New Pygmy Beardie owner - would like some advice.

Hi everyone,
I recently got my first Pygmy bearded dragon 2 days ago. His name is Ignatius. I have a few questions to ask.

1) I’ve been spraying him a few times a day, some times he licks his lips, other times he doesn’t. Just wondering how much I should be making him drink.

2) I’ve had many conflicting ideas regarding the temperature of his cage at day time and night time. When he was at the pet shop, they had the temperature around 30-32 Celsius all the time, even at night. They said that i should keep him warm at night because he is so young. A few breeders and people I know with beardies have told me that they totally turn off their heat at night. For the time being I’ve been turning it down to roughly 21 Celsius at night (the lowest my 100W ceramic heat source can go) just so I can transition him to eventually turning it fully off. My day time temperatures generally range between 31-33 Celsius at the warm side, is that ok? Any information regarding temperatures at night or day time is welcome. P.s night temperature outside have been dropping to 14 Celsius lately, although it is a bit warmer inside. What temperature should his cage be at night? Would it be too cold to fully turn it off now?

3) At what age should I start bathing him in warm water?

4) How many crickets and vegetables (mainly Kale at the moment) should I be feeding him per day?


Any other information or general tips are welcome

He should be able to get the hydration he needs from veges and bugs that have been eating fresh veges but you can drip water on his nose or spray his nose so he can lick up more if he wants to.

I usually advise basking surface temps between about 38-42C with cool side surfaces between about 26-29 during the day. At night he should be fine as long as the temps in the tank stay above 18 or so. I like to bump the temps to around 21-23 or so overnight when it gets cool though.

You don't need to give him a bath unless he gets soiled. Some of them enjoy baths and you can offer them no problem but if he finds them to be stressful then I wouldn't offer them unless needed. That varies between dragons.

Offer a salad with some greens and veges every day. At a young age he may eat them but may ignore them in favor of bugs. He needs the protein to support growth. Give him two bug meals per day all he wants in about a 10 minute window. The actual number he eats will likely fluctuate. Make sure the bugs have a light even coat of calcium powder on them. If you want some ideas for salad items this is a good list to reference http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html Just rotate based on what looks fresh at the store.