New Beardie Owner - a little bit confused

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Madsjmck

New member
Hello all. My name is Madison and I purchased a 3 month old bearded dragon on Thursday. I had read multiple things on proper husbandry and ways to care for my little guy, but I guess I’m still kinda stumped. One site I read, persay, that their diets should be mainly crickets and insects, and a few greens here and there. The next site says that their diet should be mostly greens with insects as treats. So many different articles claiming that their way is the right way that I am not sure which I should be following. I have been doing a diet of 20-30 crickets a day, feeding three times a day, with a dish of either bok choi, kale, collard greens, parsley, or dandelion leaves. I have a 20 gallon fish tank with a metal wire screen top. For lighting/heat during the day, I have a zilla-slimline-desert-50-uvb-t8-fluorescent-fixture and Zoo Med Repti-basking lamp 75 Watts. For heating at night I have a small heat mat mounted on the side and a small dome with a ceramic heater. Day temps around 80-100, night temps 65-75. I have the lamps and UVB fixture sitting on top of the screen. I’m using paper towel as substrate until I can figure out what is safe and suitable substrate for him. I want him to have an enclosure as close as possible to his natural environment. I looked into JurassicNatural Australian Desert Dragon Substrate after reading a few things, and I’m hoping that will be okay. I have a woven hammock thing, a hiding rock, and a long piece of driftwood with hiding spots. Any modifications that I should be making on his diet/environment/ lighting? I know that eventually pretty soon, I’ll have to get him a bigger tank, any suggestions on habitats? Any other ideas for a happy healthy Beardie? Thank you guys so much in advance.
 

WinFam01

Juvie Member
I'm new to dragons also, but wanted to suggest a site I found particularly helpful because it contains science based info.
Reptifiles.com

Congrats on your new little buddy!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
You have started off on the wright foot-- the UVB needs to be exposed --- meaning the plastic cover over that slimeline needs to be taken off and it needs no screen between him and the bulb - you need distance of 6-8 inches for proper UVB directly underneath that UVB -- as of this moment w/ everything the way it is he is not getting hardly any UVB ---also that bulb will need to be changed out in 6 months about that time you should be working on a new tank about 6 months of age he will be out of that 20 gallon if not sooner ---- as long as your basking temps are 105-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer or infrared heat gun you are good - diet should consist of 80% bugs w/ 20% salad -- you want him eating salad now so when he gets older hes eating it - when they get older they wont just eat salads on their own for some reason - some will some wont -- so get some BSFL (nutrigrubs) from here along w/ some small super worms http://www.dubiaroaches.com add them to his salad use 1-3 super worms - as many nutri grubs as you want make sure you have a glass dish or ceramic so they cant get out -- feed first thing in the morning - let him eat from that bowl for like a hr or so I would look at getting some dubia roaches too they are easier to work w/ then take a little salad out disable your crickets by pulling a leg off of them and add to the salad bowl - here is a website for nutrition http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder -- make sure your dusting those crickets w/ calcium D3 5 x per week once per feeding and vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week once per feeding -- the nutri grunbs you will not need to dust -- you will need to upgrade that tank here real soon - he will outgrow that 20 gallon tank fast - if you want to find a used tank you can try FB marketplace look for a 75-120 gallon tank w/ front doors they are the easiest to work w/ or you can try craigslist -- if you find a tank used make sure you sanitize that tank real good w/ some Zoo Med Wipeout or F10 its a vet disinfectant --- you can find it on Ebay -- it will kill everything in the tank -- if you want to go new ask for some websites and I will post some for you -- for bigger tanks like 40+ gallon I recommend you get a longer UVB fixture - you will need a 24' fixture w/ either a Reptisun 10.0 T 5 or a Arcadia 12% bulb -- both are really good bulbs --- right now the paper towels are good --- you dont want to invest in something that you will need to invest in again --- if you can try and find a piece of tile that will fit inside the tank and use paper towels too or maybe a dish towel as well - then you can just throw that in the wash -- the tile will clean up w/ vinegar/water solution 50/50 -- if you have any more questions please ask
Karrie
 
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I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

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