and with only the one working it barely manages 80°F).

For night time you can get a ceramic heat emitter
bulb, (CHE).

Terry15":1mu9x9w3 said:

For night time you can get a ceramic heat emitter
bulb, (CHE).

Click to expand...

Ooh yeah that's a good idea, I forgot about those lol. And particular one you'd recommend?

I think Cooperdragon can answer that, he knows what tanks need certain lights to get things just right. PM him & he can let you know. Mine might be 100Watts.

The CHEs are pretty similar. The 100w should be fine. Even a lower wattage would put out plenty of heat. They get REALLY hot. I prefer using the MegaRay heat projectors because they produce plenty of heat but aren't such a burn risk. Their surfaces run much cooler than a CHE.

I went with a 150W All Living Things brand ceramic heater and Jericho LOVES it. I also bought him a 34" T5 Reptisun bulb but I can't seem to find a fixture for it; the few that are the right length have too low of a max wattage. I'm thinking I might should make a new post under the enclosures forum about that.

That's a beast so keep a close eye on temps it's putting out and careful not to touch it.

As for the T5, that should fit a 36'' fixture. Try this http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/34-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-base-unit-no-bulb/ I have this with an Arcadia 12% bulb but it should work just as well with your ReptiSun.