Hi from Sir Jeffrey and his humans!

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Hello there! We are new to the dragon world and have had a baby Beardie for a week. He’s got a nice set up in a 20g starter tank, we use a digital probe thermometer and his basking side stays around 100-103 degrees. We use a Powersun UV Self-ballasted Mercury Vapor UVB lamp, 100w. It’s on a lamp stand so we can adjust the height to get his temps just right. There is another lamp on there but I’m not sure what it’s for, my husband said to put it on there, so we do. We do the red light at night, although we live in a warmer climate area and his enclosure doesn’t get below 80degrees at night. Should I not use the light at night? I also have a lot of “is this normal” type questions, when and if someone might have the time to answer and guide us a bit.

He doesn’t spend much time in his hidey hole, or on the cooler side of the tank. He also doesn’t get in the water much either. Is that normal? We gave him one bath, but the water got cold real quick... is there a safe way to curb that from happening?

Feeding is not optimal. We have Dubai roaches and he eats maybe 1-2 per feeding, offering several times throughout the day. I’m reading that he should eat 25-50 per feeding. That’s not happening! I’m worried it could be relocation stress, or lighting (wire mesh cover between him and the uvb/heat bulb). He also won’t eat his veggies for the exception of today when he ate two small pieces from the tongs. I give him his salad first thing in the morning. Wait about an hour then give him the roaches. I also mist his head with water since he’s not getting in his water dish. Humidity is at 25%, so we are good there. Any suggestions for this newbie?

On to his activity level. He is not very active, until I’m trying to pick him up. What qualifies as lethargic? I’m worried the wire mesh top to his enclosure is filtering out the uvb rays from his lamp/bulb. So I keep that halfway open to make sure he’s getting as much uvb as possible. I keep an eye on him though, cause I’m scared he’ll climb out! Maybe I’m overthinking the wire mesh thing. Lastly, he will lay with his feet straight out behind him... is that normal? I’ll do my best to attach a pic to this to show the pose. He looks like he’s chillin to me, but am super anxious about raising this guy the best way possible!
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Ok I’m done with the question hour. Thanks for taking the time to read all this, if anyone actually did haha! I look forward to engaging with others on this forum!

All the best,
Allison & Sir Jeffrey Longtail of Terrariumshire
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Welcome Sir Jeffery--- and humans--- the leg thing is normal its called the sexy leg look --- :) next please ditch the red light--- they are harmful to their eyes and can cause long term eye damage- if his tank is 65 or above at nite hes fine- you dont want it over 80 so in the 70's is good :) 80 during the day is fine --- he will use his hide just give him time - mine didnt discover his hide till around 5-6 months old -- bathing is not required - first he only needs them if he is pooped all over himself or severley dehydrated -- you can give him water by spraying him or dropping water on his nose and washing or rinsing his salad greens is better - if hes eating his salad he will get moisture thru that and make sure your gut loading his insects --- feed them carrots they are a good hydrating source do not feed your dragon carrots too too much Vit A -- you can add some worms to his salad they are a great lure to the salad bowl -- along w/ BSFL -- I will post some websites for you for those - its great your feeding dubias they are a great staple feeder and so much more nutritionist-- its normal for them to not eat alot at first - its called relocation stress -- he is eating so that is good -- hand feeding is good - your building trust there -- what are you using for substrate? We recommend NO loose substrate - to much risk for impaction issues -- here is a nutrition website for you
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder
www.dubiaroaches.com you can get BSFL from here also known as calci worms nutri grubs and phoenix worms- your going to need a glass or ceramic bowl so the roaches and worms cant get out of
they also have butter worms and horn worms and medium super worms -- horn worms are a good hydrating worm they grow really fast order small amounts - the nutri grubs are small order large and feed as many as you want and do not dust them - only feed like 1-3 supers - add these to his salads in front of him so he sees you do this the movement will entice him to the bowl - you can also get some silk worms they too are a great staple feeder - you can get them from here www.reptilianarts.com if you order like 50 which is bulk they come small and you will need to order food for them and clean containers out daily-- you can get silk worms from here as well www.coastilsilkworms.com the dubiaroaches website has nice roaches I get mine all from there - you can do as your doing w/ the feeding salads first in the morning - the All in One MVB I am not familiar w/ -- one of the more experienced people on the board is gonna haft to answer your question about placement --
Karrie
 

DragonAlly

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":1i1ekugh said:
Welcome Sir Jeffery--- and humans--- the leg thing is normal its called the sexy leg look --- :) next please ditch the red light--- they are harmful to their eyes and can cause long term eye damage- if his tank is 65 or above at nite hes fine- you dont want it over 80 so in the 70's is good :) 80 during the day is fine --- he will use his hide just give him time - mine didnt discover his hide till around 5-6 months old -- bathing is not required - first he only needs them if he is pooped all over himself or severley dehydrated -- you can give him water by spraying him or dropping water on his nose and washing or rinsing his salad greens is better - if hes eating his salad he will get moisture thru that and make sure your gut loading his insects --- feed them carrots they are a good hydrating source do not feed your dragon carrots too too much Vit A -- you can add some worms to his salad they are a great lure to the salad bowl -- along w/ BSFL -- I will post some websites for you for those - its great your feeding dubias they are a great staple feeder and so much more nutritionist-- its normal for them to not eat alot at first - its called relocation stress -- he is eating so that is good -- hand feeding is good - your building trust there -- what are you using for substrate? We recommend NO loose substrate - to much risk for impaction issues -- here is a nutrition website for you
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder
http://www.dubiaroaches.com you can get BSFL from here also known as calci worms nutri grubs and phoenix worms- your going to need a glass or ceramic bowl so the roaches and worms cant get out of
they also have butter worms and horn worms and medium super worms -- horn worms are a good hydrating worm they grow really fast order small amounts - the nutri grubs are small order large and feed as many as you want and do not dust them - only feed like 1-3 supers - add these to his salads in front of him so he sees you do this the movement will entice him to the bowl - you can also get some silk worms they too are a great staple feeder - you can get them from here http://www.reptilianarts.com if you order like 50 which is bulk they come small and you will need to order food for them and clean containers out daily-- you can get silk worms from here as well http://www.coastilsilkworms.com the dubiaroaches website has nice roaches I get mine all from there - you can do as your doing w/ the feeding salads first in the morning - the All in One MVB I am not familiar w/ -- one of the more experienced people on the board is gonna haft to answer your question about placement --
Karrie


Thank you so much Karrie. Red light has been ditched! I do most his nose and greens - also feeding the Dubais carrots, so that is nice to know I’m on the right track there! I appreciate you sending me the links for his food. 80 during the day... huh - for his basking side? If so, I’ve been keeping it about 20 degrees too hot. I’ll adjust that tomorrow when I turn his sun on. ? Substrate is a hard packed soil kind. I know there is a lot of debate as to what to use and we decided to try this out. It what his breeder was using and he is right next to me all day and is having healthy poops everyday. If impaction becomes an issue, we will switch it up. Again, thank you for your help. Have a great evening.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
No basking temps 105-110-- cool side 80's-- taken w/ a digital probe thermometer-- you don't want impaction--- you can use some textured NON adhesive shelf liner-- from home Depot easy to clean w/ 50/50 vinegar and water
Karrie
 

WinFam01

Juvie Member
Welcome!
I'm new to having a rep-child too, so I'll leave the other questions for our more experienced owners, but the legs one I can answer! That is a very typical Beardie 'sexy leg' pose, as it is known.. It is so funny, but it seems like pretty much all of them do it.
 

DragonAlly

Member
Original Poster
WinFam01":gs6z67vp said:
Welcome!
I'm new to having a rep-child too, so I'll leave the other questions for our more experienced owners, but the legs one I can answer! That is a very typical Beardie 'sexy leg' pose, as it is known.. It is so funny, but it seems like pretty much all of them do it.

It is too cute and I thought how adorable. Then the thought came around *what if something is wrong* ? I’m so glad he’s just posing to be schexy ☺️
 

DragonAlly

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":2l8db70i said:
No basking temps 105-110-- cool side 80's-- taken w/ a digital probe thermometer-- you don't want impaction--- you can use some textured NON adhesive shelf liner-- from home Depot easy to clean w/ 50/50 vinegar and water
Karrie

Ok yes, I don’t want my lil guy impacted. I’ll get it changed out today! Thank you for your help. ☺️
 

Wickedpogana

Juvie Member
DragonAlly":17n3zhew said:
KarrieRee":17n3zhew said:
No basking temps 105-110-- cool side 80's-- taken w/ a digital probe thermometer-- you don't want impaction--- you can use some textured NON adhesive shelf liner-- from home Depot easy to clean w/ 50/50 vinegar and water
Karrie

Ok yes, I don’t want my lil guy impacted. I’ll get it changed out today! Thank you for your help. ☺️
loose substrate doesnt cause impaction incorrect husbandry does such as wrong diet and wrong lighting amongst other things tile cause limb and joint damage after so long i do recommend loose substrate just not sand. The best housbandry technique is BIOACTIVE it replicates their natural envirment of woodlands scrublands habitat. its self sustaining the clean up crew which consist of isopods, springtails, dubias, earthworms etc eat shed, poop and food scraps and the mircofauna handles and bacteria on a microbial level so its cleaner then any other substrate in every way and with tile you elminate too many natural behaviors in a bio set up they hunt dig burrow and get access to live vegetation much more mental stimulating and overall smells a ton better and is better for you and your reptile shelf linear has same problem as tile and east to clean whats easier then letting your clean up crew and plants clean everything for you
 

DragonAlly

Member
Original Poster
loose substrate doesnt cause impaction incorrect husbandry does such as wrong diet and wrong lighting amongst other things tile cause limb and joint damage after so long i do recommend loose substrate just not sand. The best housbandry technique is BIOACTIVE it replicates their natural envirment of woodlands scrublands habitat. its self sustaining the clean up crew which consist of isopods, springtails, dubias, earthworms etc eat shed, poop and food scraps and the mircofauna handles and bacteria on a microbial level so its cleaner then any other substrate in every way and with tile you elminate too many natural behaviors in a bio set up they hunt dig burrow and get access to live vegetation much more mental stimulating and overall smells a ton better and is better for you and your reptile shelf linear has same problem as tile and east to clean whats easier then letting your clean up crew and plants clean everything for you[/quote]


Haha! I’m glad I didn’t change it out yet. I will research it further before making my final decision. Right now it’s a loose mix of soil, clay and sand. It’s what his breeder used and suggested, so I’d rather listen to him over a big box pet store. So far he’s having great poops. Found out yesterday he prefers crickets over Dubai’s, so now I have to figure out what to do with the 100 dubs before they grow exponentially. Maybe starve them until dragon gets bigger? Looks like I have a new topic to research. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!
 

Wickedpogana

Juvie Member
DragonAlly":12enlaby said:
loose substrate doesnt cause impaction incorrect husbandry does such as wrong diet and wrong lighting amongst other things tile cause limb and joint damage after so long i do recommend loose substrate just not sand. The best housbandry technique is BIOACTIVE it replicates their natural envirment of woodlands scrublands habitat. its self sustaining the clean up crew which consist of isopods, springtails, dubias, earthworms etc eat shed, poop and food scraps and the mircofauna handles and bacteria on a microbial level so its cleaner then any other substrate in every way and with tile you elminate too many natural behaviors in a bio set up they hunt dig burrow and get access to live vegetation much more mental stimulating and overall smells a ton better and is better for you and your reptile shelf linear has same problem as tile and east to clean whats easier then letting your clean up crew and plants clean everything for you




Haha! I’m glad I didn’t change it out yet. I will research it further before making my final decision. Right now it’s a loose mix of soil, clay and sand. It’s what his breeder used and suggested, so I’d rather listen to him over a big box pet store. So far he’s having great poops. Found out yesterday he prefers crickets over Dubai’s, so now I have to figure out what to do with the 100 dubs before they grow exponentially. Maybe starve them until dragon gets bigger? Looks like I have a new topic to research. Thank you for sharing your knowledge![/quote]defiently need clean up crew and plants in there or its a bacterial nightmare. i dont have clay in my mix ill post u to a link to my thread i made my bio from scracth viewtopic.php?f=34&t=254808
 
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