Falkor has Arrived early!! HELP!

Hey folks!

My little 7 week old beardie arrived last night (a day early). I had ordered that the Viv arrived a few days before the dragon, but unfortunately they all arrived together yesterday evening. I got the whole lot set up and Falkor making himself at home within an hour. But as you may expect from a newbie I have questions! Like I said before, the tank is 48x15x15 but I have it sectioned off so that the beardie is only occupying 24 x 15 x 15.

1. Tank Temperature...the thermometer I ordered didnt arrive, so im flying blind a bit until it arrives. Room temperature day time here at the moment is about 22C / 70F, Night time Room temperature is about 10C / 50F. I have a UVA / UVB bulb, a yellow 40W Basking light and a heat mat underneath 50mm of substrate. I know the arguements against heatmats (thanks to the advice and posts in my previous topic day before yesterday) and I agree, so I have ordered a ceramic heat emmitter and it is on the way, should be here early next week. I am concerned that the tank is too hot during the day...feels like a sauna when you put your hand in..with heat mat off!, and too cold at night even with the heat mat on! (And Bulbs off) Am I correct in turning the bulbs off at night? In terms of body language, the dragon is climbing right up to the very top of Viv into a shaded corner (i think its the coolest part of the tank). During last night, he didnt move from that spot. Are they intelligent enough to know to go to the ground if its too cold higher up? What should I expect in terms of body language?

Feeding: I put in 10 crickets(very small, no bigger than distance between eyes) this morning after turning the bulbs back on, crickets were dusted in a calcium and multivitamin powder. He didn't seem interested. I figure he might still have been too cold after last night. or settling in, getting used to new surroundings? Again not sure what to expect here. I suppose I sort expected him to go on a mad eating burst and anhilate the crickets one by one but after half an hour he had only eaten one and the rest were climbing around over his back...very brave or intelligent crickets, dont know which. Should I remove uneaten crickets immediately? If so after how long?

any other advice you deem relevant would be greatly appreciated. I thought I had done a lot of research and reading but now that he has arrived I am very nervous about getting in wrong. Please Help! :?

What is there for ventilation? Is the tank a screen top? Also keep in mind that temps of 100-115 can seem very warm to the touch on a cool evening/morning. You are correct in turning the lights off at night.

What substrate are you using?

If the whole tank temps are too high, they will find the coolest part and stay there. When my tank was too hot, he stayed in the bottom corner, farthest from the light. They will figure out the temps and move accordingly (granted they are healthy) I think you should be ok if your thermometer will be arriving shortly.

Is your UVA/UVB light an MVB or a strip light? IF your UVB light emits heat as well, your tank temps may be too hot since you have 2 heat emitting lights in the same small area.

Relocation stress will cause them not to eat for a while, although this didnt happen with mine. I would wait a few days and make sure you keep offering the crickets to him along with vegetables. And make sure you take the crickets out at night or feed him in another enclosure(again didnt work for me, he wont eat unless hes in his tank). Make sure you leave some vegetables in there overnight in case some were hiding....they may eat the veggies instead of the dragon.

hope some of this helped!

Hiya, thanks for advice.

What substrate are you using?

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The substrate is a fine coral sand, recommended by the store. I'm beginning to trust the guy in the store, which is very much against my nature, but he is very helpful and he only sells reptiles, all of which look very healthy, so he must be doing something right.

What is there for ventilation?

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The ventilation is a problem with the Viv i got which I only discovered last night. When the Reptile Background is mounted on the rear of the tank, it blocks the ventilation. I have now bought a new power drill and am setting the task of drilling new ventilation holes in the sides as soon as i get home from work.

Is your UVA/UVB light an MVB or a strip light? IF your UVB light emits heat as well, your tank temps may be too hot since you have 2 heat emitting lights in the same small area.

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The UV Bulb is a strip light and does generate some heat but not alot.


The store guy (i went to quiz) him just now at lunch time said that it is highly unlikely that the tank too warm as he has exactly the same set up and it works fine. He suggested moving the Basking light further to one end rather than where it is now (about one third up the tank). He said the ventilation was a problem and apologised but didn't realise thats the way the vivs came as it was the first one he ordered from that partiicular supplier. offered me the tools to fix it or bring it in and he would do it for me but I dont want to move beardie around so ill do it myself.

Thats a great tip vegetables to keep crickets busy. I did leave a couple in their this morning when i went to work so if he does get hungry he can nibble on something.

Again the guy in the store said he is probably just settling in, give him a bath a few days and he should be fine. Sounds like reasonable advice, what do yo think?


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Most people will tell you to be careful with any kind of sand, but some agree that sifted playsand is acceptable. I see no need to take that chance, so i keep mine on shelf liner/paper towel.

It seems like once you get some ventilation, you may be better off. The basking light should be towards one side of the tank so that there will be a cool side of the tank around 80 degrees.

Seems like he knows what he is talking about but some pet store owners seem to be a little stubborn to their ways...

Is your UV light 8.0 or 10.0? Hwo old is he?

Is your UV light 8.0 or 10.0? Hwo old is he?

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It is an 8.0 Strip Light. He is about 6 or 7 weeks old. only a tinchy baby, but so cute. he has the most fantastic orange outlines to his markings on his back. he is gorgeous. Will take pics at the weekend and put them up asap on monday.

Last night I drilled new ventilation holes, and moved the basking light further up to the end, so that should help. (I hope)

Things are looking up, and I'm starting to relax a bit. Took him out for a bath last night which he seemed to like. He kept pushing his snout under the water and coming up splashing...very funny 8) . He then didn't eat much again, but did nibble some raspberry off my fingers which I had been eating...cheeky! This morning before work he seemed much more active then before and I took him out, popped him into a seperate tank (the other half of the same tank that is sectioned off for the moment) and gradually popped in 1 cricket at a time. It took a bit of encouragement but he eventually started munching them and ate about 8 crickets, he seemed like he had had enough then. No interest in any more so i took them out, and popped him back in his own side of the tank. He seemed much more alert and was running around the tank climbing on things rather than hiding in the bushes! Much better.

We are a bit limited in what vegetables we can get over here. I saw the list on that http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com-nutrition.html link, but There are very few of the stuff named there available in Irish Shops. Are they known by other names elsewhere? IE Squash seems very popular..what is it? Can I give him peas in a pod? What about Rocket Leaves?

Thanks,

Iain

Argh.. You stole my beardies name!! haha.. :evil:
Perhaps i should have choosen a lesser known dragon to name him after instead of that big white flying bugger from the Neverending Story haha..
;-)

I know! I spotted the name one of your other posts in one of the other forums just this morning and I feel really guilty about it! Honestly! Not going to change it though cos its a really cool name! And anyway, it took weeks for my very unimaginative brain just to think of that one! Presumably, Falkor and Falkor will never meet so confusion should be easily avoided!

hahaha yah its all good :lol:
I'll take it as a compliment towards my sheer lack of creativity in choosing my beardies name haha..