Am I doing enough?

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ArticZMSZ

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Heya, all. About two months ago I bought my lovely bearded dragon Mike, and in my opinion he's doing fine. I have him on Superworms, some have said not to do that but it seems he digests and passes them fine. He refuses to eat salad most of the time, and pretty much will only eat his worms. I cover 2/4 of the worms I feed him in Calcium powder, and the rest are just normal, I feed him twice a day.

Now that that's done, here's what I am asking.

According to the pictures I have up, does he seem like he's doing good and I as his owner am doing fine? Feel free to comment on his enclosure and give me recommendations.

Thanks all.
Also his tank was a mess in the pictures, I just cleaned it up about right before I wrote this.
95248-7264330615.jpg
95248-7264330615.jpg
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, the pics are not showing up. Here's how to post them :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them.

Superworms can be part of the diet but it's best to offer other bugs like crickets, roaches, silkworms. BTW, how old + what size is Mike ? If he's an adult he can be fed just one insect meal per day and if he gets hungry he should eat some salad.
 

HylianHealeys

Juvie Member
I can't see your pictures. Do you mind re-uploading them with the User Image Uploader tool at the top of the site?

Based on the info you've provided so far, I would add my voice to others about reducing superworms — but not because of impaction risk. Superworms are high in fat and extremely high in phosphorous, a nutrient that can sap your bearded dragon of calcium and weaken their bones. Combined with the high fat content that can contribute to fatty liver disease, using superworms as a staple feeder is similar to eating cheeseburgers every day. Superworms are really only a treat-only kind of feeder; dubia roaches, crickets, silkworms, and black soldier larvae are much better. I would encourage you to read this article on feeder insect nutrition: Feeder Insect Nutrition Facts for Reptile Keepers.

How old is your beardie? Once we have that information and can see the pictures, we can continue answering your question. :)
 

ArticZMSZ

Member
Original Poster
HylianHealeys":27wsvm8m said:
I can't see your pictures. Do you mind re-uploading them with the User Image Uploader tool at the top of the site?

Based on the info you've provided so far, I would add my voice to others about reducing superworms — but not because of impaction risk. Superworms are high in fat and extremely high in phosphorous, a nutrient that can sap your bearded dragon of calcium and weaken their bones. Combined with the high fat content that can contribute to fatty liver disease, using superworms as a staple feeder is similar to eating cheeseburgers every day. Superworms are really only a treat-only kind of feeder; dubia roaches, crickets, silkworms, and black soldier larvae are much better. I would encourage you to read this article on feeder insect nutrition: Feeder Insect Nutrition Facts for Reptile Keepers.

How old is your beardie? Once we have that information and can see the pictures, we can continue answering your question. :)

He's about three months old, as far as I know, and I updated the post for the images.
 

ArticZMSZ

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":1cofcfid said:
Hi there, the pics are not showing up. Here's how to post them :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them.

Superworms can be part of the diet but it's best to offer other bugs like crickets, roaches, silkworms. BTW, how old + what size is Mike ? If he's an adult he can be fed just one insect meal per day and if he gets hungry he should eat some salad.
Mike is about 9 inches long, I would say 3 months old, bought him two months ago. I updated the post for the pictures aswell.
 

HylianHealeys

Juvie Member
Thanks for updating!

What type of UVB light are you using, and what are your temps?

Personally I would add a hammock or another branch to the other (cool) side of the tank just to give the beardie something more to do. The green mesh hammocks have a nasty reputation for catching beardie toes, though, so I prefer the Penn Plax Lizard Lounger hammock made from seagrass. It looks nicely natural, and since the holes are bigger there's no danger for your beardie.
 

ArticZMSZ

Member
Original Poster
HylianHealeys":des5yums said:
Thanks for updating!

What type of UVB light are you using, and what are your temps?

Personally I would add a hammock or another branch to the other (cool) side of the tank just to give the beardie something more to do. The green mesh hammocks have a nasty reputation for catching beardie toes, though, so I prefer the Penn Plax Lizard Lounger hammock made from seagrass. It looks nicely natural, and since the holes are bigger there's no danger for your beardie.
I'm using a Reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb, I don't have an exact reading on the temps but it's somewhere around 95-105f.
I have a hammock, and I did put it on the cool side, it was there for a good month and he just never used it. Moved it to the warm side aswell, and he didnt use it there, either. Hence the two holes in the cardboard haha. He also doesn't use his hide at night unless I put him there, is that normal?
 

HylianHealeys

Juvie Member
Mine doesn't use her hide unless she's brumating, so that's normal. Each beardie has his/her own preferences. Might want to put something on that other side, though, so your beardie has options.

If you don't have a tool to get an exact reading on the temps, I recommend getting an infrared temperature gun as soon as you can. I use the Etekcity Lasergrip 774; it's much more accurate than stick-on thermometers, and more convenient than a probe thermometer. 105 is fine as a basking temp, but anything lower than 100 is not, and can lead to health issues. The cool end of your enclosure should not get cooler than 70 degrees.
 

Magschaefer

New member
I’m very confused. I don’t know how to post a question on here but I was hoping someone could help me. I’m worried about my new beardie. She is my very first.. she’s about a year old. My uncle gave her to me. She has a heat lamp and a uvb light, she’s in a 40 gallon tank with calci sand as substrate and she has a piece of drift wood to bask and also a rock. I got her 3 days ago and she has not drank any water, she ate 1 blueberry and 1 cricket 2 days ago but that’s it. I tried soaking her because I was worried about dehydration but she freaked out. She was scratching at the glass a few days ago so I got her out and she seemed okay (really drawn to my picture window) I let her hang out on a pillow and she looked out the window for a while but then I put her back. Since then she has burried herself in sand and has been sleeping in the same position for days. I thought maybe she was bruminating but I’m still a little worried as this is only the third day I’ve had her I want to make sure I’m doing everything right. Can anyone help me?!
 

ArticZMSZ

Member
Original Poster
HylianHealeys":3uzirrx4 said:
Mine doesn't use her hide unless she's brumating, so that's normal. Each beardie has his/her own preferences. Might want to put something on that other side, though, so your beardie has options.

If you don't have a tool to get an exact reading on the temps, I recommend getting an infrared temperature gun as soon as you can. I use the Etekcity Lasergrip 774; it's much more accurate than stick-on thermometers, and more convenient than a probe thermometer. 105 is fine as a basking temp, but anything lower than 100 is not, and can lead to health issues. The cool end of your enclosure should not get cooler than 70 degrees.
Yeah I bought another thermometer, for the cool end, and also got a thermostat for the heat lamp. I also followed the advice of someone, I don't remember who, and just mounted my UVB light into my tank.
I put the hammock back in, and moved the heat lamp over it, and he seems to love it.
Also the hotspot is definitely atleast 100f, I put my thermometer under it for about 30 min and it read as 105.
Thanks for all the help
 

HylianHealeys

Juvie Member
Be careful to monitor your bearded dragon's temperature if you're using the hammock as a basking platform. Hammocks don't hold heat very well, so you have to make sure that the lamp is sufficiently heating him so he can digest properly. A temp gun is a good way to check your beardie's temperature while they're basking.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
ArticZMSZ":3doivz6r said:
HylianHealeys":3doivz6r said:
Mine doesn't use her hide unless she's brumating, so that's normal. Each beardie has his/her own preferences. Might want to put something on that other side, though, so your beardie has options.

If you don't have a tool to get an exact reading on the temps, I recommend getting an infrared temperature gun as soon as you can. I use the Etekcity Lasergrip 774; it's much more accurate than stick-on thermometers, and more convenient than a probe thermometer. 105 is fine as a basking temp, but anything lower than 100 is not, and can lead to health issues. The cool end of your enclosure should not get cooler than 70 degrees.

I'd replace the mesh hammock with either a full canvas (not mesh) hammock , the fine mesh is a serious nail snag risk and they can do very serious limb injuries to themselves in a panic when snagged.

I'd also seriously consider getting a basking rock or basking branch instead.


Yeah I bought another thermometer, for the cool end, and also got a thermostat for the heat lamp. I also followed the advice of someone, I don't remember who, and just mounted my UVB light into my tank.
I put the hammock back in, and moved the heat lamp over it, and he seems to love it.
Also the hotspot is definitely atleast 100f, I put my thermometer under it for about 30 min and it read as 105.
Thanks for all the help
 
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