GoFast
Gray-bearded Member
Your info is a bit off...
SkitTer":b4a44 said:Overparanoid":b4a44 said:now i have a few questions:
first, what am i missing in my viv? i feel like somethings not right there.
also, what veg do they eat?
how to i get them to drink more?
and what basic care do i need to improve on?
The first thing you are missing, is an incandescent or halogen heat bulb. Beardies use their parietal eye to detect the temp and UV content of a particular area. So they need this overhead lamp to properly thermoregulate. The heat pad is dangerous to have with our dragons, as they do not have sensory nerves on their belly (thorax and abdomen) to help them detect the heat. They can very easily overheat on top of such a device. Heat rocks are also problematic for the same reasons. Yes, they are dangerous but the danger comes in the event of a malfunction. Bearded dragons do have sensory nerves on their stomachs, they just aren't as sensitive to heat as their third eye. The result is that if a heat rock or mat fails, it reaches such high temps, so fast, that the dragon will not be able to react in time.
Second, others have already said how much of a problem the eXoterra UVB bulb is. I had a lot of problems personally. So get rid of it, I am a particular fan of the ZooMed 5.0 unit. A 10.0 is excessive unless it is at least 24" from your lizard. 270mW/cm 2 is the most UVB detected on the planet (according to eXoterra), that reading is also at the equator and at 12 noon. Thus, you do not need to provide anywhere near as much UVB. Somewhere between 125-175mW/cm 2 is a good constant level. A 5.0 at about 18" provides this effectively. Just remember that too much UVB is bad, radiation kills everything on the planet, including your beardie.
The highest recorded level is 545µW/cm². The reptisun 10.0 only puts out about 80 uW/cm² at 6" with a basically brand new bulb that only has 1-3 hours burn and the reptisun 5.0 is about half of that. At 14" the out put of the 10.0 is barely uW/cm² and the 5.0 is around 15. At 18" the levels would be just about non-existent. Using a 10.0, you want the dragon to be able to get within 6" from the light and offer a gradient from there. (source - http://www.uvguide.co.uk/fluorescenttuberesults.htm and http://www.uvguide.co.uk/uvinnature.htm
Fourth, drinking water is not an instinct that hatchling beardies have. They are desert dwelling, and thus, don't stumble upon free standing water sources regularly. All of their water uptake is provided by the vegetation and live insects they consume. If you are concerned though, you can try dipping water down the side of the viv. This often excites their prey drive and they will "attack" the water droplets. If this is ineffective, you can manually feed them water (I would recommend Pedialyte), but only do this if it is apparent that they are somewhat dehydrate. Dragons also absorb water from the morning dew through their vents.