Bubbles's questions

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Ok. So my 10yr old daughter wanted a bearded dragon for Christmas. (Just FYI, I know I will be caring for bubbles for the long haul! And I am perfectly happy with that!) After what I thought was extensive research, I wanted to make sure we are doing everything right. My daughter received the 40 gallon set up tank from Santa(zoo med). The day after Christmas we got Bubbles from Petsmart, a fancy bearded dragon. When we got her they said she was 2 months old, not sure if accurate as she is 6 inches long at this time and was 4 inches when we got her. (I also am referring to her as a girl but unsure!)
Question/concern #1-So as of 2 days ago she started limping and dragging her left arm. She continues to limp but is bearing more weight on it. Still scurrying around. No visible swelling or pain when touched, that I can tell. Any suggestions? Should we continue to keep an eye on her as she seems to be getting better? Possible sprain although not sure how she would have injured herself.
So after reading a few discussions, I wanted to add most all info requested prior.
Feeding- She gets crickets 730am, 1200pm, 330pm, 530pm and 800pm. No veggies yet as I was told not until shes older. Eats roughly 3-8 each time. Most all are as small as the space between her eyes but occasionally a bit bigger as I have a hard time keeping track of the crickets growth. I have been gut loading them with moist zoo med juvenile bearded dragon pellets and nectarines.They are also dusted with zoo med calcium with d3, but i skipped the dusting x 1 week as the crickets were dying real fast. I buy crickets just about twice a week 50 each time as they are hard to keep alive and disgustingly gross! Dirty little buggers! I currently am feeding her in a separate tub where I house the crickets.
Question 2- Should I get a separate container for un-dusted crickets? Calcium should only be 5x weekly correct? Is it normal for her to sit like she does in front of the egg crate to eat? (I have pic but unsure how to upload)
Water- She doesn't drink from bowl, so we are dropping water droplets on her head after each meal until she stops licking it off. Also warm baths every other day. Is this adequate?
Heating/lighting-We have the double dome set up with zoo med 150watt heat bulb as the 100watt wasn't warming enough. Zoo med 10.0 UVB bulb. On from 615am to 930pm. We let her heat up an hour or so prior to first feeding and keep warm about an hour or so after last meal. This set up has 2 areas she sits, lower is about 12 inches away from lights (temp 95-96F) and upper is about 8 inches away (98-99F). She picks were she goes on her own. The set up is in front of a window with thermal blinds and black out curtains to keep it warmer as it averages 35-45F at night with heater set to 68F.
She also has a 8watt heat pad attached on the underside of the tank.The tank floor has reptile carpet. She has a hollow 1/2 log that is also on top of the heating pad that keeps night time temperature at about 90F, so she is warm. After 30 minutes of lights out, I place her under the log and she spreads out on her belly and stays all night til morning. Cool side with water bowl is about 70-75F. ( I have pic but unsure of how to upload)
Question #3- Does this heating system/routine good for her?
I am so open to any suggestions/recommendations as I love this little beardie from day one and want to make sure she is healthy and happy!
 

DorgEndo

Sub-Adult Member
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Devlyn
Hi and welcome! We should cover a few things like the husbandry set up and possible injury. Any young animal is more susceptible to injury, better to assume this is an injury. Avoid handling unless necessary, like going into a vet to get a full assessment. You can use tongs to hold crickets for feeding, or simply take out any crickets your young dragon doesn't eat before the end of the day from her enclosure. You should go to vet even if she seemed healthy to rule out any possible parasites which mainstream pet store dragons often are infected with. Find an exotic avian and reptile vet in your area.

Second for husbandry. The thing with those starter kits is that they do not have the best set up for optimum health. It is only a starter kit afterall. Mainly upgrading the UVB light should be your priority. Really make this something done asap. The best two UVB tube lights are Arcadia brand T5 12% or Reptisun T5 HO. These are long tube fluorescent tubes that need a fixture with a reflector, here are key words to find a relfector online or in stores: EDJ T5 HO Fluorescent Tube Fixture.

Also what do you have to measure the temperature? Assuming your dragon has an injury she can only heal effectively during daytime hours with enough heat. She also needs heat to digest food properly. She should have cooler temps and darkness overnight of course, depending on where you live it's important to know night temps so it doesn't get below 65°F at night. A normal house temp around 70°F is what most keepers do for nighttime
 

bubblesthebeardie

Member
Original Poster
I will look into a vet that specializes in reptiles for sure. As for feeding, I put her in a separate tub, where I keep the crickets and let her eat about 5 -10 minutes. I dont put the crickets in her tank yet but should I? I use zoo med digital thermometers, 2, one cool side. One basking area. Temp last night after multiple times checking after lights out didn't get lower than 68F. But she sleeps on heating pad attached to outside of tank. Should I remove heating pad? Temp stayed about 80F in that area. Zoo Med T5 HO Reptisun Terrarium Hood 36" is what I am looking to order. Is this the appropriate light? Just wanna make sure before I order. Also in meantime of new light fixture I reconfigured basking area to directly below the lights. Current uvb and heat lamp is is 6inches away with temps of 107F in the highest basking area with her moving herself to the the lower area of 8inches away which is 93F.
Greatly appreciate your input!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Do not get the UVB fixture same length as tank--- a 24" fixture is good- you don't want her hiding from the UVB- you can feed crickets in a separate tank but you need to feed her salads / greens like collard turnip mustard and kale fresh everyday- I can post more info tomorrow for you on feeding her things- post websites etc-- crickets are nasty and stink -- I recommend dubia roaches they are the best for nutrition
Karrie
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
This is awful close for heat lamp is 6inches-- what wattage are you using for heat? Yes I would remove the heating pad from the tank - to me 80 is too warm for sleeping at nite unless they are sick - you want temps around 70's -- 68 is good for nite time temp as well - they tend to like it cool and dark - The UVB will need to be 12-15 inches from basking spot in the tank - if you have a wide holed screen top the T 5 can sit on top of screen but it must be wide holed- and the basking decor should sit around 8" from decor I believe- feeding her outside the tank is good - I would cut back on the amount of feeding the insects 2-3 times per day and even then she is going to eventually cut back on those as well - please feed her a salad first thing in the morning w/ some BSFL on the salad you can get those here https://symtonbsf.com/ they are calcium enriched do not dust them - use as many as you want they are a another great staple feeder- order large they are small -- they need to go into a glass bowl so they cant crawl out - add them to her salad in front of her -- you can also use small super worms like 1-3 on top as well and let her see you put them on top of the salad - it will entice her to the bowl to eat her vegies - here is a nutrition website for you http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html- Let her eat from this bowl for like an hr or hr and half then add your staple feeder - the dubias cant get out of the bowl either crickets will haft to be disabled - pull a leg off so they cant jump out - or you can still feed in a separate container too if you like up to you --
I recommend getting dubia roaches for her staple feeder- you can keep them in a 10 gallon aquarium or tote and feed them dubia food and carrots for hydration - they arent too hot on greens they like squash -- her bugs should be dusted 5 x per week with calcium D3 and vitamins 2 x per week - you can get dubias from here www.dubiaroaches.com -- www.mulberryfarms.com --- these people have silk worms they are a good staple feeder but are spendy so I give as treats ---- www.abdragons.com ---- www.joshsfrogs.com ---- you can feed butter worms as well -- horn worms they grow really fast and are a good hydrating worm --
Its good your offering gradient heat for her to bask where she can pick her own temp to sit --
So your little one will go thru some relocation stress -- she will slow down on eating but she should not completely quit eating -- here is a website for you to check for a vet in your area
https://arav.org/- let us know how its going
Karrie
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, you've received a lot of helpful info so far.It sounds like he's eating like a piggy. :) I'm wondering if the leg was hurt in a fall from a tall object in the tank or possibly a little rough handling from someone [ unintentional ] since the babies are so fragile at that size. Can you post pics of the baby as well as the entire set up ? Sometimes it's best to avoid a vet with a new baby, some vets hurt them more than help. Here's how to post pics :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them
 

bubblesthebeardie

Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the sizing on light fixture! Just ordered the 24in fixture. I will gladly add greens/veggies to her diet, as crickets are awful. but is she big enough? Shes about 6 inches long which should put her around 6-8weeks old? Pet store guessed about 2 months when we got her in December but she was maybe 4 inches then. As for injury, shes running around crazy now. No limping but we still bring her out to socialize. She likes to sit on the shoulder and watch everything. She did just finish shedding. We stopped the heat pad, temps staying 68F in tank at night.I took picture of set up and uploaded here but I'll figure out how to attach to this thread.
 

bubblesthebeardie

Member
Original Poster
Ha! Got it figured out! The dome light will come out when I get new uvb and I'll swap out the double for a single that we have for another pet. The uvb is on the left side and has 150 watt heat bulb on the right. 100was only getting basking area in the high 80'sF. When new light comes 5.0, do I center it or off to the side? Meaning attach it to left back corner? And greenery is plastic.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok the 5.0 is equivalent to a T 8--- bulb is not as strong as the 10.0-- when you replace that 5.0 in 6 months get the 10.0 bulb--- so when it comes place inside the tank w/ no cover on fixture if there is one and have decor 8-10 inches from light- place the fixture where she can sit directly under it--- it's easier to move decor than fixture so get that situated
Karrie
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Your set up looks great ! Good to hear that she's not limping anymore. :) Be sure to never walk around with her on your shoulder or loosely on your hand,babies don't know not to jump and can get badly hurt, all beardies can.It's fine if you're sitting but not if you're walking around.
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hi there,

You've been getting good advice, so all I'll say is, Welcome to the site! :D

-Brandon
 
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