Hello, from Kevin & his slave Starla!

Hi everyone! I recently got my 1st beardie 3weeks ago after wanting one for several years. He is a Christmas present from the Hubs. I'm about 90% sure he is male, thus has been named Kevin!

And let me tell ya, I knew a lot less about Beardies than I thought! I got him at Petco (mistake 1) along with a Zilla Premium Desert Kit (mistake 2) & was told the kit had everything I needed & to feed him mealworms & spring mix salad (ugh...)

I brought him home, got him all set up & started the Google adventure & man I was so ticked at all the misinformation I was given & the money I wasted on the starter kit. Ended up going back & buying carpet, better heat lamps & better food dish & basking spot.

Still didn't have it right. It took me 3 days to even learn my lights didn't put out UVB. So, off to Petco I went again & bought a coil bulb for UVB. GEEZ! Then after more research, found out coils are a big NO-NO.

Poor Kevin! We struggled sooo much that 1st week- week & a half! And not to mention all the money I've lost ???

This forum has helped us tremendously! I don't even Google things anymore, just come straight here & start digging. Kevin is now housed in a lovely 40 gallon tank, Reptisun 10.0 tube & eating only crickets & greens. Not the spring mix & mealworms I was told! He has his own drawer in the fridge of collards, endive, butternut squash & the occasional fruits that NO ONE is allowed to touch!

I gotta say, he is living the life now! It's amazing the difference all those little things made in him. I'm already his slave. I can't wait to spend the next several years taking care of him.

He started out at around 8 1/2in (didn't get a very good start measurement) & is now 9in on the dot! We survived his 1st shed, which freaked my hubby out (had to yell at him for trying to help pull his skin off!) I don't know his weight as I've yet to find a scale that will recognize his teeny little body. What kind of scale do you guys use & where can I find it?

Sorry for being so long but I had to brag on how far we've come, voice my disappointment in Petcos lack of knowledge, & thank everyone here for actually caring to answer questions so I was able to give him the best home possible!

Also, I'd live to post a few pics, like the one where he fell asleep cuddling with me for the 1st time 2 nights ago, but I'm completely clueless on how to do post pics here. Help?

Welcome to the forum! I'm glad to hear he's settling in well and has a happy home with you =). Also glad you got everything straightened out quickly on the setup front. That will make a big difference in the long run. If you have any specific questions please feel free to post. We'll be glad to help. You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post the photos using the XIMG button when you reply.

I use a kitchen scale (for cooking, coffee, and dragon weighing) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004C3CAB8/ It handles weights down to .5g. I put a shoebox top on it, tare the scale, and plop the dragon into the shoebox top to get a measurement.

Thank you for the reply! I actually went out & got a kitchen scale from Wal-Mart last night & apparently he only weighs 25g right now! That seems so small... is it a normal weight for 9in? I tried to guess his age at 1st based on size but after seeing all the charts & how they differ so much, plus all the trips to Petco looking at the conditions in their setup, I'm almost certain he's been stunted ? Poor babies. I'm trying to convince my husband to let me take em all & rescue them from those dummies lol!

I have another question also... I grabbed a bag of the Greens Trio while I was at Wal-Mart & I seen quite a few posts recommending them but when I look at the ingredients, it says it can have Kale in it also! So I've tried picking out the kale but everything looks so similar. I know the collards since that's what I've been feeding him but even after googling the different greens, kale & turnip greens looks a lot a like. So would it hurt if a few bits of Kale got in there or should I just trash it. I'm having a ton of trouble finding mustard or turnip greens right now... nobody eats em lol!

And... here's Kevin!
doing his sexy legs
all tucked in for the night
& my fav when he cuddled up on my chest & fell asleep! He tried so hard to get burrow into my cleavage. Definitely a man lol!

He looks healthy. He's just still a little guy. He has a lot of growing to do. He should still be getting a couple of bug meals per day and that should help him grow. Don't worry about Kale. It's fine if it's included in a balanced diet. It's just not great in the long term if it's all that is fed. He may ignore veges for the most part in favor of bugs anyway. That's OK. The bugs will eat the leftovers in most cases and it's good to have the salads available as an option. I'd keep a log of his weight in a spreadsheet app so you can easily graph it and see how he's trending over time.

I know how frustrating it can be when you can’t fiind beardie friendly greens at the mainstream supermarkets. I usually have pretty good luck finding things like endive and collard greens at Walmart and dandelion greens at Whole Foods and Ralph’s. Here’s a link to a nutrition chart many beardie owners rely on when shopping: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutritionframeset.html It’s great because it also specifies which foods are good daily staples and which should be occasional treats. And the info on different feeder insects makes mixing up their protein sources easy too. It’s great that you’ve been doing the research on how to keep your new baby healthy. Many people, unfortunately, rely on the bad info they receive from pet stores and later voice their desperation on these forums when their baby becomes impacted from sand or reptile bark, or isn’t growing because the pet store sold them a junk/ineffective UV light. But Kevin is very cute and it sounds like his slave is on the ball when it comes to finding out what he needs to be happy.