New beardie, looking for info and tips

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Hi I’ve been lurking on this website for a few months now, I got my baby beardie from petsmart. His name is Jerald. Personality wise he’s a fun little guy, onto important stuff His basking tempatures are 102, and his cool side is about 78-83. He poops once a day and it looks pretty healthy. He gets fed 5 crix a day once a day, and two wax worms covered in protein powder, cuz lord knows crickets are a pain in the butt to deal with. He’s 7 inches and he went through his first shed last week. His cage is about 55 gallons,(can’t rember the measurements, but it’s home made). My problem is with him is how easily he’s stressed, and I don’t mean the subtle stress marks when they’re interested, I mean full on grey. This usually happens when he’s been handled for a long time but sometimes it happens the second I pull him out, he trust me and even sometimes climbs into my hand, but I’m just wondering about how to deal with him getting stressed so easily.
Pictures of his setup and him:
103695-8423918918.jpg
103695-9666240187.jpg
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Welcome to the forum-- tank looks good but where is the UVB? Your little guy should be sitting under a UVB for 4 hrs per day - basking temp is good but how are you taking those temps? Its good to put a probe thermometer in tank for ambient temps but you want to get basking w/ a Infrared Heat gun - you can get them from Walmart Home Depot Lowes for $10-- any advice you got from Petsmart was probably no good - most of those people in there have not a clue as to what they are talking about-- first off your little one should be eating way more crickets per day --- he is a growing baby and needs atleast 30 crickets per feeding - and he should be eating 2 times per day depending on how many he eats in a sitting-- or as many as he can eat in say 10-15 minutes --- if you dont like the crickets I would suggest dubia roaches --- they are alot easier to keep they dont stink and they dont chirp----------- you can try and find them locally from a mom and pops pet store in your area as most of the big box stores dont sell them -- or you can order them on line thru Amazon.com most suppliers ship for free- I order mine thru dubiaroaches.com but they charge shipping but have other stuff that beardies like to eat - they are out of Kansas-- you should be offering greens every day even tho he probably wont eat it as his main diet at this point is live bugs------------ hes a baby that is reason for the stress - he will need to learn to trust you give him time -- try hand feeding him and put your hand in the tank as much as possible to get him used to your hand-- what is your substrate?
Going back to the dubias you can keep them in a tote or 10 gallon aquarium as they cannot climb out or fly- you can feed them carrots squash any kind they love it apples sweet potato-- eventually your baby will be eating squash as well --- going back to the UVB - this is what most of us on the forum recommend 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. The T 8's are good as well but need to be changed out every 6 months whereas the T 5 once per year- they need to be inside the tank - the T 5 approx 10-11 inches from spot or 6- 8 inches w/ the T 8--- this lighting is crucial for the over all health of your dragon!! The T 5 is a stronger bulb! The on top of screen filters out the UVB rays! That is why it should be placed inside the tank- please start feeding your little one more -- he is going to be underweight soon-- if you decide to go w/ the dubias he will eat approx 6-8 I am guessing per feeding as they are more healthy for him - they wont give him parasites / worms like crickets do-- and 1 dubia = 6 crickets-- please ask more questions --- we are here to help
Karrie
 

Genofdistinct

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Original Poster
Haha thanks, the second light in his basking spot is UV. No idea what they are my dad is the one who handles the lights. As for the crickets, he has a big belly already and he stops eating crickets when he reaches about 7, but feeding him twice a day is a good idea. As for the greens I give him lettuce, I am aware of the health problems it creates, but I can’t get him to eat any other veggies as of now. Substrate is a large reptile mat, also in one of his favorite sleeping spots I put an old shirt that i wore so the smell is always there. Also the I got lucky and the petsmart employee who gave me info actually knew what she was talking about. She even recommended this forum! Also Dubais are bigger than the space in between the eyes, so I’m avoiding them for now
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Please ask Dad what kind of UVB--- you can get small dubias but it won't be too long before he will graduate to medium-- if the mat gets to be too much you can always switch over to slated ceramic tile or non adhesive shelf liner-- both are cheap and can be bought at home Depot or Lowe's for around $10-$13-- but I wouldn't do it unless your planning on upgrading to a bigger tank--- it is easier to keep clean---please no more lettuce-- it has absolutely no nutritional value-- I know he's pretty young but offer him mustard collard or turnip greens--- his main diet now is bugs -- but as he gets towards a year he will need more vegies----
Karrie
 

Genofdistinct

Member
Original Poster
Actually I have great news, the little sucker ate some butternut squash today! I finnaly found the non-lettuce veg today. As for Dubai’s I know someone who raises there own for there bearded dragon,(they told my dad what lights to buy, their guy is happy and healthy at 4 years). Also is every three days a good bathing schedule? He enjoys his baths a lot, but I remember a lot of the people on the forum said not to bathe everyday
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Yeah he doesn't need to be bathed everyday-- the squash is good-- one way of keeping him hydrated to is to wash his greens but if your gut loading the bugs he will get moisture from them-- like feeding carrots to the crickets or dubias-- I still don't see the UVB-- it should be inside the tank--- screen mesh blocks the Ray's from him and he needs that for his best health-- you don't want him developing MBD among other health issues-- if he doesn't get the proper UVB - he will become lethargic quit eating and pooping
Karrie
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Some have used fishing line - and there was something else some body mentioned and for the life of me I cant remember what it was --- also 3M makes something you can use---- picture wire that is what I was thinking --- we used some aluminium wire my husband had -- I can post a pic of my tank and if you look you can see the wire sticking up on top of the tank ---
97951-1410759176.jpg
Karrie
 

Genofdistinct

Member
Original Poster
103695-3101466671.jpg
Thanks for the tip on the wires! And after taking this picture I’ve adjusted the light to face Jerald more, the whole time I was working on it he was in a spare 10 gal cage. Also do they get lonely? Sometimes when I go in my room his stress marks a very apparent but as I get closer they disapear. He’s in my room, which is mostly low activity but we chose it because it had the most convient space, and having a built in space heater helps during the winter so I can warm up his room to get the basking temps right
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Oh dear-- the tube coil is no good-- most of us recommend the Reptison 10.0 T5 or Arcadia 10.0 T 5 tube bulb you will need to get a fixture for the T 5 -- UVB is crucial for their overall health-- the T5 needs to be 10-11 inches from basking or if you get the T 8 it needs to be 6-8 inches-- the T 5 is a stronger bulb and changed once a year as the T 8 every 6 months--- you will notice behavior change once you change out---
Karrie
 

Genofdistinct

Member
Original Poster
Found a T-8 reptisun for cheap at petsmart(it was mislabeled ƪ(˘⌣˘)┐┌(˘⌣˘)ʃ ) and awaiting the fixture from amazon. Also did notice a change I Jerald’s behavior today, less stress marks, probably from the uvb being in the cage! So probably by Saturday he’ll have a proper UV setup!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Sounds good-- you can use picture wire fishing line or plastic zip ties for hanging fixture in tank
3 m makes something to but I am not sure what someone said hooks-- the T 8 will need to be changed out every 6 months-- and make sure the UVB is around 6-8 inches or so from basking spot ---
Karrie
 

Genofdistinct

Member
Original Poster
Ok, everything is properly set up and I have noticed hes much perkier! Now I just have one more question, so when he’s In his cage he’s completely cream, but after taking him out he gets more stress makes and they keep getting darker and darker. That being said he does seem to enjoy being held, even getting excited when I open his door, usually jumping of his rock to run to my hand, is this just him being a baby and he doesn’t actually care, or does he just not like being out for too long? I’ve taken him out for 10 mins- 1 hr, and even though he gets darker he doesn’t try to escape(except when he feels the need to explore) and refuses to leave me when I try to take him off.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Not sure on that about the marks other than something is scarring him or he is trying to absorb heat but that's usually when they are in their tank or sitting in the sun-- is he sitting in sunlight when he's doing this?
Karrie
 
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