A proper intro: New to forums, new to beardies

[awkwardpossum]

Hello all. You may have me posting on the dragon ER board yesterday. The situation is resolved, so I figured I should come on here and properly introduce myself.

My name is Anna, I'm a long-time reptile enthusiast, first time beardie owner from Boston Massachusetts. For months I've been researching and planning on getting my first bearded dragon; lots of meticulous planning, lots of researching substrates and foods and lights. And then all that basically stacked up to nothing when I rescued a beardie from a guy on craigslist. The last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind!

The beardie in question is named Dog. What her previous name was, I don't know; the owner never gave me one. He also didn't know what sex it was, but near as I can tell it is a female dragon. She is between 4-5 years old and a bit sickly from a long term lack of UVB (which I have corrected) but I am very smitten with her already.

She was in way too small of a tank on red-dyed sand (which as you can see, has stained her feet), and according to the owner he'd been feeding her mainly lettuce and mealworms. These are pictures from the first night I brought her home and got her set up in a much bigger tank that I had laying around.

Her first bath!

I'll probably get some more recent pictures up soon .

She also has her own Tumblr for me to share her health progress on, because I'm just that obsessed already. It's http://weirdscalydog.tumblr.com/ . Right now I'm actually doing a sketch commission/donation drive to drum up enough money to get her into a vet bc I am in sore need of a professional opinion on her current health.

This website seems like a great resource (I've been using a lot of the care sheets in my preliminary research), and I'm looking forward to talking and sharing Dog's progress with you all!

 

[Eclypz]

She's pretty!

I'm new around here as well and have an introduction post. I have a 3 month old male named Zeus!

 

[Pushkin]

What a pretty girl!! :love5: Thin, but with some TLC, you'll have her in great shape. Too bad on the lettuce and mealworms - seems to be a lot of people that think these are good staples for them when they aren't good for them at all!

 

[Esther19]

She looks like a very sweet girl, and so fortunate that you took her in!

 

[awkwardpossum]

Thank you all! Minor update, she's doing a lot better now with that UVB setup. Appetite is already improving, she's actually eating her greens now.

Quick question, which I may need to make a separate topic for on the lighting board: This is how I've got her light set up, should i maybe take the hood off of the fluorescent light? I'm worried it may be blocking the majority of the UVB from getting to her but IDK...

Expecting some goodies in the mail today too; reptile hammock, a temperature gun, some lighting timers... I'd really love to get her set up in a tank that's more than just 12" high so she can have more climbing space but IDK how soon that will be in the cards.

 

[JennyBeen]

She's so cute! Great photos .

I actually just got our dragon this past weekend, also from craigslist, though it sounds like he was in somewhat in a better care situation than your baby :/. Glad you got her set up and ready to go so she can start to recover!

 

[PhotoBug]

What a beauty and how lucky she is to have you!!

Yes, take the covering off the UVB. It will BLOCK/filter the UVB from getting to your dragon.

It's also best to mount it from the top so the UV is filtering downward instead of outward. She also looks very close to it. What's the distance from her basking spot to the UV?

 

[awkwardpossum]

Not very far at all, probably 10 inches at most, likely closer to 8, which I has been concerned might be an issue but I had also heard that the screen would block uvb as well? So im not sure which approach is better for the time being.

 

[PhotoBug]

Not very far at all, probably 10 inches at most, likely closer to 8, which I has been concerned might be an issue but I had also heard that the screen would block uvb as well? So im not sure which approach is better for the time being.

The screen will block UVB if you are using the T8 reptisun 10.0 vs the T5 HO. The T5 HO CAN be put on the screen top.

You should be ok as long as it's not shining directly in her eyes. Beardies are used to the sun shining from above. Your distance looks good for the reptisun T8....I'm assuming that is what you are using?

 

[awkwardpossum]

Yep it's the Reptisun 10.0 T8. It's not a HO, I didn't realize that you could put the HO on top of a screen and still get her the proper UVB, so I assumed mounting on the inside of the tank was my only option, and assuming THAT I figured I'd better get the gentler light. Her tank is 18" front to back and only 12" high (I plan on upgrading her when I have the means), I have her basking rock at the very front and the light mounted on the back wall. Considering all that, should I still take the hood off the light and leave it where it is? Take the hood off and put it on top of the tank?

Mind you, whatever I do is just a temp solution for the time being until I get her a better tank or get a HO lightbulb, whichever happens first.

 

[PhotoBug]

Hello again.....she again is lucky to have such a responsible owner.

Yes, take the hood off of the fixture so she has maximum benefit from the Reptisun. It's ok mounted there, just not optimum. If there is a way to rig it from above and NOT sitting on top of the screen, that would be best. I know some here cut a hole in the screen for their tube so the light isn't filtered by the screen.

Is where she is sitting in your picture the way she basks? If it is, you could possibly move that piece around so that her back is to the Reptisun.

There are lots of discussions about the HO here. You can do a search and see what others are doing.

So much to learn and I can "feel" your concern. We've all been there!!

 

[awkwardpossum]

Aw thank you so much! Yeah that seems to be where she likes to bask. She has a basking rock in front of that, which is further from the UVB light, but she seems to prefer to sit on her branch instead. I'll take the hood off for now and just keep an eye out to make sure she isn't getting eye strain or anything like that. Hopefully I can get her a more suitable tank soon, or figure out a better way to rig up the light.

Now I just need to find a good insect staple to invest in because phoenix worms are a lot more money than I realized.

 

[PhotoBug]

I'm sure she will be ok. DEFINATELY removed that filter. Just make sure it isn't directly in her eyes.

Feeders CAN be pricey. A lot here breed dubia roaches. I use phoenix worms and crickets as my feeders. I have a local pet shop that sells crix 25 for $1 so lucky there. For my phoenix worms, I get them from Rainbow Mealworms. I believe 100 Phoenix worms are $4.99 and they are sooooo easy to care for. I get 500 at a time from them.

Good luck and keep us posted!!

-Julie

 

[awkwardpossum]

Thank you! She seems to have really perked up a good amount Need to get some more phoenix worms to make sure I have enough insects stocked up.