rehomed dragon, 1st time owners, sleeping for days

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daisydragon19

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Hello!

I hope this is the right place to post this. For backstory, my husband and I just adopted a 4(?) year old female bearded dragon named Daisy from close relatives who wanted to get a new, baby dragon about a month ago. We love her to bits, and want to give her the best possible care we can. We are mildly concerned that she did not have the best care based on what we've been told. The relative has said on separate occasions that they fed Daisy once a month, once every 10 days, and once a week. Not sure what is true, but we know that the top-opening cage with lights on top influenced the feeding frequency. Her enclosure was filled with sand from the back yard and had a water bowl that we were told she would sometimes sit in. We think she was dehydrated, because we gave her a bath when we first got her and she opened her mouth and went underwater to chug for a long time...we thought she was drowning. Second bath she drank but not as much. All baths since she has not tried to drink, just sits. She had a cardboard box under her basking light with a cardboard ramp up to the top. We were told that she was not a climber and would often sit in the cardboard box for weeks at a time. She had a UV light at the time we got her but we think this may have been a relatively recent addition. All lights were outside the screen. When we adopted, my husband cleaned out the sand, which smelled awful, and were told it was last cleaned in September 2018 (~about 7 months prior).

We bought her a new tank (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077QHSYWX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1) inside the cage with a light bulb on her basking perch at 95*F. She is in our furnace room which is heated to 75*F. She will come out and sit on her basking area once in a while. If she does, I will usually feed her at night, maybe around 8-9pm when i get home from work. I feed her 4-6 large dubias with greens stuck to their back with mango/calcium mixture. Her lights are set to turn on at 9am and off at 1am. Sometimes we take her out and let her run around the heated furnace room. We plan to take her outside for some sun eventually. She is a really sweet thing, I love being around her.

My major concern at the moment is that the day after I feed her, she will go right into her hide and sleep for days. I have tried to feed her when in her hide and she is not interested. Not even in superworms which she normally loves. I have started to just change out her salad daily until 3 days have passed, then i give her a bath and feed her. She eats normally. Then its back to the cave.

My question is should I force her out more often to try and eat or just let her sleep? I've read that they eat daily...Sometimes she eats her greens on her own, but not much or often. Usually I get the bulk to her by sticking it to the back of a dubia with some sort of sticky fruit. I want her to be healthy, but I'm totally new at this, and am not sure if I am overreacting or if I need to make a big change. Any advice would be appreciated!

TL;DR: Do I force my beardie out of her sleep to feed her every day?
Previous cage
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New cage
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KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
How is she getting to that basking spot---- bricks seem a little harsh in the tank - I would look for some more suitable decor for a dragon- Petsmart has some nice things for dragons - that was my first thought --sorry - its good that you rescued her I feel bad for the next dragon your friends get as that one is now going to go thru the same thing this one did but may not survive --- first a baby or adult dragon needs to be fed EVERY DAY not once a month or once a week etc.............. babies need calcuim D3 5 x per week dusted on the bugs and vitamins 2 x per week --- as far as Daisy going to hide and not basking how are you taking the temps in her tank --- you bought a nice tank for her by the way------temps should be around 95-105 and the best accurate way to get a temp is by a Infrared heat gun- they can be purchased at Walmart Home Depot or Lowes cheap - lights should be on 12 hrs on and 12 hrs off that is a good rule of thumb --- I would try to start feeding her in the morning instead of at nite -- it will give her longer to bask and digest her food - does she have any difficulty walking or climbing? What is in the dome besides the basking light? The Reptisun 10 bulb is it a T 8? I am thinking- anyway it is a good bulb thats for sure! Also I would get her off the floor bearded dragons are a social creature and like to be able to see what is going on being on the floor kinda eliminates that
Karrie
 

daisydragon19

New member
Original Poster
Thanks for the response Karrie!

She just climbs up to the basking spot, she doesn't seem to have an issue with it (as far as actually getting up there), didn't really think if the climbing might be harsh. Yeah, the bricks were supposed to be temporary...and the paver from the yard on top :/ We'll get her something better.

We were taking the temps with two of these these style therometers. One right at the focal point of the basking spot and one at the opposite end behind her hide. The cold side is 75, the basking spot was about 95-98. We took them out after we stabilized the temps, but haven't really checked to see if they've changed. There is nothing else in that dual hood, that's just what she came with. It used to have one of those curly style UVB bulbs in one side and a red head bulb in the other. We replaced the red bulb with a white one and moved the UV to the bar inside the cage. The UV is a T8. We just keep the one side of the hood turned off because 2 bulbs was too hot and I couldn't think of anything else to put in there.

She doesn't have any difficulty walking or climbing. We let her out to explore the furnace room once or twice recently and she will run around and lick things. She climbs up to her basking spot and on her ramp and hammock quite a bit too when shes active. The main issue is shes only active once every few days.

She's not actually on the floor, that first picture is misleading. The first picture where shes on the floor was taken when we first got her (so at her previous home). However, she is in a room that almost no one goes in... We generally peek in a few times a day to say hi and then feed/bathe her. We have a milk snake, a curly hair tarantula, 2 dubia colonies, and a (failing) cricket colony in there, so we keep it warm (~75*F). We figured it would be comfortable, I didn't think that she would be lonely :(

I'll definitely try feeding her in the morning, and maybe changing the light so she can get more sleep? She has it on for 16 hours and 8 hours off at the moment. We're moving her next to our computers (where we spend most of our time) ASAP so she won't be lonely! We'll pick up one of those heat guns adjust and recheck the temps when we move her. Thanks a ton Karrie!

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Also as a side note, we also feel bad for the new dragon...We've tried reasoning with them but there is unfortunately very little empathy for animals in that house. The dragon isn't the worst off though, and we can't do anything to stop them from buying / mistreating the animals but we will gladly give this one a second chance.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
People shouldnt have animals if they cant give them the proper care---- others on here will say the same--- the probes are good but need to be in the tank to keep an eye on the temps- they need those temps to be correct for good health- and I am glad to hear your moving her to where there is more activity- they are a social animal and like stimulation- temp of tank is going to play a role in her activity-- those colored bulbs hurt dragons eyes and can cause long term damage - so if those friends of yours put another colored bulb in that new tank of the new beardie they will be hurting that babies eyes - it can cause blindness --- and no UVB will cause MBD and the dragon will not be able to walk --- no calcium and feeding once a month or so well thats just plain asking for a disaster!!!!!!!!!!!!! 16 hrs is a long time for lights on -- unless the dragon is sick and needs the warmth for illness then 12 hrs is good --- but as I said I would recommend getting some new decor for her - if she falls she can really hurt herself w/ the tile and those bricks--- just saying --
Karrie
 
I would suggest feeding her during the day. Preferably morning over night. They shouldn’t be fed at night before lights out Bc they won’t be able to digest their food properly without the heat and uvb they have during the day. Should feed her at least 3 hours before bed to make sure she has time to bask and digest her food. Make sure the uvb reaches her basking area as the heat and uvb work together to maintain her well-being.
 
I have 2 rescued dragons and they both love to sleep early. They go to bed no later than 8 pm and lights off, 60w CHE on bc it gets a little chilly in my house. The lights/heat go back on at 7am. Let them sleep in complete darkness.
 
Sorry I keep re reading your post and it’s so sad your friends gave her up just to have a baby Dragon. Especially since they didn’t even take care of her. They shouldn’t be getting another.

Anyway, I wanted to add that her basking spot could be raised a little bit so it reaches 104 degrees. It should be around 90-95 on the hot side and on the cooler side around 80-85. At night no less than 70 degrees F.
 
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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.
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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

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