Friend got her first beardie

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EllenD

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Okay, let's make this simplified...You need only 2 lights, one a bright white basking bulb, and most likely a 20 gallon long tank cannot take a 100 watt basking bulb, it will be too hot.... He'll need at least a 40 gallon breeder tank soon, a 20 gallon long is much too small for an older juvenile and older, but for now let's get his current enclosure right. He's not eating because #1 he has no UVB tube (UVA light is emitted by the UVB tube as well), and #2 his temps are very off. The meat thermometer will not work, it's meant to be inserted into something to get a core temperature, a $10 digital thermometer with an external probe that has the sensors built into the probe end is what you need....Once you get a proper 10.0 UVB tube and long fixture mounted at the correct distance from him to work, and you get the correct wattage, bright white halogen indoor flood bulb and get his temp ranges correct, he'll become active and eat you out of house and home for live bugs (do completely avoid any mealworms, he doesn't need an impaction on top of this, and without proper temperatures he cannot digest his food anyway, so adding hard, chitlin shells to his stomach right now is asking for a very bad impaction)...

A 20 gallon long will probably take a 75 watt bulb, maybe a 60 watt to get his temps correct. A 100 watt will cook him in that...But buying a digital probe thermometer is the first thing you need to do, it's that important. Once you get the thermometer and a 75 watt bright white halogen indoor flood bulb or bright white basking bulb, then the long, 10.0 UVB tube and fixture being mounted unobstructed and within the correct distance from his basking spot (based on what strength tube you buy) is all you need to get him eating...You can try smearing bug guts, but the issue is, and AHBD will totally agree with me, he won't even want to eat that without a proper UVB tube, and if he does happen to eat a few bugs, without proper temperatures he cannot digest it or process it! We're talking the difference of a baby under correct UVB light and correct temps eating 30-40 live bugs or more per day and growing and developing properly, and failure to thrive...
 

NinaAmbroshia

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
She got heat and UVB lights this morning. She is in the middle of trying to get the hot side to the right temps. The top of his perch is 123F and the ground 97F.

She also got a new thermometer that she is using to measure temps.

Note: top of his perch is pretty much at top pf his tank
 
I'll take the mealworms out then. I've been using the new digital thermometer to test out the temps in different spots. At the top is really hot but his perch has multiple levels. If he gets too hot I'll go back and swap the 100 watt for a 75 watt. I didn't know how strong I should have gotten since I was at the store before I saw this.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
The temps. are too hot, better to use a 75 so she'll bask u high near the uvb bulb. Good to hear that she ate a cricket. :) Best not to leave them roaming around, you can just hand feed her smashed or non smashed. lol
 
That's kinda what I did, I had a cricket in tongs and opened his mouth and plopped it in his mouth. He chewed and ate it So idk why he just isn't feeling like hunting them in a bowl. (I don't put them in his tank, learned real fast it's a pain to get them out).
 
AHBD":3nr5wm61 said:
Yes, keep that up and get him to eat 4-5 at a time a couple times a day.
How many crickets total? He is so small and I have no idea how big his belly is so I don't want to overfeed him and make him sick, especially since he hasn't been eating a lot before.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi Shadow, it can be 4-5 or a few more but do so twice a day. Once she's eating those pretty well you can offer more + more. The thing that is VERY important is that the bugs never should longer than the space between her eyes . Very important for hatchlings, small or sick beardies.

Can you post a pic of the crickets you have next to a dime ?
 
I will later. I actually think I need to buy more because the small ones I had seem to have grown too big in the last few days (wasn't expecting them to grow so fast) so I need to buy more and find a way to get rid of the larger ones without them getting into my house.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
With the larger ones you can pinch off the head completely and pull off the legs and just feed the soft abdomen part to him.
 
Okay. That'll do for this morning since I have work again. And what worms should I get for him again? Since the mealworms are a no go.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Calci worms or Phoenix worms [ same thing ] which are black soldier fly larva [ BSFL ] Some stores sell them or you can get them online. If you DO have leftover mealworms you can still feed him freshly shed ones but coat them in calcium.
 
That was going to be my first question XD. But I'm wanting something I can leave in his tank while I'm gone to munch on. I still have veggies in there but he doesn't seem to care for them.
 
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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:
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