My new fancy baby!!

[beardeddragonnewbie]

Hello everyone! Today I adopted an amazing Fancy Bearded Dragon from a pet supplies plus store (great service!!), he is a gorgeous fire and ice morph! I will upload a picture as soon as I can. Anyway, he is in a 50 gallon Exo terra terrarium, and he has reptile carpet, large food and water dishes, a nice reptile hammock, and a cardboard box hide. His lighting is a reptisun 10 mini compact UVB bulb, in a 12" fixture. (I know I need a better UVB bulb, but he is getting calcium with D3 so that should be fine). For heat, a 150 watt flukers basking bulb. I checked temps, they are around 108F under basking spot and humidity level is 30%. He already ate a mealworm, and pooed in his tank.

When we went to get him, we realized his foot is missing 3 toes, it doesn't seem to bother him, but I assumed they where bitten off when he was younger by siblings. I knew he was the right one as soon as I held him, cause he sat tall and alert, tail held high, and just chilled XD And on our way home, he let me hold him out of his container, without a problem. I am so exited to watch him grow, and his personality form!! I just wanted to ask if theres any tips or pointers for me? such as feeding, knowing when sick, things to expect, etc.

[KarrieRee]

Welcome to the forum and so happy to have you come and ask questions - we will do the best we can -
Compact mini coil bulb? Those are not healthy for your dragon --- here is some info on UVB's for you
Which UVB light should I use?
The best UVB light is a ReptiSun 10.0 fluorescent tube HO (Or Arcardia 12% in the UK). Compact or coil bulbs do not emit the proper amount of UVB light for a bearded dragon, and should not be used. Other brands, such as the Zilla Desert Series and ReptiGlo have been known to cause eye problems and other health issues with bearded dragons, and should be avoided. The reason that some UVB lights (Zilla, ReptiGlo, coils/compacts, ect.) are considered dangerous is because the wavelength of UVB that they emit is shorter and more intense than the wavelength of the "safe" lights (ReptiSun, Arcadia). UVB lights should be replaced every 6 months. The T5’s are a strong bulb and only need to be replaced once a year – the T 8 every 6 months--- where as the T 8 are not as strong—they need to be placed inside the tank the T 5 10.0 bulb approx 12-15 inches from basking spot – the T 8 approx 6-8 inches from basking spot—the cover needs to be off the bulb for full effect of the UVB rays-- you need to replace this ASAP--- in a smaller tank the coils are ok but your big tank is not gonna do --- here is a website for nutrition http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
He probably will go thru some relocation stress and slow down on eating but he should not quit eating completely--- salads should be offered every day and before he gets his staple feeder to get him to start eating his vegies -- I can give tips on how to start eating those vegies if you like
Karrie

[beardeddragonnewbie]

Yes! It would be helpful to know how to get him to eat veggies. He has no problem eating mealworms though. I will get a new uvb as soon as I can. He is so sweet already haha and seems to be pretty comfortable!

[KarrieRee]

The sooner the better on the UVB -- that is crucial to him eating and digesting his food- so w/ the feeding him vegies - start w/ vegies first thing in the morning --- put 1-3 small super worms if you can get them and some BFSL- NO more meal worms they are too hard on his stomach --- 1-3 small super worms and 8 or so BFSL - they are a staple feeder and do not need to be dusted - you can order them from here https://symtonbsf.com/-- put them in a bowl they cant crawl out of and add them to his salad where he can see you doing this - the movement of the worms on the salad will entice him to the bowl - let him eat that for around 30 minutes or so then feed him his staple feeders - I am using dubia roaches and putting them in the vegie bowl as well -- dusted w/ calcium D3 5 x per week and 2 x per week vitamins-- try that and see how it goes -- he will slow down on eating as he will go thru relocation stress but he should not quit eating all together -- I recommend you get that UVB changed out ASAP--- those can cause eye issues and basically do not give off the UVB rays he needs to digest his calcium he needs --
Karrie

[beardeddragonnewbie]

Thanks for the info. I will work on changing those things out. Here are some pics of him and his setup

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Blurry photo of his odd back right foot
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[KarrieRee]

Its too bad about his foot but that happens-- hes gonna be a pretty color-- I would look at getting him a hide and some more decor for basking - things he can climb -- Pet Smart sells some nice decor of things I will post a pic of Blazes tank and his decor all of it came from Pet Smart - think big on the hide he will grow ---
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he is sitting on the log in the back standing up --- its nice that the log offers different gradient temps as well - are you using just the stick on in back of tank -- its fine for humidity but you need a infrared heat gun or / and digital probe --- I recommend both --- the stick ons are good for ambient temps and not actual basking temps of which you want 105-110 for a baby --- you can get the probe from Pet Smart for $5 and the IR gun at your local home improvement store for around $10-12
Karrie