Hi All,
This is my first official post.
About 2 weeks ago I offered to take care, and to keep, a 10yr old Male Bearded Dragon. He is approximately 12inch in length and due to his previous owner he was not on a stable diet and was more than happy to move in with us.
I was told that due to his age he was very lazy as he would literally need to be hand fed everything. When we moved him into our place I decided to look up what I should do as far as feeding him goes. The previous owner only fed him pellets with some greens and then once in a while she would feed him WaxWorms to fatten up a bit.
When I introduced him to Crickets he went absolutely mad for them and is now fed twice a day with 6-8 crickets along with greens. He is old, so getting him to drink water and eat the greens is a challenge, but we have succeeded so far and he looks so happy.
I want to know what his physical appearance means and what to watch out for, health- wise. I've never had a reptile pet before, so knowing what to look for is key for me.
Can anyone answer the following:
01. When would his colour mean he is happy, warm and fed compared to if he was hungry or cold?
02. He won't drink water directly from his bowl, so I hand-drink him, but I'd like to know how I could get him to do it on his own? I have the same issue with his greens.
03. Some times his colour is really dark, where some days he may be a shade lighter and then goes very light, especially after a bath. What should I watch out for during these stages and what action should be taken?
I will be building a new big terrarium over December for him, approximately double the current size, so that I can put a nice tree stump and branch, hollowed out rock and maybe a hammock too. I'll also be fitting digital thermometers on either side of his terrarium. He is really cute. When the sun is out he will beg to leave his terrarium so he can walk across the lounge to the sunny spot. I leave him to do what he wants for most of the day, and when he has had enough sun, or rain is coming, he makes his way back to his terrarium and basks under his light.
Thanks ahead to anyone who can give me a basic 101 on Bearded Dragons.
This is my first official post.
About 2 weeks ago I offered to take care, and to keep, a 10yr old Male Bearded Dragon. He is approximately 12inch in length and due to his previous owner he was not on a stable diet and was more than happy to move in with us.
I was told that due to his age he was very lazy as he would literally need to be hand fed everything. When we moved him into our place I decided to look up what I should do as far as feeding him goes. The previous owner only fed him pellets with some greens and then once in a while she would feed him WaxWorms to fatten up a bit.
When I introduced him to Crickets he went absolutely mad for them and is now fed twice a day with 6-8 crickets along with greens. He is old, so getting him to drink water and eat the greens is a challenge, but we have succeeded so far and he looks so happy.
I want to know what his physical appearance means and what to watch out for, health- wise. I've never had a reptile pet before, so knowing what to look for is key for me.
Can anyone answer the following:
01. When would his colour mean he is happy, warm and fed compared to if he was hungry or cold?
02. He won't drink water directly from his bowl, so I hand-drink him, but I'd like to know how I could get him to do it on his own? I have the same issue with his greens.
03. Some times his colour is really dark, where some days he may be a shade lighter and then goes very light, especially after a bath. What should I watch out for during these stages and what action should be taken?
I will be building a new big terrarium over December for him, approximately double the current size, so that I can put a nice tree stump and branch, hollowed out rock and maybe a hammock too. I'll also be fitting digital thermometers on either side of his terrarium. He is really cute. When the sun is out he will beg to leave his terrarium so he can walk across the lounge to the sunny spot. I leave him to do what he wants for most of the day, and when he has had enough sun, or rain is coming, he makes his way back to his terrarium and basks under his light.
Thanks ahead to anyone who can give me a basic 101 on Bearded Dragons.