2 baby dragons, and not everything sorted!

[GoFast]

Your info is a bit off...

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.

 

[SkitTer]

270mW/cm 2 is the most UVB detected on the planet (according to eXoterra)

If you don't believe eXoterra said this, check out their newest lighting information guide and catalog.

Other than that, the ZooMed, Zilla, and eXoterra 10.0 UVB bulbs have caused UV blindness and U.R.I. (upper respiratory infection) in several of my dragons. Kept at a height of 18" directly overhead. So IMHO, 5.0 is better or less use of the 10.0 maybe 15min on - 30min off cycle on a timer. I just prefer to use the 5.0, especially considering the addition of nutritional supplements (Rep-Cal w/ D3). But, do as you please, I simply speak from personal experience.

Sorry, you are correct in the sense that they do physically have the nerves on their stomachs. But if those nerves will not signal them to move, they are little more than like the decorations on a Christmas tree. So I suggested not using the heat rocks, pads, etc.

 

[theclub83]

If your having any more trouble getting them to drink try this, get a squash (ive tried yellow and butternut), and use a cheese grader to make a kinda of stringy mush. this seems to hold water very well( pretty much all day long). my guy doesnt drink in baths or any other time, so this keeps him very well hydrated and squash is great for him.

at least this works well for me. oh yeah a big squash will last a very long time in the fridge too.

 

[GoFast]

Other than that, the ZooMed, Zilla, and eXoterra 10.0 UVB bulbs have caused UV blindness and U.R.I. (upper respiratory infection) in several of my dragons. Kept at a height of 18" directly overhead. So IMHO, 5.0 is better or less use of the 10.0 maybe 15min on - 30min off cycle on a timer. I just prefer to use the 5.0, especially considering the addition of nutritional supplements (Rep-Cal w/ D3). But, do as you please, I simply speak from personal experience.

I have to completely disagree that those lights were to blame for ANY URI. That is an issue caused by humidity, lack of ventilation, or other husbandry issues like dust from particle based substrates. As for the uv blindness thing, what bulbs were you using? The reptisun 10.0 linear has just about never been shown to issue dangerous UV rays at a distance farther than 6" Also, the issue is not really coming from the amount of UV but rather the TYPE of UV. If you are using compact fluorescent bulbs, with exception of a few, or some linear bulbs like the reptiglo 10.0 the problem is the low wavelength UVB that almost borders on UVC; sometimes it does in fact hit UVC wavelengths.

 

[SkitTer]

Use what you like. They created problems for me. I'm glad they didn't for you. Good luck to your lizards.