Urgent questions about my beardie! Please answer!

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Hello, I am a new bearded dragon owner and I have a few questions about my beardie, Enzo. He's a baby and I brought him home from petsmart a few days ago with everything (?) he needs. I got him a cage, which is small but I'm planning to upgrade it soon, crickets, which I feed greens and dunk in calcium before giving to him, a log for a perch, a food bowl that I put greens in (which he usually doesn't eat??), a water bowl that I put fresh water in, a spray bottle to mist him (I mist him about once a day by spraying him with the water), a heater with a day light and a night light, a light that I turn off around nine o'clock so he can sleep, some buffet mix that I put in his cage (he rarely eats it), and carpet to cover the glass at the bottom of the cage. I clean his cage whenever he poops with a baby wipe and try to get all the dead crickets out of his cage and occasionally take the carpet out and clean it with a baby wipe.
Recently, I've noticed him acting different. The first thing I noticed was that he got darker when we brought him home (he has lightened a bit since then, but not as bright as he used to be). He NEVER eats his greens, but he almost always eats the crickets. He doesn't seem to like mealworms very much
I've been feeding the crickets many greens, coating them with calcium powder, and trying my best to directly feed him the greens, but he refuses to eat them. I'm worried for his health, since I think they are supposed to eat greens every day.
My main concern as of now is that one of Enzo's toes is red and he is limping. He also looks slightly thinner than before I think. Is there something I can do to help his leg? And is this a fatal injury? Should I take him to the vet? Am I doing all the right things for his care? Any advice? I'm really worried about him because he means the world to me and I'd feel terrible if something happened to him.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, pictures are always very helpful to see everything that you're describing, especially his body condition and a couple pics of his toe. Pics of the set up , including lights are also needed. Here's how to post pics :

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

Which types of greens do you offer ? Some babies eat greens but others don't show interest in them at all or not at first so that's not uncommon at all. Greens like turnip, mustard, collard, kale, arugula and dandelion are all good as well as small amounts of finely grated or cooked squash. Just keep offering them a few times a week and be patient. :)
 

Faith331

Member
First thing I can say without a picture. If your "night light" produces light, it's not good for your little one. Night time heat is only needed if the ambient temperature falls below 65F or so.

If buffet mix is the dried stuff you get from the pet store, then don't offer it. It's just filler junk food. Fresh is always going to be healthier.

Baby wipes are not a good idea for cleaning the enclosure because of chemicals they may have that is fine for human babies but not beardies. I suggest making a diluted solution of vinegar and water (1 part vinegar 9 parts water) or to purchase some tank cleaner from Amazon.

Reptile carpet is a pain in the butt and hard to keep sanitary. For a baby, paper towel could be a good option since they poop frequently, and ceramic/slate tile is my fav option for substrate when they're a bit older. Tile is easiest to clean, and the hard surface naturally keeps nails trimmed. Darker colors that aren't shiny are best. Also, the carpet could be responsible for a toe injury if the toe got caught in it. Could be.

Don't be concerned that he's not eating greens at his age. Just continue to offer them. He'll probably catch on to them as he gets older. As for dusting, a calcium powder without D3 is safest to ensure he doesn't overdose on D3. Should also use some kind of overall vitamin supplement. I don't know how often you're dusting, but roughly 5x per week with calcium is good at that age since you should be feeding him a few times per day and leaving greens out.

The UVB set up and the red toe are best left for pictures.

Most of this stuff up here is not likely related to the toe thing, but it's all good info to have to give the best care. And disclaimer: this is all info I've gotten from other people who are experienced, most of them are on this forum.
 
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