Newbie needs advice

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Jensimp08

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I’m a newbie. Literally bought my first bearded dragon 2 days ago. I truly feel like I did when I had my first child. Like I’m doing everything wrong!

First my beardie has stress markings on his belly and chin. I know he’s in a new tank and this is normal. But for how long. Should I be concerned? How can I help him feel more comfortable. He is a juvenile. His markings are not as dark today as yesterday.

The reptile store gave us sand to put in his tank. However, I’ve read that’s not safe so we now have paper towels in there. Is this okay to just use paper towels? Should I buy a substrate mat?
The tank temp is around
95 degrees. The humidity is about 35% we bought a 40 gallon we have a reptisun 10.0 uvb and a blue daylight bulb 150w.

He’s alert and eating twice a day and quite a bit when we feed him! He enjoyed Romain lettuce. He has popped twice today (the 2nd day we’ve had him) I did give him a bath this morning and that seemed to get his bowels moving.
However, when I gave him his bath, I noticed a very small green spot on the back of his head. I do not know if it was there when we bought or if it’s new.
Should I be concerned? I rubbed it but it didn’t come off.
What Should I do for the green spot?
How can I get him to relax so his stress markings go away?

Any advice would be appreciated!
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, congrats on your new dragon. :) It's good that he's eating + pooping , don't worry about dstress marks, they are not serious and can indicate excitement as well. For greens use these types rather than just romaine : collards, turnip, mustard, kale dandelion. Well the pet store sold you the wrong lightoing, they need a bright white heat bulb, the blue is unnatural. Is the light fixture a double dome ? If so the it probably came with a coil or compact uvb bulb. If that's the case, take those back and get a long tube bulb, Reptisun 10.0 t5 is the best. If you can only get a t8 it needs to be mounted inside. Also, how are you measuring temps ? Please post pics of your baby as well as his entire set up. Here's how :

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

Jensimp08

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":27ywn5a6 said:
Hi there, congrats on your new dragon. :) It's good that he's eating + pooping , don't worry about dstress marks, they are not serious and can indicate excitement as well. For greens use these types rather than just romaine : collards, turnip, mustard, kale dandelion. Well the pet store sold you the wrong lightoing, they need a bright white heat bulb, the blue is unnatural. Is the light fixture a double dome ? If so the it probably came with a coil or compact uvb bulb. If that's the case, take those back and get a long tube bulb, Reptisun 10.0 t5 is the best. If you can only get a t8 it needs to be mounted inside. Also, how are you measuring temps ? Please post pics of your baby as well as his entire set up. Here's how :

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



I have a double dome and a “deluxe clamp lamp”. I will go buy him other greens tomorrow, thank you!
The bulb is a coiled.
We are measuring heat and humidity with a gauge inside the tank. The gauge is just like a stick on, it has temp and humidity on it. It was just what they gave us.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Please get rid of the coil UVB get what ahbd suggested I would try for a T 5 - you need a digital probe thermometer A MUST-- the stick on will not give you proper temps-- you need basking temps 105-110 for a baby- all this is a must along w/ a bright white basking bulb start w/ a 100 watt but make sure you have that probe thermometer you don't want to burn him up- if you cannot get the T 5 a zilla fixture will work but you need to also get this bulb Reptisun 10.0 T 8 cover needs to stay off the fixture when change the bulb out--- this bulb I am recommending is a way better bulb -- and yes the paper towels are good- do not listen to those petstore people anymore they do not know anything about dragons
Karrie
 

Jensimp08

Member
Original Poster
Okay thank you! I will go get all this stuff tomorrow!

What about the small green spot? I did upload the pictures. Were you able to see those? It states the pictures posted.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
No go to the message box click on XIMG at the top then click on the pic it should post-
Karrie
 

Jensimp08

Member
Original Poster
These pictures are from this morning. The sand has been taken out, paper towels down. That is the only difference
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
His head is fine, might be a bit of shed coming on if anything but no problem there. So the set up minus the sand as you already took it out is fine, changing the lights ASAP is very important, then you'll be all set. :)
 

Jensimp08

Member
Original Poster
Oh great! Thank you! That makes me feel much more at ease! I will buy new lights tomorrow when I go buy more crickets!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
You need to start feeding salads--- here is a website for nutrition ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
He needs salads every morning even tho he may not eat them- they need to start on these right away you may need to get some worms to lure him to the bowl so you will need a glass or ceramic bowl to keep them in -- you can get some BSFL or phoenix worms calci worms or nutri grubs they are all the same they are a great staple feeder and you dont need to dust them- feed as many as you want on top of his salads - you do need to dust his other staple feeder like crickets or dubia roaches - those need to be dusted 5 x per week once per feeding w/ calcium D3 and 2 x per week once per feeding w/ Vitamins w/ beta carotene -- I would get the BSFL as soon as possible and start adding in front of him to his salads -- it will lure him to the bowl - he will go thru relocation stress so he may not eat as much as he gets more settled in and w/ the proper lighting and basking temps he should keep eating - its when they quit eating all together that is a problem -- here are some websites for you I would get him switched over to dubia roaches -- most on here order all the staple feeders worms etc on line ---
www.symtonbsf.com good BSFL I would order medium to large they are small and soft good to hand feed them to get them used to your hand
www.dubiaroaches.com nice roaches and worms - you can get nutri grubs from here (BSFL) they usually have small horn worms these grow really fast so you would need to feed them right away and only order small amounts -- if they have them small super worms 1-3 on top of the salads
www.reptilianarts.com nice silk worms also another staple feeder order in bulk they have been out but bulk come small like 50 if you order in bulk you will need to order food as well feed daily and keep containers clean they also have good roaches and nice super worms but theirs are large
www.mulberryfarms.com nice silk worms and they have butter worms or did - those are nice soft worm these people are high on shipping tho
www.coastalsilkworms.com they have 2 places one on the west coast and one of the east coast - they send food w/ their worms --
Most of these places are pretty quick at getting orders out ---
Dubia roaches can be kept in a 10 gallon aquarium or plastic tote you can feed them dubia food along w/ carrots for hydration - do not feed the dragon carrots as well too much Vit A -- this would be the better staple over crickets and they last longer and are more nutritional - they do not stink or chirp -- you can also feed fruit to them they are not big green eaters -- please ask if you have any more questions
Karrie
 

saraho

Hatchling Member
Congrats on the new baby!

I have a recently adopted 2 year old beardie who is insufferably picky about his vegetables because his previous owner didn't introduce them at a young age. Let your little guy try lots of healthy greens, it will help you in the long run!

His markings are lovely, BTW.
 

takisha08

Member
109080-4607020156.jpg

Happy Friday!

Earlier this week we were having temp issues, now Sirilius’s head is turning white. Her tail and legs are a lighter color, although the picture doesn’t really show. Her appetite is sporadic. I.e. she ate 30 little Dubias yesterday and has not eaten at all today.

Is that shed on her head? Any advice is welcome. We bought her on 8/14 from Petsmart and they said she was a couple of months old.

Enclosure info: 40 gallon, repti sun 10.0, T5 bulb, digital thermometers, basking temp is 105, cool is is 82.
 
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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.

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