New Bearded Dragon Owner-Teacher

ajdelaney10 · Aug 13, 2018

Hi! My name is AJ and I’m a Science teacher in California. I just purchased a baby bearded dragon and I would like some help getting everything set up.

I have several questions and would be extremely appreciative if someone would be willing to help me in answering them! Petsmart gave me everything through a grant program to teachers.

1. The kit they gave me included carpet, the terrarium, 2 lights (a UV and a basking light) I have the basking light on thye left and the UV light on the right. I have no AC in my house or classroom so it does get warm during the day in my house or classroom, it’s about 88 outside so probably 95-100 in my house/Classroom. Does it still need a heat/basking lamp? Do I turn off the lights ever or do they stay on all the time? I worry about it actually getting too hot!

2. I will be having student hold him, but since they sleep during the day, I’m worried about reaching in to pick him up for kids to hold, and wake him while he’s sleeping. How do i know if he’s sleeping and when not to pick him up? How long does he sleep? He seems to be sitting on his decoration cactus most of the day (which is on the opposite side of the tank as he heat lamp, which is another reason I’m worried it’s too hot over there) I just got him today! So when I say I’m new, I’m really new!

3. Lastly, I heard they hibernate? How do I know when he needs to and does he do it automatically or do I need to know when to turn off heat lamps and try and hint to him it’s time to hibernate?

Sorry, these are all probably dumb questions, but I just want to make sure I am doing everything right so he’s well cared for!!!

Thank you in advance!!!

SydneyGaia · Aug 13, 2018

Hey, I'm a STEM teacher in PA!

Anyway, most of that kit that PetCo sells should be discarded. Pretty much none of it is suitable for a beardie - even the enclosure is much too small. An adult beardie should be in a 4'x2'x2' enclosure.

As for temps: 95-105 in the basking spot (can be more 110 for a baby)
85-90 on the warm side
low 80s on the cool side
^ This is all during the day

Babys should be eating dozens (3-6+ per day, divided, realistically) of small crickets or dubia roaches 2-3x/day, along with daily fresh veggies and a few soaks per week. The food should be able to fit between their eyes to avoid impaction.

Beardies are diurnal, meaning that they sleep at night and are awake during the day, so no worries there.

UVB is EXTREMELY important for beardies, or they can develop metabolic bone disease - you also want to dust crickets in calcium & Vit D powder, and then a few a week in Herptivite powder (multivitamin).

Take a fecal to a vet so that you can get rid of any parasites or bacterias in their stool.

Brumation (reptilian form of hibernation) usually does not occur every year, and many argue should not occur in captivity (definitely should not be encouraged, at least). The reason brumation occurs in the wild is because food becomes more scarce during the winter and days become shorter -- those are two things that are not really the case when in captivity. So, by keeping the feedings and temps up, your students can enjoy the beardie's antics even in the middle of the winter.

Unless if the ambient temp in the terrarium drops below 65 at night, you do not need to heat the beardie at night. Any red light is also a no-go for beardies, as are heat pads and heat rocks (beardies cannot feel heat with their bellies to regulate themselves on heat rocks, which can result in severe burns). IF you must heat the terrarium at night, use a ceramic heat emitter that does not produce any light.

You can order a mega-ray MVB online and have both heat and UVB in one bulb, or have a basking bulb along with a reptisun 10.0 florescent tube UVB bulb (long tube, coil bulbs are no good).

If you do not have a thermostat (see below), at least by a timer for your lighting so that it is consistent. Give 14 hrs of light/day right now.

As long as you are not using an MVB, you can look into buying a thermostat to make life easier: http://www.mybeardeddragons.co.uk/thermostats.html - I have always been a Mega-Ray MVB guy, but will be switching to a reptisun 10.0 and incandescent heat bulb in a month once my teaching pay checks start back up, so that I can buy a thermostat.

Here is a very basic care sheet (there is a better one on her, but I need to find the bookmark): https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/caresheet/

Do not trust the care sheets from PetCo or PetSmart... do not trust them generally when it comes to beardie care... to be honest

Here is a food guide: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutritionframeset.html

Welcome to the beardie world - they are wonderful animals. I just had one pass after 11 years and am currently raising a new 7 month old one.

There are many more questions left to be asked and answered - shoot away!

Esther19 · Aug 13, 2018

Welcome!
You've received good advice. I have a couple things to add. Baby dragons are notorious jumpers. Fearless. They do have binocular vision, but their depth perception is quite inaccurate. They will take a flying leap without warning. Secondly, check for air blowing on the habitat periodically. Likely you are unable to control the temperature and air flow in your room, so you'll want to to keep an eye on that. I successfully took my special needs girl, who was with me 24/7 , back and forth to school daily for 4 years. I know your students will love the experience!
Congratulations on your new friend!
Esther

HippieLizards · Aug 14, 2018

ajdelaney10":uzi7of4h said:
2. I will be having student hold him, but since they sleep during the day, Just to add, Beardies aren't nocturnal creatures, they are very much diurnal. I’m worried about reaching in to pick him up for kids to hold, and wake him while he’s sleeping. How do i know if he’s sleeping and when not to pick him up? How long does he sleep? He seems to be sitting on his decoration cactus most of the day (which is on the opposite side of the tank as he heat lamp, which is another reason I’m worried it’s too hot over there) I just got him today! So when I say I’m new, I’m really new! Well welcome to the wonderful world of dragons! View media item 60810 Cisco says Hello.

3. Lastly, I heard they hibernate? How do I know when he needs to and does he do it automatically or do I need to know when to turn off heat lamps and try and hint to him it’s time to hibernate? I Wouldn't try to push it, just let him do it when he feels it's natural to brumate.

Sorry, these are all probably dumb questions, but I just want to make sure I am doing everything right so he’s well cared for!!! That's good. They are very high maintenance animals who will deserve a lot of attention, but they will be worth it.

Thank you in advance!!!

HippieLizards · Aug 14, 2018

SydneyGaia":2bx9tp8q said:
Hey, I'm a STEM teacher in PA!

Anyway, most of that kit that PetCo sells should be discarded. Pretty much none of it is suitable for a beardie - even the enclosure is much too small. An adult beardie should be in a 4'x2'x2' enclosure.

As for temps: 95-105 in the basking spot (can be more 110 for a baby)
85-90 on the warm side
low 80s on the cool side
^ This is all during the day

Babys should be eating dozens (3-6+ per day, divided, realistically) of small crickets or dubia roaches 2-3x/day, along with daily fresh veggies and a few soaks per week. The food should be able to fit between their eyes to avoid impaction.

Beardies are diurnal, meaning that they sleep at night and are awake during the day, so no worries there.

UVB is EXTREMELY important for beardies, or they can develop metabolic bone disease - you also want to dust crickets in calcium & Vit D powder, and then a few a week in Herptivite powder (multivitamin).

Take a fecal to a vet so that you can get rid of any parasites or bacterias in their stool.

Brumation (reptilian form of hibernation) usually does not occur every year, and many argue should not occur in captivity (definitely should not be encouraged, at least). The reason brumation occurs in the wild is because food becomes more scarce during the winter and days become shorter -- those are two things that are not really the case when in captivity. So, by keeping the feedings and temps up, your students can enjoy the beardie's antics even in the middle of the winter.

Unless if the ambient temp in the terrarium drops below 65 at night, you do not need to heat the beardie at night. Any red light is also a no-go for beardies, as are heat pads and heat rocks (beardies cannot feel heat with their bellies to regulate themselves on heat rocks, which can result in severe burns). IF you must heat the terrarium at night, use a ceramic heat emitter that does not produce any light.

You can order a mega-ray MVB online and have both heat and UVB in one bulb, or have a basking bulb along with a reptisun 10.0 florescent tube UVB bulb (long tube, coil bulbs are no good).

If you do not have a thermostat (see below), at least by a timer for your lighting so that it is consistent. Give 14 hrs of light/day right now.

As long as you are not using an MVB, you can look into buying a thermostat to make life easier: http://www.mybeardeddragons.co.uk/thermostats.html - I have always been a Mega-Ray MVB guy, but will be switching to a reptisun 10.0 and incandescent heat bulb in a month once my teaching pay checks start back up, so that I can buy a thermostat.

Here is a very basic care sheet (there is a better one on her, but I need to find the bookmark): https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/caresheet/

Do not trust the care sheets from PetCo or PetSmart... do not trust them generally when it comes to beardie care... to be honest

Here is a food guide: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutritionframeset.html

Welcome to the beardie world - they are wonderful animals. I just had one pass after 11 years and am currently raising a new 7 month old one.

There are many more questions left to be asked and answered - shoot away!

I Agree, Feel free to ask any questions, we all love to help!

and the info and links you posted are good.

I Also agree, Please throw the petsmart/petco Info packets and setup in the trash. They are useless.

SydneyGaia · Aug 14, 2018

He loves his basking hammock

ajdelaney10 · Aug 15, 2018

Wow you guys are amazing! Thank you SO very much for all your great advice and help...

I was disappointed to hear that PetSmart isn’t good at advice and resources. After reading your post, I looked up my product and there it was, 2 of 5 stars and horrible reviews as far as the lights provided, the screen top, etc! And then when I went to get more crickets today, another employee told me something completely opposite of the employee the day before??‍

. As much as I truly appreciate the “Pet in my Classroom” grant program from Petsmart, I wish they would have provided me with a more reputable terrarium and starter kit. However, I am going to do my best to work with what I have, but will change things out if I need to...unfortunately, as a teacher, I don’t have a big budget (hence the grant program) but, I will do what I need to make sure my beardie has a great life and is well taken care of!

I have 2 daughters, ages 10 & 12. They are already completely in love and dreading the day (2 weeks!) when I move Beardie to my classroom instead of our home. I have to admit, I’m already in love, too! I find myself watching him breath at night lol (he sleeps in the cactus against the glass, he looks so comfy-tried to attach a picture but I can’t figure out how lol) like when my girls were newborns, and making sure he’s having regular bowel movements ??.

I have another question, though, please!

He/She loves crickets and is eating like crazy!!! However, I can not get him/her to eat vegetables and I know they’re very important!! I cut up tiny shreds of kale and carrots, mixed in with store bought “juvenile bearded dragon” pellets. I also have yet to see him drink or “bathe” in the water bowl. I have only had him/her for 2 days, but I saw the ones in the store eating from the food bowl like crazy...

What can I do to promote him eating his veggies? I tried to feed him later, thinking if he was hungry he would go eat veggies, but I’m a softy and ended up givjng in and feeding him crickets!! Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated...again!!!

Thank you!!!! Thank

ajdelaney10 · Aug 15, 2018

By the way...that basking hammock is AMAZING!!!!

Xanelic · Aug 15, 2018

Try feeding him some nice healthy greens in the morning since that's usually the time when the chomp everything up because they're so hungry! If he doesn't gobble it up, keep offering it to him

ajdelaney10 · Aug 17, 2018

Thank you again for all the great advice! And how
cool there’s another STEM teacher in this group!!!

It’s been 3 days now and I have a few more questions if that’s ok!

1. I just read I’m supposed to bathe my beardie (I’m thinking now that’s what you meant by a “soak” lol) and now I’m panicking because I’ve had him 3 days and he hasn’t had a bath, BUT, I was also told not to take him out and start handling him yet, to give him a week or so to get used to his new environment...SO, if I’m not supposed to handle him, should I wait a week to start bathing him?

2. How often should I be bathing him? He’s still a baby, less than a year for sure, probably less than 6 months.

3. I notice he seems confused, trying to climb out of his tank at night when the lights are lower because the glass looks like a mirror so he sees his reflection, like he’s trying to go through the glass. I am going tomorrow to buy a desert background/cling so that won’t be as prominent, but will that then traumatize him again, and therefore will need another week before handing him so he can get used to the new background now? I’m probably overthinking things...new Mom syndrome I guess lol!!

My daughters (10&12yo) are soooooooo in love...they’re begging me not to take him to my classroom in 2 weeks!!! It’s breaking my heart! Well maybe Santa will just have to bring them their own beardie for Christmas!!!

Thank you, again, in advance, for your time!!!

Aaradimian · Aug 17, 2018

ajdelaney10":1tuqfc68 said:
2. I will be having student hold him...

Hi AJ,

As a new beardie owner myself, I trolled this site quite a bit before getting one, and one theme that seemed to come up frequently was that a lot of beardies get hurt due to entirely preventable circumstances. They're pretty much at our mercy, and even the best of us can hurt them unintentionally with just a moment of carelessness. I'd just urge vigilance when the kids are handling him, and maybe a dual-homing situation where he's never left overnight or in an unsecured viv. That way, your daughters can enjoy your new friend too, and in cases where the school is closed unexpectedly for weather, etc., there won't be situations where his lights are left on or off at inappropriate times, or kids could possibly cause mischief/mayhem.

I know my beardie Otto loves to snuggle with my wife and I around 8:30 every night before the lights go out, so it'd be a win-win all around, and the chances of something bad happening are diminished. I saw a terrible news story about kids in the UK using a poor little dragon as a hacky-sack, and though that's horrific outlier, it just stuck with me, so I thought I'd weigh in. Wishing you many happy years with him!

-Dan

Xanelic · Aug 17, 2018

ajdelaney10":2bo4bk0o said:
Thank you again for all the great advice! And how
cool there’s another STEM teacher in this group!!!

It’s been 3 days now and I have a few more questions if that’s ok!

1. I just read I’m supposed to bathe my beardie (I’m thinking now that’s what you meant by a “soak” lol) and now I’m panicking because I’ve had him 3 days and he hasn’t had a bath, BUT, I was also told not to take him out and start handling him yet, to give him a week or so to get used to his new environment...SO, if I’m not supposed to handle him, should I wait a week to start bathing him?

2. How often should I be bathing him? He’s still a baby, less than a year for sure, probably less than 6 months.

3. I notice he seems confused, trying to climb out of his tank at night when the lights are lower because the glass looks like a mirror so he sees his reflection, like he’s trying to go through the glass. I am going tomorrow to buy a desert background/cling so that won’t be as prominent, but will that then traumatize him again, and therefore will need another week before handing him so he can get used to the new background now? I’m probably overthinking things...new Mom syndrome I guess lol!!

My daughters (10&12yo) are soooooooo in love...they’re begging me not to take him to my classroom in 2 weeks!!! It’s breaking my heart! Well maybe Santa will just have to bring them their own beardie for Christmas!!!

Thank you, again, in advance, for your time!!!

You should let the little guy get used first for about a week or two AND THEN you can give him a nice squeaky clean bath. Just make sure to use no soap of course. And to bathe him, once a week or twice (imo) when they're shedding

No, that won't traumatized him lol. Maybe he'll try to jump onto the picture but that's it. If you get a foam one, he'll have a blast because he can climb it but the picture ones will leave him confused, but no harm! Just confused for like a week and then he'll notice he can't do anything.

Also somehandling tips because I'm extra:

Scoop him up from below and support his back legs so that you don't get smacked in the face. Don't pick him up on the side of his body (pinching the sides to pick him up) that could possibly injure him.

Have fun with your beardie and best of luck with him/her!!!

SydneyGaia · Aug 17, 2018

I second the "dual homes" suggestion. I would never leave a beardie at a school overnight. If it gets below 60-65 in the middle of the night, then that is way too cold for it. At a school you cannot control, or even be aware, of that -- especially when they turn the heat off.

Xanelic · Aug 17, 2018

I agree with sydney but of course, ceramic heat emitters exist and you can put one up if it gets too cold. Should only bring the beardie home when there is NO ONE at the school at all (weather problems, holidays, etc etc

SydneyGaia · Aug 17, 2018

Xanelic":1lfjmjdk said:
I agree with sydney but of course, ceramic heat emitters exist and you can put one up if it gets too cold. Should only bring the beardie home when there is NO ONE at the school at all (weather problems, holidays, etc etc

Honestly, the bio teacher at my school has two beardies in her room and does not leave them at the school. Same with the bio teacher at my past school - he never left his water dragon at the school. Dual homes is smart for reptiles in the classroom.

A ceramic heat emitter with a thermostat would be a very wise investment otherwise, though.

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