Fat? Impacted? Or I’m overthinking, please help?

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Kodi

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Hellooo, first time beardie owner here..(and first post, so please excuse me if I leave stuff out/sound awkward!) I got him 5 days ago from PetSmart (ugh, I know.) & he is a little bit over 6 inches, approximately 6 1/4 inches. He is also 14.00 grams (exactly!). I have been feeding him as many small crickets as he’ll eat in 10 minutes, 3 times a day. Usually he eats about 8-12, so 24-36 crickets a day. Also I give him a little bit of kale, just in his bowl because he refuses to eat juvenile dragon food. He never eats it all even though it’s a minuscule amount, he eats probably only 3 *cut up* leaf bits, and I put in about 7 (The only time I didn’t do this, was the very first day I brought him home, of course). He has also pooped once every day since the day after I brought him home. & his basking area is always at 94°F & his cool area is at always at 78-79°I was just wondering, or asking for input from experienced owners.. is he too chubby? Is he impacted? Is he okay? Should I worry? Am I feeding him too much? Please help me! Thank you so much, and I hope you all have an amazing day! (I’ve uploaded some pictures, to show) (Also!!! I didn’t know where this post should belong, so please move it if in the wrong subject, and my apologies if so!)
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Claudiusx

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No I wouldn't worry about any of that stuff.
The only thing I want to point out is your temperature. For a baby the basking surface needs to be around 105-110. And the only way to measure your basking surface is with a temp gun or a digital with probe end so make sure you have one of those two devices. No dial stick on thermometers! ;)

Also, most new owners unfortunately end up getting the wrong uvb bulb. Can you tell us which one you have?

-Brandon
 

Kodi

Member
Original Poster
claudiusx":3mwpvxxp said:
No I wouldn't worry about any of that stuff.
The only thing I want to point out is your temperature. For a baby the basking surface needs to be around 105-110. And the only way to measure your basking surface is with a temp gun or a digital with probe end so make sure you have one of those two devices. No dial stick on thermometers! ;)

Also, most new owners unfortunately end up getting the wrong uvb bulb. Can you tell us which one you have?

-Brandon

I seem to be very naive to these the more I learn. I’m so amazed by them, always wanted one, got one, and now I feel like everything I do is slowly killing it.. I love him so much already. The name Kodi actually comes from my brother that passed last month. I do use needle gauges but could easily buy a new one, I know you mentioned a gun/probe..could you recommend a certain brand? Links to sites? Etc. I have a 100W basking light, is that too little? Should I buy a 150W?
& My uvb bulb came with the enclosure. It is a dinky one, I personally hate it, it’s about half the length of the enclosure (20 gallon FOR NOW!! I have a 55 gallon arriving next month.) BUT every single pet store employee (one even has 3 beardies!) I have talked to said that that light will be fine until I get a bigger enclosure. (Not to mention I’ve gone to 4 different petcos, & 3 different petSmarts. Also have been going to my petco in my town every single day since I got him. So I’ve talked to a decently large quantity of people)
Also - so no problems with feeding? I am doing that correctly? With 24-36 crickets a day? He usually runs up to the glass and goes crazy when WE wake up, and then later on at about 3 when I come home, and right before 10:30 before I turn the lights off (when I walk in to turn them off), I take that as “hey!! I need food please!!” Because he doesn’t do it every single time I walk in.
 

JumpinJellyfish

Juvie Member
If the UVB light is a tube and not coil, it may be okay for now. Do you know what brand it is? Your beardie looks great! Don't drive yourself crazy with worrying - just keep working on getting and following correct care information. :0)
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
You are feeding him properly. Babies should eat live prey 2 to 3 times a day and be offered a salad daily.

I definitely recommend getting a new thermometer. You need to know your basking surface since that's really the most important temp. As to weather or not you'll need a new bulb, we won't know until you measure. Petco and petsmart both should sell ir temp guns and digital with probe ends. They will be suitable.

With how much he's eating you definitely want to make sure his basking site is warm enough to allow proper digestion. Which is why a proper thermometer is so important.

Can you be more specific about the uvb. It's a long tube or a coil? If you turn off the bulb it should have some writing on it. If you still have the box it came in that would be even more help.

Temperatures and uvb are the two most important things to a dragon!

-Brandon
 

Kodi

Member
Original Poster
JumpinJellyfish":lzy5ishh said:
If the UVB light is a tube and not coil, it may be okay for now. Do you know what brand it is? Your beardie looks great! Don't drive yourself crazy with worrying - just keep working on getting and following correct care information. :0)

It is 3 long tubes in one long tube, if that makes sense. And it is brand ZooMed. Should I get a different one? I want the absolute best for him, he’s my little bestfriend. & thank you so much!! But could you answer this for me - are those stress lines on his chin? I could upload more pics. And if so, when will they go away? Is there anything I can do to ease his stress? (Besides fix the temps, which I am heading out to get a digital thermometer now) I don’t want my little guy all stressed out :(
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
You still want a infrared heat gun can be bought at Walmart Home Depot or Lowes for around $10--- the digital will be fine as long as you put the probe where he sits for basking and let it sit there for around 10 minutes --- then check it-- your stressing yourself out-- your feeding him good -- are you dusting his bugs w/ D3 calcium 5 x per week and w/ vitamins 2 x per week -- and check your UVB it should be a Reptisun 10.0 bulb --- and I am assuming its a T 8 which takes a regular fixture --- not a flat fixture -- that would be a T 5 bulb -- most petsmarts and petcos dont sell the T 5 flat fixtures but they do sell the regular fixtures for the T 8 bulbs-- that T 8 bulb is not as strong as the T 5 and should be changed out every 6 months -- so you want to keep track of when you put it in -- your little guy is going to be stressed out for awhile -- its relocation stress and he may not eat as much here in the next couple of day so dont stress about it -- he will be fine and get used to you and his surroundings-- also please post pics of the tank and lighting so we can see how its placed
Karrie
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Yeah they are stress marks but that's very common with new dragons. They usualy go through what's called relocation stress. They will settle in after awhile.

Could you post a picture of your uvb? I'm not familiar with what you're describing.

-Brandon
 
I think your little buddy looks fine :) I got Pancake from Petsmart in late March and there's nothing wrong with her. I didn't set out to buy a dragon from there but the store & tanks were clean, the lighting was appropriate, and the employees were actually knowledgeable so when she caught my eye I brought her home. Finding that particular Petsmart was like finding a freaking unicorn lol most of the ones I've been in were atrocious.

Basking temps need to be between 105°-110° and should be measured with a temp gun to get the most accurate reading. Stick on thermometers are useless and while probe thermometers are better, they're not great. Your little dude also needs a tube UVB light ran across the top of the cage spanning at least 3/4 of the way. Reptisun 10.0 t8 should be inside mounted but Reptisun 10.0 t5 can be mounted on top of mesh if mounting inside would put it too close to the basking area.
 

Terry15

Sub-Adult Member
Petsmart Price matches the lowest price online from any site. Try “Chewy” or the cheapest you can find. That way you can save on shipping also.
 

Kodi

Member
Original Poster
I have since gotten a new uvb, so no longer the old one I was trying to describe. I’ll post pics, easier to describe than words for me (my apologies). Now I would like to know for every kind person that helped me out, is this a good one? Should I return and get a different one? (I really only got this one now out of impulse, I was ITCHING to get a different uvb. So I apologize if I did get the wrong one) Thank you guys so so much for all your help, I REALLY REALLY appreciate it guys. This forum is so awesome.

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Kodi

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":3bk7403o said:
You still want a infrared heat gun can be bought at Walmart Home Depot or Lowes for around $10--- the digital will be fine as long as you put the probe where he sits for basking and let it sit there for around 10 minutes --- then check it-- your stressing yourself out-- your feeding him good -- are you dusting his bugs w/ D3 calcium 5 x per week and w/ vitamins 2 x per week -- and check your UVB it should be a Reptisun 10.0 bulb --- and I am assuming its a T 8 which takes a regular fixture --- not a flat fixture -- that would be a T 5 bulb -- most petsmarts and petcos dont sell the T 5 flat fixtures but they do sell the regular fixtures for the T 8 bulbs-- that T 8 bulb is not as strong as the T 5 and should be changed out every 6 months -- so you want to keep track of when you put it in -- your little guy is going to be stressed out for awhile -- its relocation stress and he may not eat as much here in the next couple of day so dont stress about it -- he will be fine and get used to you and his surroundings-- also please post pics of the tank and lighting so we can see how its placed
Karrie

So sorry I couldnt respond earlier Karrie, thank you for the help. Here is a picture of my tank. Please, give me tips, suggestions, advice, constructive criticism on the tank. Anything would help me, thank you so much! (Also, those stick thermometers are still in there only for the simple fact that I haven’t taken them down yet, I have since bought 2 digital thermometers with probes, and the temp for basking was 109.3 and the cool side was 81.8°, does that sound too high/too low? Please, feel free to say anything! As anything will help :)
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Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
It's not the bulb we typically recommend here but many people use it with success. We just are reptisun and Arcadia goons here lol. The fixture is fine there is no problem at all with that. So if you wanted to in 6 months when it's time to replace the bulb, you can buy the reptisun 10.0 instead and use the same fixture.

-Brandon
 
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