I'd like to introduce...

... myself, as I'm new to this forum, and my little beardie. I've had it for a few days now. I don't know yet if it's a male or a female. It is only 18 cm long and very cute. :love10: We are from Poland. It hasn' got a name yet, I'm still thinking. I hope I'll get a lot of advice from you guys. Here are some photos of this little sweet thing. :love5:

Hi, & welcome to BD.org
You will find alot of helpful advice here. You have a very cute looking little dragon there. All though I think his/her enclosure looks awsome, for a you beardie he/she shouldn't have gravel for a bedding. Your beardie might end up chocking on a piece of gravel of having it get stuck in his/her intestines. So a good idea might be to use non adhesive shelf liner of just paper towels. If you need more help just ask & you'll get help. You can start by telling us what your little guys tank is like: heat, bulbs, feeding things like that. So welcome to BD.org feel free to ask as many questions you have.
:wink:

The bedding is not gravel, it is mortar (I don't know if it is a proper word in English for it) with sand and little stones inside. The stones are glued, I hoovered it before putting the beardie inside.
I feed it with crickets and leaves of sow-thistle, sometimes mealworms.
There is one heating bulb and another UVB (repti glo 8%)
Is it possible to recognise if it is a male or a female, it is only 18 cm long? I would like to give it a name, and stop saying "it".

Oh, sounds like a good idea for the bedding.....I guess. Make sure that your little guy is being fed crixs that are the size between your dragons eyes. I dont think that meal worms should be fed to young dragons such as yours cuz the my get impacted in it's belly. As for greens & fruits check this out: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html It's what we all here use for our dragons diets. About the gender of your dragon, it's really hard to tell when they're that young but once he/she gets older you can tell

Hello and Welcome to the forum! :wave: Congrats on your new beardie, he/she is absolutely precious.... :love5:

All though I think his/her enclosure looks awsome, for a you beardie he/she shouldn't have gravel for a bedding. Your beardie might end up chocking on a piece of gravel of having it get stuck in his/her intestines. So a good idea might be to use non adhesive shelf liner of just paper towels.

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I agree with the gravel being bad for bedding for your little beardie.. When they are so small (sometimes older too) they like to "lick" everything. If he/she ingests a piece of the gravel your beardie will not be able to digest it causing an impaction, a very serious and most often deadly condition.. The best substrate for a baby-juvenile beardie is as mrtytyk suggested, paper towels, shelf liner and repti-carpet.
Paper towels are the cheapest and easiest to clean up, have you checked out the care sheets on the forum?? Alot of great information for a new beardie owner, this information is vital to your beardies health and survival.. Here's a link for ya good luck and post more pic's soon! Zues and Seuzy say "Hi baby beardie!"... :wave:

http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/caresheet/

A great link for Nutritional info and food staples for your beardie:
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Thank you for all info! On the first day my beardie didn't want to eat much, only three cricket. Now after a week he/she eats up to 10 crickets a day and some greenery. I think he/she is still a little bit afraid of me. I also give him/her Reptical. Should I give him/her any other vitamins? I gave him/her only 2 mealworm so far.
As for the bedding, some people use sand, what is your opinion?

Beata":dd9c6 said:

As for the bedding, some people use sand, what is your opinion?

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What they call prewashed playsand over here in the US is fine for dragons a year or more old.

Dunklezhan is almost a year old, and I'm staying with non-adhesive shelf liner (also called lino in the UK, I think... I'm not sure where on the globe you are. ) I also use paper towels sometime.

That's not to say sand is "bad" for an adult (always for an adult) but eventually, it does have to all be removed from the cage and replaced. That's too much work for me, and Dunk also seemed to like to eat it a little bit too much when I've tried a little sand box for him to dig/play in.

Babies go to the bathroom so often and have to be cleaned up so often, paper towels, butcher paper, and the non-adhesive shelf liner seem to be the most popular. Reptile carpet is safe, too, but can be kind of hard to clean off. I never liked it much with my snakes in the past.

If I understand correctly for the mortar, it's not all that different than something like cement, and everything is hard as stone... that should be fine as long as there's nothing loose. As long as it's easy for you to clean up and you're happy with it.

I've followed the caresheet and feeding table for almost a year, and Dunk has grown into an 18 and a half inch MONSTER. :shock: He's always eatten well and is really healthy. I feel like, in my experience, the advice and instructions on the caresheets are really good.

Now that I've dropped all that in your lap, let me say welcome to the forum! Your baby is adorable, and those are some great photos! :love5:

What a beautiful dragon and enclosure. My understanding is their is no "loose" gravel as the small stones are secure and you tried vacuuming to pick up any loose material . that flooring should be safe for your beardie. The one nice thing about the shelf paper is it is easy to remove and replace. Welcome to Bearded Dragon. org

I have noticed today thaat some of the gravel is loose. I'm afraid I have to redecorate the terra a bit. I'm going to scratch the walls and vacuum it again. I think that the shelf liner won't work in this case, because the gravel is on the walls. There is clay on the floor. The clay is not the best idea either. It isn't loose but it has dried and cracked, making a lot of small holes for crickets to escape. This is my first terrarium and I realise I made a lot of mistakes making it. But the beardie is growing, so I'll have to think about a new, bigger home for him/her soon.

It's all about learning. That goes for all of us, really. My enclosure looks like a drunk put it together in the dark, so I feel your pain...

... and that's his finished adult enclosure, the poor thing. :lol: He doesn't care, and it keeps him contained, but it and the rat's cage are a bit of an eye sore.