New owner, could use some pointers

Not sure how this happened, but a beardie came into our lives. My girlfriends co-worker needed to rehome "Boomer" and she decided that home was ours. He was free, with his enclosure and lights. (had to replace his UVB today) He is 4 years old and I have no experience with Lizards. I owned a couple of garder snakes i caught as a kid and they lived many long happy years. One of them i caught at full size and he made it 9 years with me.

I have dove into research the last few days on what to do for this cool character. Between videos online and reading all the guides i can find i think iv'e started to get a handle on it. So far he is eating well, and seems pretty happy. Bobs his head at me for some reason though, not sure if he is horny or if he wants to fight lol.

So far he is being fed Kale Strawberries and Carrots. Along with a couple of superworms we got today (as a treat. . . i am not above bribing animals to be my friend) He had 3. He is not currently on a multi vitamin according to the previous owner. We grabbed some Calcium/D3 powder today. I did read that feeding him carrots and a multivitamin with A in it will cause problems is there any way to balance his diet out from natural sources alone?

Previously they were feeding him crickets three times a week and some hornworms along with veggies every day. I am looking for a few pointers on his cage. I see many people here saying the 40 gal isn't enough. I think it looks pretty cool, but is it meeting his needs? We added some leaves to the side to block his view of the cat post and vice versa. He seems to enjoy bobbing at the cat. Hasn't turned his beard black though so i don't think we have upset him yet. This morning he did stretch it out when got up and warmed up in the light.

Lights left to right are UVB 150W a basking light and an infrared. Grabbed a thermostat/humidity gauge. We gave him a bath last night when he got here. We plan on taking him into a reptile vet for a checkup this week. I am also attempting to get his previous records from the other vet.

We are in the lower mainland B.C area, if anyone from the area has a vet they have good experiences with i would greatly appreciate the nod their direction.

Thank you all for the resources you have already provided me on this new pet journey.

Welcome to the forum-- you will get lots of good advice here from many on this forum-- first off the UVB needs to be replaced w/ a Reptisun 10 T5, or the Arcadia D3 12% or 14% T5 tube, both of which are very good. You will need a T5 light fixture also. You are right she needs to go into a bigger tank - the 40 gallon is not large enough for her - 75 or 120 gallon -- depending on screen the UVB will either need to go into the tank or possible sit on top but that depends on the screen -- second she should be getting fresh greens every day - mustard and collard green beans squash any kind fruit apples mango strawberries blueberries NO citrus-- bugs at this point are like 2 times per week dusted w/ calcium d3 - she will get alot of her vitamins thru her greens and the variety of them - it looks like you have a sandmat in there for substrate? The tank looks a little cluttered I would take some of the stuff out giving her more room to move around - keep her favorite things she likes to climb on and go under for her hide-- others will chime in on things as well --

Karrie

Thanks for the Reply,

We got the Reptiglo 10.0 150W bulb Pet Med bulb for now. I am combing the buy and sell for a proper ballast i can install inside the tank. I know its not optimal optimal but a new bulb in his setup should get him through the next few weeks until i can find the correct bulb for him.

The substrate is actually sand on the left and Iguana substrate on the right. The bag for the iguana stuff says specifically not to use it with babies but full grown's who don't eat random stuff should be ok. My girlfriend wants to replace the sand side with paper, is this a better option than thick sand?

Thankfully he is eating his greens very well. If he wasn't i would have already got him a multivitamin but he loves his salad. One of our friends is a vet tech, she says he is a little on the fat side. Should we keep his former feeding regiment and not worry about it for now, i know he is a reptile so i was wondering about fasting? (base this on my old snake who would eat feeder fish until he was too fat to move quickly then didn't eat for at least a week) Are these guys supposed to fast a bit or would it upset their vitamin balance?


I was also concerned about the darker tail at first, however he has been shedding from the base of the tail so i'm expecting the rest of the shed to come off in the next week or so. Found a post on here with a tail that looked exactly the same during a shed.

I may just be a little neurotic about him as he is new and I want to make sure we give him the best life possible.

Yeah alot of people on here dont recommend sand at all -- but some do have it buts its a specific sand w/ no calcium in it I believe--- most of us have gone to a slated ceramic tile or non adhesive shelf liner which is purchased thru Home Depot or your local hard ware store- its easier to clean up w/ vinegar / water in a spray bottle- I put paper towels under my tile so the real runny water / urate is absorbed if it runs between slates and can easily be removed and replaced- I dont know anything about the Reptiglo bulb you have-- is that a basking bulb or UVB? Reptiles dont fast but their eating does slow down in winter or at least I am finding out anyway- Hiccup is a year and his metabolism has slowed down considerably- he is eating every couple of days and does a lot of lounging / dozing - he is off his dubias - he finally ate 6-8 day before yesterday and no greens - he was eating greens before that and it was only a few bites -- I am watching his weight too hes not losing and so far he is good -- it has been so cold here and sooooo much snow --- just keep feeding him his salad - mustard and collard greens green beans squash any kind and fruit -- apples mango strawberries blueberries NO citrus-- there is a nutrition chart on the Feeding board w/ a link -- you can ck it out

Karrie