Sue E.
Sub-Adult Member
- Beardie name(s)
- Kai
Well, youve gotten the correct t5 10.0 uvb long tube and the basking temps and tank temps are good. You dont use coil uvb bulbs or colored lights. My advice here: learn your dragon. Your beardie is his/her own living being, and for the most part, she/he wants to live! So try not to sweat the small individual quirks in their behavior too much. For example: collard greens-a great staple, right? Well, my dragons HATES collard greens. He would not touch them with a ten foot pole! After awhile of offering collard greens, and taking them out untouched, I now feed them to my superworms and roaches, or I skip over them at the grocery store. He loves raddichio, which is actually lower in oxalates than collard but has an unfavorable calcium to phosphorus ratio. Do I feed it to him? Sure! Not everyday, maybe once or twice a week. Other than toxic veggies and plants (no avocado, onions, leeks, or garlic, no citrus), he gets a pretty varied diet. He hates bsfl, wont eat them and when he did, they passed right through undigested because he didnt chew. He loves his bioactive tank, but he is an adult and never eats his substrate. If you have the cash (if you dont, no biggie, its NOT a necessity), get a Solarmeter 6.5R. It takes all the guesswork out of how much uvb your dragon gets at various spots in his enclosure. I drove myself nuts at first checking and rechecking temps and uvb, now I do so periodically with the uvb and just a glance at the temps and humidity. I use a water bowl (lots of folks dont because their dragon poops in it or walks in it). Mine drank from his water bowl once when he was thirsty in the year and some months Ive had him. He knows what and where it is and never soils it...its more for my peace of mind than his though. Sometimes he climbs around on his trees and logs, sometimes he hangs around on his ledges where the uvb is lower. Sometimes he basks right after he eats, sometimes he waits a while. But he always does bask. He gets up to the temp he wants and the uvb he needs, and then he climbs down and goes where he wants. Babies of course dont always know what is best for them, thats where we (and you!) come in to give them their healthiest best lives. Babies probably DONT need a water dish..they may sleep in it, poop in it and then drink from it...its another ball game altogether. Babies dont need loose substrate..they are too curious and lick and taste and swallow everything (like a toddler). Adults know what is food and what isnt. Feed in bowls and you wont have to worry about an adult eating his substrate. If you dont want to use loose substrate for adults, that is great too! Nothing wrong with being cautious and careful. The point Im making is, do your research...listen to the wise folks on this forum (many much more experienced than I), but watch and listen to your dragon too. And dont be afraid to post things like, "my dragon wont do this or that". Someone here may know a good workaround to keep your dragon both happy and healthy. Just my personal observations...admin, feel free to delete if you choose. Here is Kai (my dragon) just for fun. (He doesnt poop everyday or every other day since he became an adult..he is more like every week or two, which caused me no end of agony until I realized that its not the end of the world lol.)
I can agree very much on this.
