new baby beardie ringo!!:)

Status
Not open for further replies.
hey everyone! so i just bought an 8 week old beardie from a pet store about 2 weeks ago. i’d say he’s 8 inches in length from head to tail. he’s been getting crickets three times a day plus some veggies (if i can get him to actually eat them lol, which he does most of the time!). i’ll usually offer him kale or collard greens. the crickets get supplemented with calcium dust and a calcium fortified feeding gel. although, my vet told me that crickets actually are not a prime source of protein/calcium so i just ordered some small phoenix worms to start giving him. i don’t have a water bowl in the tank because i can’t keep the humidity down if i do, but i’ve been trying to get him used to baths and dripping water on his nose for him to lick it off. he has a 100 watt white basking bulb plus the reptisun 10.0 uvb bulb. both the uv and basking bulb are about 8 inches from where he usually likes to sit. the hot side of his tank is around 100 and the cooler side is 85. at night the tank is usually 75-80. i had a red night lamp for him but i’ve learned that they actually disturb your beardies sleep, so i’m picking him up a ceramic heat emitter tomorrow when the pet store opens. i have a rock cave for him, two tree like decorations, and a hammock that he loves to hangout in. i have a reptile carpet liner on the bottom of his terrarium and a desert background on 3 out of 4 sides so he can’t see his reflection. his stress marks have gone down immensely. they used to be present pretty much 24/7 but he now has long periods of time where he’s got his happy bright colors on. he still won’t let me hold him though :/ he goes crazy running around and gapes/hisses at me occasionally. never bitten me. i’m trying to be patient with him and go at his pace i’m just not sure the right way to get him to trust me without overhandling him or not handling him enough. i always approach him with my palm up and i go to pick him up from underneath his belly and support his legs. i never reach my hand over his head. i’m so eager to have a bond with him but i need to remember he’s just a little baby who sees the big world as a scary place where everything wants to eat him right now lol. any advice on bonding with my baby would be so helpful. my last bearded dragon didn’t require any type of work to get her to trust me. she was so calm and trusting and sweet by nature even as a baby, so i’ve never had to learn how to do this before. i just want to make sure i’m doing every thing correctly and doing everything i can to give him the absolute happiest/relaxed life possible. i’m the biggest ball of anxiety when it comes to making sure my animals are okay, especially when their such tiny fragile babies; so i could use some reassurance/advice!! :)
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Welcome to the forum-- your on the right track w/ your little one- the UVB your using is a 10.0 coil or tube bulb? - and the size of the tank hes in ? Bonding may take some time - let him get used to your hand in the tank maybe hand feed him and you can get a piece of cloth blanket clothing and put in the tank for him to get used to your smell - I would only hold him for a few minutes at a time and in the tank - or in front of it - you will haft to be patient w/ him that is normal behavior the running and hissing etc-- the temp at nite is 75-80- 80 is too warm unless your tank is dropping below 65 at nite I would not worry about the heat emitter --- they like cool and dark to sleep - its good hes eating his veggies -- you can add your BSFL on top of his salads and use as many as you want as they are a staple feeder - add them in front of them so he sees you doing this - it will get his attention to that food bowl - you can also use small super worms butter worms - and then you can add his staple feeder to the bowl as well after he eats from his bowl for say an hr or so -- dubias are easier to use than crickets - you can use them but you would need to disable them by pulling a leg or two off -- if you need websites for bugs / worms let me know I can post some for you -- silk worms are a good staple feeder as well -- and can be used as lures to the bowl as well -- heres is a website for nutrition
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder
Karrie
 

dnewnam2001

Member
Original Poster
thanks so much for the advice, i’ll definitely try these methods to bond with him and be patient. His UV bulb is a tube and he’s in a 40 gallon tank that i had from my previous beardie. Also thank you for the tips on feeding insects! it’s been so hard for me to find a website that wasn’t sold out of pretty much everything lol. But i finally found a site and ordered two cans of small phoenix worms. they should be here in about a week, so i’ll just continue to feed him crickets with the calcium dust until they get here. His stress marks are very prominent today, i’m not sure why :/ The temp in the tank is 105 on the hot side right now, the humidity is at 37% and he’s been fed his crix so i’m not sure what’s stressing him right now. do some just take a lot longer to get used to their surroundings? Again my last beardie spike was the most laid back, sweet, low maintenance girl in the world so this behavior is all new to me! But i know they all just have very different personalities :)
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Is your UVB a T 8 or a T 5? and this is dried two cans of small phoenix worms? If so those are yucky - I am gonna post some websites for you for live insects / worms
www.dubiaroaches.com they are good and fast and have great roaches and worms- the BSFL or phoenix worms also known as calci worms -- order large as they are small
www.symtonbsf.com they have really good BSFL
www.reptilianarts.com good place for silk worms - if you order bulk get food too you will need to feed them and grow them out a little and keep the containers clean of poo
www.coastilsilkworms.com might haft to order off the west coast the east coast was out
www.mulberryfarms.com
Every one is out of butter worms now I keep checking websites for them also horn worms grow really fast so if you order get small amounts -- and feed one or two when small --
Karrie
 

dnewnam2001

Member
Original Poster
oh no they’re live worms! it comes with 100 small in each. But thank you for the other websites that will definitely be really helpful in the future. And the UV bulb is a T8. His coloring seems better since my last message, but he still looks a bit stressed. he also glass surfs a lot. i thought that putting the background on all three sides instead of one would stop that but it hasn’t :/
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
They will do the glass surfing thing - it usually means they want out but w/ him being so little and stressed I would not take him out as of yet --- the T 8 is it inside your tank? If not it needs to be -- the T 8's are not as strong as the T 5's and the screen will block 30% of the UVB rays so you want to get it inside your tank approx 8-10 inches from his basking decor -- if you need ideas on how to hang I can post some for you--- he may have stress marks for awhile ---how are you taking your basking temps? No stick ons they are inaccurate and only give ambient temps---
Karrie
 

dnewnam2001

Member
Original Poster
I could def use some tips on hanging the light inside the cage thank you!l I didn’t know that the screen blocked that much of the UV rays :// I’m glad the glass surfing isn’t something to worry about! I use a Mestek infrared temp thermometer, reads the temp and the humidity
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok you might want to pick up a digital probe thermometer too from Petsmart or Petco for $6
here are some ideas for hanging 3 M command Velcro fasteners- picture hanging wire –long plastic zip ties-- fishing line -- shoe laces or potted plant wire hangers --also make sure there is NO plastic cover over the bulb -- you want that bulb exposed for best effects of the UVB rays
Karrie
 

dnewnam2001

Member
Original Poster
Ok, sounds good. I’m stopping at Pet Smart today to get more hay for my guinea pigs so I’ll pick up a probe thermometer while i’m there. Thank you for being so helpful!!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I should of asked you want brand are you using for the T 8? And make sure you change your T 8 bulb out in 6 months a month early wouldnt hurt
Karrie
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

Forum statistics

Threads
155,899
Messages
1,255,685
Members
75,965
Latest member
williamyoung
Top Bottom