1st timer here... nervious

[spikeTOO]

Hello everyone. We just purchased our 1st BD. His/Her name is Spike. He is adorable. It is the 1st time we ever had one and to be honest I don't know anyone who does have them. Let me know if I need to change anything. Spike is only a litle guy he about 5 inches from tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. I put him in a 50 gallon tank w/ a screen lid. I have a 75 watt heat light and a 36" ultra-violet reptile light. We turn the lights on at about 6 am and it stays on till about 8pm. Spike usually climbs into the plastic plant on the cool side of the tank an snuggles in to sleep. The one thing I noticed is that he seems to sleep alot and doesn't realy eat any of his greens. He does eat crickets, I usually give him about 3-5 crickets 2 times a day. Is that enough or should I give him more. I am afraid of not doing something right and maybe he is not as active as he should be. We Hold him about an hour or so each day. Is it normal that they lay around alot? Oh ya I also bath him. Do I need to leave food in the tank all day or should we only offer it a few times a day.... Please help me out here...I am afraid I am not doing something right.

Thanks Jennifer

 

[spike1116]

i would try not to leave crickets in there all day and def not over night as they can nip at him. seeing as how hes new he may be sleeping a lot and adjusting give him a week or so to adjust to his new home. as a baby that small they wont eat many greens my beardy buddah is about 3 months and he is just starting to eat greens on a consistent basis they usually start off on just crickets which is good because they need the protein and other vitamins while growing i think that covers most of your ?'s and if u have any more this site is amazing and there are tons of very knowledgeable people here to help u out

 

[spikeTOO]

Thanks a bunch... I just worrie

 

[NOHerp]

Baby beardies need ALOT of protein, so you want to feed them about 80% crickets, lobster roaches, etc, and 20% veggies. Offer him as many crickets as he will eat in 10-15 minutes about 2 or 3 times a day. I keep greens in there constantly, and my lil guy tears them up! Also, you can feed him mealworms as snacks occasionally, but only as treats....they are HIGH in fat, and your beardie can become obese.

 

[spikeTOO]

NOHerb, Thanks for the tip...I will have to pick up more crickets In the morning of course

 

[NOHerp]

It might be best to order them in bulk...cuz you'll need them. I feed my beardie about 30 a day! So if you get a large rubbermaid tub, with a large screen cover, some cricket feed and some cricket quencher, you can keep about 1000 for about 3 months (though I only keep 250 at a time). Only problem is that they (1) Grow fast, so buy them a little smaller than you need....in your case week old or 1/4" would be best. (2) STINK!!! I was told to try roaches, but my fiancee won't let me, so I have to keep the stinky crickets...lol

 

[spikeTOO]

Noherp, That's too funny ... Do you buy the crickets off the internet or locally? I typically buy mine a dozen at a time at the pet store that I bought Spike. 1 more thing do you feed you BD inhis living quarters or do you use a feeding tank. I am thinking about using a feeding tank so I can keep His tank free of Crickets he doesn's eat.

 

[NOHerp]

I feed her in her enclosure, but I spend each night chasing down those crix, so it may be best to feed it seperate...Saphira is sooo picky that she will only eat in her cage. I order my crix from a petco site...but you can get MUCH cheaper on other sites, like lllreptile. I just like the wingless crix, cuz they make no noise.

 

[Akeath]

Hi, welcome to the forum! You might think about dividing your tank so it's smaller at the moment, sometimes hatchlings will get overwhelmed if the tank is really big.
I suggest you read this, it's really helpful and should answer a lot of questions you have (and questions you haven't thought of yet but probably will shortly): http://www.kakadudragons.com/caresheet/caresheet.php

 

[Nasubi77]

I feed her in her enclosure, but I spend each night chasing down those crix, so it may be best to feed it seperate...Saphira is sooo picky that she will only eat in her cage. I order my crix from a petco site...but you can get MUCH cheaper on other sites, like lllreptile. I just like the wingless crix, cuz they make no noise.

My Amber wouldn't eat in a separate bin, either. Her heat light is a standard clip on work light fixture. I clamped it to the side of her eating bin and all of a sudden she started eating in there!

Worth a try I guess....

 

[nicolecamillekhd]

I also feed in a seperate tank and i aslo have a lamp for that tank to. my girl wont eat without the light. I just got her to start eating greens she wouldnt eat them before i brought her brother home

 

[NOHerp]

Hey, just wanted to see how things are going with your beardie. Got any pics yet?

 

[spikeTOO]

hi... I ended up getting a seperate critter cage to feed him in. Last week i bought 3 dozen crick's and he ate like a pig. But for some reason he hasn't eaten all weekend....Is his normal for them to east alot then not eat for a couple day?

 

[deeharidimou]

hello, my youngster is 3months old, well as i was told. she is 8inches from nose to tail tip. She wouldn't eat in her viv, so I got a empty feeding tank, she loves it, and it's so funny watching her stalk the crickets. Because it's empty she can see what shes chasing. After she's eaten she goes back in her viv and relaxes under her heat lamp.

 

[clds1024]

I know I'm fairly new as well, but we buy our crix from a local store 1000 at a time and keep them in a 20 gal tank. We feed them Fluker's calcium fortified cricket feed and wet paper towels for moister. To feed Okee without having the headache of chasing them down at night - we use a large mouthed clear cup to put them in - it makes it easy to dust them with calcium and vitamins as well. Just hold the cup down into the viv and your dragon will litterally run into the cup! It makes it so much easier!!